Jeff Gluck

USA TODAY Sports

LAS VEGAS — When Tony Stewart met Pearl Jam lead singer Eddie Vedder at the band's concert in South Carolina earlier this year, the two became fast friends. In their initial conversation, Vedder told Stewart about the EB Research Partnership, a non-profit dedicated to curing a skin disease known as epidermolysis bullosa.

Stewart, with a reputation for being generous, promptly made a charitable donation worth thousands.

“Fine money,” Vedder joked of Stewart's run-ins with NASCAR.

So when Vedder emerged onstage at the NASCAR Awards ceremony on Friday night to surprise Stewart — who thought Vedder was on vacation and couldn’t attend — it brought a smile to the retiring NASCAR driver’s face.

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But neither man knew what was about to happen next.

Champion team owner Rick Hendrick took the stage and broke some news to both Stewart and Vedder: The racing industry had combined to raise a whopping $1.8 million to donate to the EB Research Partnership in Stewart’s name.

Vedder, a board member of the foundation, was floored.

“Are we on TV?” he said as we embraced Stewart. “That’s un(expletive)believable.”

The crowd in the Wynn Las Vegas banquet hall roared.

“I’ll pay that fine,” Vedder said.

“Finally, somebody else is going to pay my fine,” Stewart said with a laugh.

NBCSN's censors caught the remark before it aired to a national audience, dropping the audio momentarily.

An emotional Vedder said the donation meant so much because everyone was trying to find a cure in time to save lives. EB is present in one of every 50,000 births with no known cure, and the children who have the condition lack proteins that bind the skin together.

That means the skin can tear or blister, which creates wounds that never heal. It can also affect internal organs, which Vedder said, makes it a “diabolical” disease.

Initially, the racing industry planned to secretly raise $1.4 million — in honor of Stewart’s No. 14 — but donations exceeded that amount.

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Shortly after the presentation, a subdued Stewart said he was “totally blown away and caught off guard.”

“I really don’t know what to say, to be honest,” Stewart said with a chuckle. “… I’m really honored Eddie Vedder would come here for this, and I’m so excited the racing community raised that kind of money to help that charity.”

Stewart said it’s his understanding the EB Research Partnership believes it can find a cure if it raises $10 million, so the $1.8 million from the racing community will go a long way. It seemed to mean as much to him as it meant to Vedder, and Stewart had a simple explanation for that.

“When you meet people like him who are that passionate about something, it immediately makes you want to be passionate about it as well,” Stewart said. “That’s why we got involved.”

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck