Tony Stewart humbled upon being named to NASCAR’s Hall of Fame

By Jerry Jordan, Editor

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – With his 49 wins as a driver and three NASCAR Championships across three different series sponsors – Winston, Nextel, and Sprint – Anthony “Tony” Stewart was inducted into the 2019 NASCAR Hall of Fame class in his first year of eligibility with 88-percent of the vote.

But it wasn’t just driving that Stewart left as his legacy in stock car racing, he is also a team owner, who has seen his organization make it to Victory Lane a total of 51 times, including a win in the 2017 Daytona 500 with driver Kurt Busch. Stewart is a track owner and a series owner, as well.

Not wanting to take the limelight away for the other four inductees going into the Hall of Fame with him during the January 2020 ceremony, Stewart said it meant more to him that he can share the moment with Waddell Wilson, Bobby Labonte and Coach Joe Gibbs, who was also chosen along with the late Buddy Baker. In fact, it was Gibbs, as a role model, of sorts, who made him want to become a team owner in the Cup Series.

“You’re proud and you watch the video but then it totally changed from watching my moment to enjoying seeing the guy who really helped build my career with Joe (Gibbs) and then following that up with Bobby (Labonte). It wasn’t about me, it was just kind of about all of us and this whole group going in. There was that sense of pride, you know when Mike (Helton) called my name but at the same time, it is fun to sit there and share that moment and know how much that is going to mean to Joe and to Bobby and to Waddell. I got to speak to Waddell a few minutes ago so to be able to share that moment with these guys, is something that I am more excited and proud about being able to share it with them than I am about what it means just for me.”

Known throughout the sport as “Smoke” the Columbus, Ind. native began his racing career in 1979 with a go-kart that he raced in Westport, Ind. He went on to win a championship in the World Karting Championship in 1987 and from there, his career continued to thrive. He raced and won championships in the USAC (United States Auto Club), UMRA (United Midget Racing Association), IRL (Indy Racing League) and finally NASCAR.

And once in NASCAR, his nickname was somewhat fitting, as he was known for having a fiery temper at times. Those moments earned him any trips to the NASCAR hauler after races, where he said he sat in the same seat each time across from long-time NASCAR executive, Mike Helton. It was Helton, who with a laugh, called Stewart’s name as the first inductee of the evening.

One of his most infamous acts was a two-handed helmet throw that bounced off the front of Matt Kenseth’s car at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2012. NASCAR took possession of the helmet and it currently sits at the NASCAR R&D Center in Concord, N.C.

“I know where the Bristol helmet is at,” Stewart said. “John Darby (former director of NASCAR Competition) has always from that day had that Bristol helmet. And I was at the R&D Center one day and I begged the lady that had the key to his office – he was not there that day – and I begged her to let me get in the office and take that helmet and I was going to take it to different locations and take pictures and have ransom notes and say if you wanted to see this helmet alive again, you will comply with all of our demands. She would not let me in that office but I can promise you that if I ever get the opportunity to get that helmet, I will go and there will be a huge ransom for it.”

Stewart said Helton was like the parent, who you didn’t want to disappoint and that when he realized that has happened it felt worse than any penalty or punishment he could have received.

“I wish he was still here, I want to know why he laughed,” Stewart said. “Mike has definitely been a father-figure to me since I have been in the Cup Series, for sure. I got invited to spend a lot of time with him at first and then I welcomed the opportunity to spend time with him after that.”

“I learned so much from Mike … and he is so good at showing people the big picture. There were times that I was 100-percent right going in there but he’s like you don’t see it from this side. And I am like, but I know I am right, and he was like, ‘I know you are right too. But in the big picture, this is why it has to be done this way.’ And it really started changing how I thought about things and understanding how the big picture really worked.”

According to the Stewart-Haas Racing website, “He is the first and only driver to win championships in stock cars, Indy cars and open-wheel Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown cars. And his three NASCAR Cup Series championships make him one of just 15 drivers who have scored multiple Cup titles, and only the ninth driver to win three or more championships, joining Richard Petty (seven), Dale Earnhardt (seven), Jimmie Johnson (seven), Jeff Gordon (four), David Pearson (three), Darrell Waltrip (three), Cale Yarborough (three) and Lee Petty (three).”

Stewart joked that he often wears so many hats at a racetrack that he’s not even sure who to get upset with when things don’t go the way he expects.

