Tony Stewart says his presence in owner meetings feels ‘like an episode of Sesame Street’

FORT WORTH, Texas – The end of Tony Stewart‘s Sprint Cup racing career is less than six weeks away, but the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing has already gotten a taste of what the life of a full-time owner will be like.

‘The fun thing is I’ve been to a couple of the owners meetings and it’s pretty cool to sit in the room with Roger Penske, Chip Ganassi, Richard Childress and Joe Gibbs and those guys,” Stewart said Wednesday at Texas Motor Speedway.

But the three-time Sprint Cup champion said his attendance made the meetings with giants of the auto racing industry feel “like an episode of ‘Sesame Street.'”

“There’s one thing in the room that doesn’t belong and it’s not like the others and they point at me,” said Stewart, who was holding his annual “Smoke Show” Fantasy Camp benefiting Speedway Children’s Charities.

But even though he’s been co-owner of SHR since 2009, Stewart still doesn’t feel like an owner.

“I won’t say I’m a part of that group yet because I still feel like I’m just a driver right now,” said Stewart, who leaves his NASCAR driver’s seat behind on Nov. 20 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “To be able to work with those guys on behalf of the sport I think is going to be a lot of fun.”

At some point in the next six weeks will be Stewart’s final Sprint Cup Drivers Council meeting. Stewart is one of nine drivers on the council that was founded last year. With him on it are Brad Keselowski, Jimmie Johnson, defending series champion Kyle Busch, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick,Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano.

“The thing that I’m most excited about with the drivers council is I feel like it’s a good group of guys in there right now,” Stewart said. “I feel like their mindset and their ability to work together for the reason and the right causes and goals.”

Stewart’s presence on the council has had an impact this season. NASCAR’s year-long odyssey regarding lug nuts began with Stewart’s rant about the issue in April.

In January he criticized NASCAR CEO and Chairman Brian France for not have a presence in the meetings. France then attended an April meeting in Talladega, an act appreciated by the drivers.

He’s also been an encouraging voice for young drivers like Larson, who admitted that at first he didn’t feel deserving of a spot on the council.

“If you don’t say anything, why are you on this?’’ Stewart told Larson. “You have an opinion, speak up.’’

Stewart has opinions. On everything. But he recently said he’s ready to no longer be the voice of the garage.

Is there any opinion “Smoke” has kept to himself, waiting to drop on the drivers council right before he puts both feet into his role as an owner?

“I’m going to save that for when I get out of the car at Homestead I think,” Stewart joked at TMS. “The hard part is I wish we could tell you guys all the stuff that’s discussed in it but it’s not the right thing to do.”

Stewart is “proud” of what the council has accomplished in it first two years and is a little surprised at how unselfish its members have been.

“It would be really easy in our sport to be selfish and try to work on things that you think are going to benefit you,” Stewart said. “But the driver council does a really good job of not doing that. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised about that, but I guess to a certain degree a little bit I was surprised that everybody really cared more about the sport than they were about what their individual organizations were working on.”

The six biggest surprises of the Chase for the Sprint Cup so far

6 biggest Chase surprises

Hard to believe, perhaps, but Sunday’s Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway will mark the halfway point in the 2016 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Following are the six biggest surprises so far in the first four races Chase:

Young money out early

In the last three races of the Sprint Cup regular season, Kyle Larson won at Michigan, finished third at Darlington and was runner-up at Richmond. He was the hottest driver coming into the Chase, but never finished better than 10th in the Round of 16 and was quickly eliminated.

Dillon still in the hunt

Richard Childress Racing driver Austin Dillon was the lowest seed to advance out of the Round of 16. Dillon came into the Chase as the No. 15 seed, but made it to the Round of 12 despite a best finish of eighth with no laps led in the first three Chase races. But he’ll have his work cut out for him after a 32nd-place finish at Charlotte.

The Charlotte calamity

Who could have predicted that so many good drivers would encounter serious problems at Charlotte Motor Speedway? Kevin Harvick and Denny Hamlin, two of the Chase favorites, had engine failures, while Joey Logano and Kyle Busch had front-tire issues and a bunch of Chase drivers got taken out in a crash on a late-race restart.

No JGR wins yet

In the 26-race Sprint Cup regular season, all four Joe Gibbs Racing drivers won at least twice, with the team scoring a total of 11 race victories. In the Chase, Matt Kenseth has had a pair of runner-up finishes and three top fives, while his JGR teammate Kyle Busch has finished eighth or better in all four races. And while Martin Truex Jr. won two of the first three Chase races, it’s a bit of surprise that a JGR car hasn’t visited Victory Lane yet.

