Tony Stewart reveals 2 major regrets he would change in his racing career
Tony Stewart’s career in the NASCAR Cup Series was both long and illustrious. He won 49 races, 16 as a driver/owner, and bagged three series championships in 2003, 2005, and 2011. However, even someone like Stewart has done things he regrets.
Recently on The Kenny Wallace Show, Stewart named two things that he would like to change if he ever got the chance to travel back in time. For starters, Stewart wished he had not competed in a 2015 road race in New York.
That day, a young driver by the name of Kevin Ward Jr. was hit by Tony Stewart’s vehicle, as the former had stepped out of his car mid-race. Although it was a mistake, Ward Jr.'s parents sued Stewart for “reckless and malicious intent and negligence" (via BBC).
“I still get blamed for it, all the time, daily by people that have no clue what the hell they're talking about,” Stewart told show host Kenny Wallace. “I still get blamed for something that was not my fault.”
Stewart then opened up about his second regret, saying:
“The other thing that I would have changed is...I would have loved to go back and treated people better. I was so tense with racing, I was so on edge all the time… all I cared about was winning races and what we had to do. I was not a good person to people.”
Tony Stewart retired from NASCAR after the 2016 season. These days, he keeps himself busy with his commitments towards Tony Stewart Racing, a two-car NHRA team that he owns and drives for. Just recently, he won the Four Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, marking his first NHRA win.
Tony Stewart comes clean on his potential NASCAR return
It has been almost a decade since Tony Stewart ran a NASCAR-sanctioned race. But that is going to change soon. After bagging his career-first NHRA victory at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on April 13, Stewart was reminded of his win in the 2009 All-Star Race.
And so, the itch to race rekindled in the motorsports veteran. Stewart said of the same (via Yardbarker):
“I'm definitely planning on coming back to NASCAR races. As a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, I get a hard card. I don't know if NASCAR has the ability to revoke that or not but until they do revoke it, I'm going to take advantage of having a hard card.”
“I definitely want to come back and see everybody. I miss a lot of things about NASCAR and most of all the people,” he added.
That, without a doubt, is something to be excited about. However, Stewart made it clear that he was not going to be a team owner in NASCAR ever again. He owns a team in the NHRA already, and on top of that, he became a father just recently. Perhaps a one-off appearance or maybe a part-time schedule is what Stewart plans to do this time.