“It’s really hard, to be honest,” Stewart said. “When I go to Eldora (Speedway) and I race with the All-Stars, it’s like I am the driver, the car owner, the series owner and the track owner, so I don’t even know who to yell at when I get out of the car if I don’t like the way something went. So, you just go stand in front of a mirror and yell at yourself but it’s just fun. It is fun to do everything that we are doing and it’s like I have said for the last two years, I am getting to do exactly what I love to do.”

Stewart said one of the toughest things he ever had to do was walk into Gibbs’ office and tell him that he was not only leaving the team but becoming a co-owner at another team that Joe Gibbs Racing would have to compete against. That team now has two NASCAR titles under its belt – one with Kevin Harvick and one from Stewart.

“I remember how frustrated and mad and upset he was about it and then I said, ‘this is my opportunity to be like you.” And all of him being mad,” Stewart said. “I think he was still frustrated but I don’t think he was mad anymore and that was a moment that was just the two of us that day. You know, what do you say after you tell someone you are trying to be like them? What are they going to tell you, ‘no, don’t be like me.’ So, there were a lot of special moments with him …

“It is really hard to even put it all into perspective. Joe is the reason I became a car owner in 2001 with my first sprint car team. Joe is the reason that I had the confidence to buy Eldora Speedway. Joe is the reason I had the confidence to, after Rick Hendrick’s help, of becoming a car owner in NASCAR. Joe is the reason that I have done all of these things outside of being a driver. All of these things that I have done outside of that are because of what I have learned from working with Joe and how he knows how to organize the right people to do the right jobs. So, working with someone like Joe is probably the best asset I have ever had in my life.”

When asked about what he thought of Stewart going into the Hall of Fame alongside him, Gibbs spoke of Stewart’s talents and how he has been an asset to NASCAR.

“I think at that point I was upset,” Gibbs said. “You don’t want to lose somebody like that, that was such a key part to what you are doing and so, I think when he first said that to me, I was disappointed and upset. You do realize the opportunity that he was offered, so you look at that and you’ve got to understand this is what is best for him.

“That’s one of the key teams and support for NASCAR. It has been good for our sport and obviously, every time I see Tony we are laughing and telling stories.”

Amongst his peers, Stewart was praised by fellow Hall of Famers Jeff Gordon and Leonard Wood. Stewart and Wood share a commonality in their team ownership and he and Gordon were fierce competitors on the track. In fact, Stewart followed in Gordon’s path not only to the Hall of Fame – a year after the four-time NASCAR Champion but also in coming to stock car racing from the open-wheel side of the sport.

Gordon said he knew Stewart when they both raced in Indiana. In fact, when Gordon moved up to NASCAR racing, it opened a ride that Stewart filled at Gordon’s former team but then Stewart went the way of IndyCar before eventually making his way to NASCAR. It was a path that Gordon reflected on after hearing the 2020 Class.

“When I was getting out of the USAC ring that’s when his USAC career really took off,” Gordon said. “I had heard about Tony prior to that and then, you know, it wasn’t long before he was coming into NASCAR and we were competing against one another and then I retired and he retired. So, it’s only fitting that he’s going into the Hall of Fame, also. I mean, the numbers speak for themselves with Tony and what he continues to do. I think we all knew that was a lock. That guy, if there was ever a modern-day A.J. Foyt, to me it’s Tony.”

Their battles on the track were epic and Gordon pointed to two incidents where one, or the other, probably wanted to go “Clint Bowyer” on each other but Gordon didn’t want any part of the stockier and scrappier Stewart.

“I think at Bristol he wanted to go Clint Bowyer on me,” he said, with a laugh. “And at Watkin’s Glen, I wanted to go Clint Bowyer on him. But I was smart enough not to go there with Tony because he would have won that battle. We kept that on the track.”

Wood echoed Gordon’s sentiments on Stewart’s accomplishments saying that he was a “great choice” to go into the Hall of Fame. He explained that through the years he and Stewart have become close.

“Tony is just a great driver,” Woods said. “I thought they couldn’t have made a better choice.”

A humbled Stewart said he was still coming to terms with being chosen for entry into the Hall of Fame and that he is still living his dream, adding “there are not many people who are still doing what they love to do and getting inducted into the Hall of Fame at the same time … To have that going on and still be wide-open going up and down the road in a sprint car hauler and running dirt tracks across the country, I think it is pretty damn cool.”