Hendrick cars are fast

After a terrible summer and a long winless streak, the Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolets have picked up steam across the board. Not only did Jimmie Johnson score a dominating victory at Charlotte, he has led the most laps in the playoffs so far. Chase Elliott has a pair of third-place finishes and after missing the Chase, Kasey Kahne has averaged a 7.75 finish in the four Chase races so far. Alex Bowman has run well in the No. 88, too. We’ll see if this continues through the Chase. Photo: Robert Laberge

No miracle run for Stewart

In his last full season as a Sprint Cup driver, Tony Stewart seemed poised to make the kind of improbable championship run that he did in 2011, when after going winless in the regular season he won five of 10 Chase races and his third title. Alas, it was not to be. Stewart didn’t have a single top-1o finish and was eliminated in the first round of the Chase.

Mobil 1 will remain with Stewart-Haas Racing after Tony Stewart’s retirement

ExxonMobil will stay with Tony Stewart‘s team after the three-time Sprint Cup champion’s career ends.

In a Friday announcement, the company extended its deal as a primary sponsor at Stewart-Haas Racing. Its Mobil 1 brand will appear as a primary sponsor at “various premier series races” on the cars of Kevin Harvick, Danica Patrick, Clint Bowyer and Kurt Busch. It also will remain an associate sponsor at all races with SHR drivers.

Mobil 1 has been a partial-season sponsor on Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet since the 2011 season and also has sponsored a few races for Harvick and Patrick this year.

Here’s a news release on the announcement:

ExxonMobil today announced it will be extending the Mobil 1TM brand’s sponsorship of Stewart-Haas Racing in a multiyear deal.

Beginning next year, Mobil 1, the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR®,” will provide full primary sponsorships across SHR’s four NASCAR premier series drivers. Kevin Harvick’s No. 4 car, Danica Patrick’s No. 10, Clint Bowyer’s No. 14 and Kurt Busch’s No. 41 will see Mobil 1 full primaries at various NASCAR premier series races throughout the year. At the same time, the Mobil 1 brand will remain an associate sponsor for all SHR drivers at all other races.

“ExxonMobil and Mobil 1 lubricant technology have been integral to my success with SHR and my 2014 Championship, so I’m excited they’re coming back,” said Harvick. “I’m also honored to step in as the lead representative for the Mobil 1 brand both on and off the track.”

Tony Stewart, who has represented Mobil 1 since the brand joined SHR in 2011, is retiring as a NASCAR driver at the end of the 2016 season. He will remain a brand ambassador for Mobil 1 in his role as a team owner, as he co-owns SHR with industrialist Gene Haas, founder of Haas Automation.

Additionally, the Mobil 1 brand will be an associate sponsor of SHR’s new NASCAR XFINITY Series™ for the 2017 season, where Cole Custer will run for rookie of the year.

The company has been providing lubricant technology support to the team since 2011, which helped Stewart and Harvick earn premier series championships for SHR in 2011 and 2014, respectively.

“With two championships already, our partnership with Stewart-Haas Racing has been pushing performance limits since day one. Finishing this year and going into 2017, we’re ready to add more wins and titles to the collection,” said Kai Decker, global motorsports manager at ExxonMobil. “Our engineers are continuously working to advance our lubricant technology and SHR plays a large role in how we test our engine lubricants – ensuring consumers and race fans are getting the best product available.”

After announcing the partnership in 2010, SHR and Mobil 1 engineers began working closely together to tackle racing challenges. The 2017 season continues a collaborative engineering relationship used to develop lubricant packages and push technology limits to new frontiers. This relationship helps the SHR team win races and ExxonMobil continue to improve the performance of Mobil 1 branded lubricants with improved power, fuel mileage, engine efficiency and reliability.

“We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with ExxonMobil for the 2017 race season and beyond,” Stewart said. “They’ve been an incredible partner. “The success we’ve achieved has been greatly helped by Mobil 1 lubricant technology and our engineers working hand in hand with their engineers.”

Including the 2016 season, the partnership with ExxonMobil has led to significant on-track success for SHR, compiling two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series titles, 34 race wins, 140 top-five finishes, 266 top-10 finishes and 28 poles.

Along with its association with SHR, Mobil 1 is entering its 15th year as the “Official Motor Oil of NASCAR.” Mobil 1 is used by more than 50 percent of the teams in NASCAR’s top-three series.

Lesson learned: Joey Logano admits he should have called Matt Kenseth last year

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Nearly a year after a retribution-seeking Matt Kenseth sent Joey Logano’s championship hopes crashing into a wall, Logano admits he would have changed one thing about what happened between the two drivers.

