Tony Stewart ready for "another 400 laps" after return at Richmond

Tony Stewart didn’t have the fastest car Sunday and wasn’t in position to win the Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond (Va.) International Raceway, but a solid 19th-place finish on the lead lap accomplished everything he hoped to achieve in his first weekend back to racing.

“They kind of threw me to the wolves, but I kind of knew why when we started on Friday,” Stewart said after Sunday’s race. “We unloaded in qualifying trim and to not be in a car for five straight months and you show up at the track and they say, ‘Alright, go bust a lap off. We need one lap in case it rains.’

There are a bunch of these guys who couldn’t run another 400 laps and at 44 I can still outrun a lot of these guys. We haven’t lost (expletive).

Tony Stewart

“I’m sitting there going do we need a lap or do we need a backup (car)? It could be one or the other. I was happy with where we started. I felt we ran a really good race. The restarts – it’s so chaotic on the restarts and every time I would have a plan and I would try to execute my plan and I zigged when I should have zagged for about four straight restarts.”

Stewart fell a lap down before the halfway point of the race but not without a fight. He battled then-leader (and eventual race winner Carl Edwards) for more than a dozen laps trying to remain on the lead lap.

“I was real happy Tony was back until about five laps into that battle,” Edwards said jokingly. “It was cool to have Tony back. He’s done a lot for the sport and he continues to do a lot for the sport.

“Let me tell you, the guy is competitive. I was thinking during that, what a heck of a first run back in the driver’s suit – a 160-lap (green-flag) run and he was wheeling the heck out of it.”

Fighting back from cut tire

On Lap 269 of 400, Stewart’s left-rear tire blew after contact with Joey Logano on the track during a restart. His team made repairs and he remained one lap down.

Stewart eventually received the free pass (as the first car not on the lead lap) under caution with 70 laps remaining and returned to the lead lap. He restarted 24th and picked up five positions before the finish.

“It was everything I thought it was going to be today. When I found out it was a day race, I was really excited about that,” Stewart said. “When it gets really warm, it gets really slick and that’s what we like.

“It wasn’t one of those scenarios when you just turn and jump on the gas wide-open. You actually had to drive the car today and it was a good time.”

"I love my job"

Stewart suffered a burst fracture of the L1 vertebra on Jan. 31 while driving a sand rail in the Glamis Sand Dunes of the California desert. He sat out the first eight races of the Sprint Cup season. Earlier this week, Stewart’s doctors cleared him to return to competition.

“I love my job. I would be perfectly content if they just lined us up and started another 400-lap race right now,” Stewart said while standing by his car on pit road.

“There are a bunch of these guys who couldn’t run another 400 laps and at 44 I can still outrun a lot of these guys, or anyone else who thinks we’ve lost something. We haven’t lost (expletive).”

In fact, Stewart was heading to Pennsylvania on Sunday night to attend a race in the All Star Circuit of Champions series, which he owns.

“I have to go do my second job now,” he said.