$90M Tony Stewart reflects on why NASCAR never took away wins ‘back in the day’ in discussion with Ryan Blaney’s father
Former NASCAR driver and team owner, Tony Stewart spoke about why NASCAR rarely took wins away ‘back in the day’, even if a car was later found to have broken a rule. In an episode of Racers Roundtable on MAVTV, the racing legend discussed with Dave Blaney and his son Ryan how NASCAR has changed its rules over the years.
Stewart highlighted the lack of technology in the 1990s and asserted that NASCAR founder Bill France wanted fans to leave the track knowing who won.
"Back in the day in NASCAR, you didn't have cell phones. Radios were great, but not perfect. It was really important to Bill France [NASCAR's founder] that, when people saw the end of the race and left the bleachers, they knew who won the race. That is why, for such a long time in the sport, that tradition never changed," Stewart said.
The $90M-worth former driver (according to Celebrity Net Worth) also talked about getting huge fines and losing points for mistakes with self-deprecating humor.
"I think it's something the sport is finally catching up on. Then you got dumb car owners like me that let our guys throw stuff on there that doesn’t even get us in the top 20. Then, we get thrown out, penalized $300,000 or $400,000 and lose a gazillion owner and driver points," he added.
NASCAR has started to enforce rules more strictly in recent years. It recently issued suspensions and fines of $600,000 for teams and drivers after the Martinsville Speedway race.
Tony Stewart's SHR to close after this season
Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) announced in May this year that the team will close after the 2024 season. SHR was started in 2002 by Gene Haas and Tony Stewart later joined as a driver and co-owner in 2009.
The team faced struggles after losing its star driver and sponsors. Stewart also mentioned the recent conflicts with NASCAR and the teams as a reason to leave the sport. He said on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast:
"It wasn't that way at the beginning of the year, we had different reasons for why we had to shut down at the end of the season. As time's gone on and watching the owners and NASCAR fight and just the chaos that's going on over there, I'm fine being done with this at the end of the year."
The season finale in Phoenix this weekend will be SHR’s last race. The team registered 102 wins and three championships in NASCAR. Gene Haas will run a smaller team, Haas Factory Team, with one of the team's four charters.