CLERMONT, Ind. — On Monday, NASCAR star Tony Stewart made a rare appearance at a drag race. On Wednesday, two drag racers will repay the visit.

NHRA Funny Car drivers Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon will put aside the disappointment of being knocked out in the early rounds of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals to compete in Stewart’s fifth annual Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio.

Capps is eager to take another shot at the stars of stock car racing in an event that has raised more than $2 million for charity. Stewart started the race after buying the half-mile dirt track in 2004.

“The first year it was all about not making a fool of myself and embarrassing Tony for inviting me,” Capps said of swapping his Funny Car for a Late Model stock. “Some of (the NASCAR drivers) were laughing at me till I finished ahead of a lot of them.”

Said Stewart: “If he could do it more than once a year, he’d be really good.”

Besides Stewart, the 25-driver field is expected to include Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano. The event, rained out in June, is available on HBO pay-per-view, with proceeds this year going to four organizations that cater to injured or killed military personnel and their families.

Stewart said he attended a night qualifying session of the U.S. Nationals more than 10 years ago but had not been to a race before Monday. He arrived in town around 5:30 a.m. after racing in Atlanta the night before.

“This is just like I remember it. It still shakes you to pieces,” he said after watching from near the starting line. “There’s parts of your body that move that aren’t supposed to move.”

Stewart hung out most of the day with Don Schumacher Racing, with whom his Sprint Cup team shares the U.S. Army as a sponsor. He wore an Army shirt and was at the finish line to greet Top Fuel winner Tony Schumacher.

He said he’d love to try his hand at drag racing someday and commended Capps and Pedregon for being willing to step outside their comfort zone.

“They take it seriously,” he said. “As long as they want to come back, we’ll take those two.”

For drivers accustomed to straight-line racing, the hardest part is trusting the car to turn when it’s supposed to turn.

“The banking is so high and the turns are so fast,” Capps said. "I want to go in there wide open, but my mind always says, ‘Uh, uh.’ "

While Capps will drive a car provided to him, Pedregon has bought one that he races when the NHRA schedule allows. He has extra motivation after his second-round exit Monday knocked him out of the championship Countdown.

“I feel like I’m ready to put in a game effort,” he said. “I’m taking it pretty seriously.”