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Stewart inducted into track's Wall of Fame ahead of final Sonoma start

Tony Stewart is closing the chapter on his Sprint Cup career, but he’s not ready to retire from racing.

Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing inducted into the Sonoma Raceway Wall Of Fame

Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing inducted into the Sonoma Raceway Wall Of Fame

NASCAR Media

(L-R) Former driver Ernie Irvan and Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing are inducted into the Sonoma Raceway Wall Of Fame
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing
Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing

The three-time Sprint Cup champion, who will make his final start at Sonoma Raceway in a stock car this weekend, was inducted into the track’s Wall of Fame on Friday

Stewart was clearly humbled by the accolade.

“Anytime you get inducted into anything it’s a huge honor,” Stewart said. “This has always been one of my favorite race tracks.  To be on their wall of fame that means something to me.”

 

Despite two wins on the 1.99-mile track, Stewart wasn’t pleased about running 18th in first practice. He showed his displeasure by leaning his fender on Jamie McMurray, whose racing etiquette wasn't up to Smoke’s standards.

When asked what he’ll miss about the Sprint Cup Series, Stewart answered sarcastically “after practice this morning not much.”

“I had Jamie McMurray screw us up on a lap,” Stewart said. “He was trying to do a qualifying lap. Some of the things some of these guys do nowadays doesn’t make sense. When we had Dale (Earnhardt) Sr. and Rusty Wallace and Dale Jarrett and those guys they were able to get their arms around these guys and get them to listen and make sense.  

“There is really nobody here that can do that anymore. Everybody is out of control out there.”

Stewart didn’t want to sour the moment by elaborating on his fellow competitors. At 45, Stewart is saving his energy for other racing endeavors. Although he posted his second top-10 finish of the season in the last Cup race at Michigan prior to the break, Stewart acknowledged he wants to invest in activities that make him happy. 

“And driving a Sprint Cup car does not make me happy right now,” Stewart said. “Like I said, a lot of things have changed. The atmosphere has changed. There is so much stuff in the garage area that has changed that it was time for me to make a change with it. I’ve dedicated 18 years of my life to this series and it’s done great by me.  I’ve made a great living doing it, but at the same time there are other things in life I want to do other than be at a NASCAR track three days a week for 38 weekends out of 52 weeks a year. 

“There are just other things I want to do now. I never dreamed there was going to be a time that I was going to think about something like this. It wasn’t overnight. There were weeks that you would think about ‘man I really want to go to Monaco and see the Monaco Grand Prix or I really want to go to Knoxville, Iowa and be out there for the A-main of the Knoxville Nationals or the Kings Royal at Eldora.’  There are things I want to do that because of our schedule you don’t have time to do it.  There is just not enough time to do everything you want to do.  It’s time for me to do this.”

Still on Smoke's bucket list

The Monaco Grand Prix is the only leg of the Memorial Day weekend triple header Stewart has missed. He competed in the Indianapolis 500/Coca-Cola 600 double. But with the change in this year’s Sprint Cup schedule, Stewart has the weekend off for the 56th Annual 5-hour Energy Knoxville Nationals. 

Will he compete in the 2017 Nationals?

“It depends how good I do up to Knoxville,” Stewart said. “If I get going good, I might. I’ve been out of a sprint car for two years so I don’t when I’ll be able to get back to the form I want to be in. As soon as I can get to that form, I’d love to be the oldest rookie of the year at the Knoxville Nationals. That would be pretty cool.” 

After racing for 38 years, Stewart wants to expand his horizons — in and out of racing. In addition to his driving duties, Stewart owns race teams and tracks. While he’s masterfully distributed responsibilities among the companies, it has left little personal time for the driver. 

“When you have raced for 38 years that is all you know, it’s all you think about, that is all you dream about,” Stewart said. “When you wake up you are thinking about it, while you are eating breakfast that is all you do.  I just can’t imagine that there is not more to life than this.  I know there is.  

“I know people that talk about it all the time.  I’ve got friends like Don Prudhomme and Ray Evernham and guys that are already retired that talk about how much fun they are having. I’m like, man that sounds like a good time to me.”

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