He would have called Kenseth.

A year ago, Kenseth spun after contact from Logano in the final laps at Kansas during the Chase as they raced for the win. Logano celebrated. Kenseth seethed.

Kenseth said that day that Logano’s decision “strategically” wasn’t the best. Logano called it hard racing, noting how Kenseth blocked him.

But any comments they made were done through the media. Logano admitted he wasn’t sure what good a call would do, fearing Kenseth was “going to be more mad (and) I could make this worse.’’

So Logano never called, never texted and never reached out to Kenseth, who stewed and made his move three weeks later at Martinsville.

Already upset after contact with Logano’s teammate, Brad Keselowski, Kenseth later turned his wrecked car into Logano’s. Kenseth’s move took Logano out of the lead, costing Logano a possible win and advancement to the championship round. Logano’s Chase ended in that round.

Tuesday, Logano talked about that incident and what he’s learned since.

“I think you grow from every situation you’re put in,’’ he said at a media event promoting Saturday night’s Bank of America 500 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. “In all honesty, what would I do different? I probably would have picked up the phone. Maybe we would have disagreed then and nothing changed, but at least I called. I didn’t know what I was going to say, and I didn’t think it was anything he wanted to hear.’’

Logano said his attitude also has changed in recent years.

He admits his attitude used to be more like “I’m here to win, and I don’t care if someone doesn’t like me.’’

That was evident in previous confrontations with Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Ryan Newman and Denny Hamlin.

That’s not how Logano views things now.

“I over-communicate more,’’ Logano said. “If someone gave me extra room on the race track one day, I make sure they know, thank you.’’

Logano said he texted Stewart a thank you note after Sunday’s race at Dover International Speedway. Stewart’s pit stall was in front of Logano. Because Logano was in front of Stewart throughout the race, Logano would exit his stall when Stewart was still in his under caution. Logano said Stewart gave Logano “plenty of room” to exit his stall.

Logano also become more friendly to other drivers, particularly younger drivers in the series.

“It has been fun to build those relationships up and create those friendships,’’ he said. “It’s easier now because a lot of the guys are my age. You have a lot in common. You’re able to talk to them about stuff that is not racing, which is kind of fun.’’

Logano admits they’re still competitors and things can happen between them but he now better knows how to diffuse a tense situation and prevent it from escalating.

Watch LIVE:NASCAR America at 6 p.m. ET: Dover recap, look back at Tony Stewart’s final season

A 90-minute episode of NASCAR America begins at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and recaps the first elimination race of the Chase for the Sprint Cup.
Mike Massaro hosts with Dale Jarrett and Parker Kligerman in Stamford, Connecticut. Jeff Burton joins them from Burton’s Garage.
In today’s show:
• The Round of 16 is complete as four drivers have been eliminated from the Chase for the Sprint Cup. Gone are Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray, Chris Buescher and Tony Stewart. The second round is set and the 12 drivers in it are led by Martin Truex Jr., after winning two of the first three Chase races. Jarrett, Kligerman and Burton weigh in on the advances and the surprises, comparing how they their Chase Grids compared to the actual after results of the opening round.
• NASCAR America takes a look back at Tony Stewart’s storied career. He has been eliminated from the playoffs after finishing 13th at Dover. Our analysts reveal how they will remember Tony Stewart’s final season.
• We’ll also feature Sunday morning’s Xfinity Series race where Daniel Suarez joined Elliott Sadler in the second round of the Xfinity Chase. We’ll also get reaction from top-seeded Erik Jones, who now faces elimination this week at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
If you can’t catch the show on TV, you also can watch it via the online stream at http://nascarstream.nbcsports.com
If you plan to stream the show on your laptop or portable device, be sure to have your username and password from your cable/satellite/telco provider handy so your subscription can be verified.
Once you plug-in that information, you’ll have access to the stream.
Click here at 6 pm ET to watch live via the stream.

Tony Stewart sees title hopes end but applauds team for effort

DOVER, Del. — His championship hopes over, Tony Stewart walked away into the crowd.

And disappeared.

Gone also were his title hopes. Although a 13th-place finish was his best result in the last seven races, it wasn’t good enough to keep his title hopes alive. Stewart was one of four drivers eliminated from Chase contention Sunday at Dover International Speedway. Also failing to advance were Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray and Chris Buescher. 

Still, when Stewart is enshrined into the NASCAR Sprint Cup Hall of Fame it will be as a three-time champion.

But hope remained when the day began of a fourth title.

“We will give 110 percent this whole day and take whatever it gives us,’’ Stewart told his team on the radio before the start of the Citizen Soldier 400. “I’ll tell you one thing, this one race, whatever happens, is not going to define the season this team has. Win, lose or draw, we keep our heads up.’’

That wasn’t enough. He was a driver in a car that lacked the speed and handling to run with the leaders. Cautions helped him stay on the lead lap past halfway but couldn’t stop the inevitable. He eventually was put a lap down on Lap 267 of the 400-lap race.

“I’m pretty excited about our day,’’ Stewart said as he walked away from his car. “We were much better than we were yesterday. Really proud of our team. We kept making it better all day. That is good as we had.”

That’s all he had to say.

WATCH: LIVE POST-RACE INSPECTION ON TUESDAY

NASCAR.com will live stream post-race inspection Tuesday from 8-11:30 a.m. ET at the NASCAR Research & Development Center in Concord, North Carolina.

Tune in for a three-hour view of the inspection floor of the 61,000-square-foot shop, bringing you behind the scenes as NASCAR officials tear down and inspect Sprint Cup Series vehicles following Sunday's Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover International Speedway.

The cars selected for further evaluation at the R&D Center this week are:

-- The No. 78 Furniture Row Racing Toyota of race winner Martin Truex Jr.
-- The No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of second-place finisher Kyle Busch.
-- The No. 4 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Kevin Harvick.
-- The No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevrolet of Tony Stewart
-- The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet of Austin Dillon.

For more details about the inspection process, click here.

STEWART NOT INTERESTED IN PLAYING NUMBERS GAME

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Crunch the numbers. Do the math. But don't bother telling Tony Stewart the potential scenarios required for him to advance to the Round of 12 in this year's Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.

You'd be wasting your time and his time, too.

The only scenario Stewart, 45 and three times a Sprint Cup Series champion, cares about is the one that ends with him and his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team celebrating in Victory Lane this weekend at Dover International Speedway.

"All we can do is go out and do the best we can this weekend," Stewart said Wednesday during a daylong media stop in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina. "It still amazes me how people can take something that's so simple and make it so complicated. 'Will we be watching where everybody else is?'

"Well yeah, I can waste my time and do that but … I've got to focus on winning the race. Because if I win the race I don't have to worry about where they're at. But if I go and do everything I can to try and win the race and I finish second, then wherever they are is wherever they are. I can't control those guys on the race track so why focus your attention on it? It's a waste of time."

The 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season is the final one for Stewart. He'll remain involved in the series as co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, which fields four Sprint Cup teams and one that will debut a NASCAR XFINITY Series entry next year. He's a track owner, team owner and competitor in other series -- some NASCAR-affiliated, some not -- as well.

But his quest for a fourth title rests solely on the outcome of Sunday's Citizen Soldier 400 at Dover (2 p.m. ET, NBCSN, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). A 16-driver field that began the Chase two weeks ago will be trimmed to 12 after Dover, and Stewart will arrive Friday 15th on the Chase Grid.

His approach to what could be his final race as a title contender will be no different than any other weekend.

"There is no mindset to it," he said. "The most realistic mindset to go into it with is the same approach you go into it with every weekend of the year and that's to go try to win the race. If you don't, get the best finish you can get out of it. That's not glamorous and that's not what you want to hear … but it's literally that simple. Go try to win the race. Do everything you can to win the race. If you can't win the race, try to finish second. If you can't finish second, try to finish third. It is as simple as it can possibly get."

That Stewart is in this predicament is something of a surprise, given the strong summer run that saw him collect six top-10 finishes, including a win at Sonoma, in eight races. The No. 14 team, headed up by crew chief Mike Bugarewicz, seemed primed for a possible run at yet another title.

RELATED: See all of Stewart's victories

But the results of the most recent six races weren't nearly as impressive, with no finish higher than 16th.

"These things are such science projects," Stewart said of today's cars, "and pretty much the whole (SHR) organization fights the same thing. It's whichever one can find the solution first."

Teammate Kevin Harvick has guaranteed himself a spot in the Round of 12 with a win this past weekend at New Hampshire and Kurt Busch can advance either by points, depending on his finish, or with a victory. Teammate Danica Patrick is the only SHR entry not in the Chase field.

RELATED: Harvick surges late for Loudon win

"We're going to have to rely on Kevin and Rodney (Childers, crew chief), Kurt and (Tony) Gibson (crew chief) for sure and do the best we can," Stewart said. "We weren't totally terrible at the spring race but definitely have to be better than we were to get done what we need to get done."

Scenarios? Talk to Stewart at Homestead, if he happens to be one of the championship four. That's when he'll be more aware of such things.

"When you get to the last race of the year and you're racing for a championship and you've got enough of a lead that no matter what, if you finish from here on up, then yeah, you think about that," he said.

"But that’s not the scenario we're in."

STEWART'S FATHEAD MAKES POST-RACE PRESSER CAMEO

New Hampshire winner Kevin Harvick and crew chief Rodney Childers had some company during their post-race winners press conference.

Harvick's son Keelan, a couple cans of beer and Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner and driver Tony Stewart's Fathead.

No, literally. There was a cardboard Fathead of Stewart -- identical to the ones several fans held up in the grandstands at New Hampshire Motor Speedway -- sitting humorously in front of the beer.

Let it be noted that good dad Kevin removed the beer from Keelan's reach. Guess that means more for "Smoke" -- cheers, Tony!

Chase grid: Larson, Harvick among first four out with Stewart on edge of cutoff

One race is down in the Chase for the Sprint Cup with two races left in the first round.

Martin Truex Jr. locked himself into the second round with his win at Chicagoland Speedway.

Here is a look at the Chase grid ahead of expected points penalties for Truex and Jimmie Johnson failing post-race laser inspection on Sunday.

The first four drivers currently out of the top 12 would be Austin Dillon, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher.

Tony Stewart is in the 12th position, one point above the cutoff. Johnson is currently 10th on the grid, but a possible 10-point penalty would drop him to a three-way tie with Harvick and Dillon.

Here’s the full Chase grid.

Tony Stewart staunchly defends payback measures to Brian Scott, Ryan Newman

RICHMOND, Va. – The hard lessons learned by Tony Stewart over 20 years in the Sprint Cup Series are being returned in kind during his final lap around the circuit.

That has “zero to do” with the three-time series champion’s impending retirement, and everything to do with a firm belief in an old-school philosophy that the best way to express displeasure over getting roughed up is to play rough in return.

Stewart sent that message of payback to Brian Scott at Darlington Raceway last week, turning the Richard Petty Motorsports driver into the wall.

“There’s a lot of guys this week that were like, ‘Yeah, we were glad somebody did that,’” Stewart said about intentionally wrecking Scott in the Southern 500. “And that’s the way it used to be.”

Ryan Newman became another recipient of Stewart’s throwback justice Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway.

Stewart admittedly cut off his former teammate, whom he felt had pinched off his No. 14 Chevrolet three times earlier. The contact triggered an eight-car crash and effectively ended Newman’s long-shot bid for a berth in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, which Stewart felt contributed to Newman’s aggression.

“He had to press the issue tonight and put himself in a couple of bad spots,” Stewart said. “There’s 39 other guys you can put yourself in bad spots with. Don’t put yourself in a bad spot with me and don’t start shoving me around the racetrack because he knows from experience I don’t put up with it.”

Newman was aggrieved about the incident and blasted Stewart, who became a close friend during their five-year stint at Stewart-Haas Racing.

“It’s a stressful night for him,” Stewart said. “He was trying to make the Chase. It’s stressful moments, so he’s going to say whatever he’s going to say. I’d say by that he probably doesn’t want to be friends right now. So it’s up to him.”

But his sympathy was limited because “it’s like how many times is he supposed to hit you before you say I’ve had enough of it for the day?

“He put himself in that position, and the end of it was the end of it,” Stewart said. “He has to make his decisions for what he’s doing in his car, too. So he can blame me all he wants, but he’s got two pedals and a steering wheel, too, and he has to make good decisions in what’s in his best interests as well.”

Though it seems unlikely the fellow Indiana natives quickly will patch things up, Stewart said he and Scott found common ground in a prerace conversation Saturday.

“We had a great conversation,” Stewart said. “He wasn’t mad when we left. I wasn’t mad at him. He’s not mad at me, and we go racing. He understood.”

The same conversations happened for him with veterans such as Rusty Wallace and Dale Earnhardt nearly two decades ago.

“I didn’t do anything different than what they did,” he said. “That’s how rookies learned then.”

He seemed to be hoping for a similar understanding from Newman.

“It’s not a feud,” Stewart said. “It’s one night. It’s one moment in time. When it’s over tonight, it’s over.

“He’s got a right to be mad about it, but I got a right to be mad for what he did to me. He wasn’t innocent like he’s acting. He never said once that he run into me three times. His version of how he was driving his car and mine are a little bit different.”

Five Sprint Cup teams receive written warnings; Keselowski, Stewart lose pit selection

NASCAR issued written warnings to five Sprint Cup teams last weekend at Darlington Raceway, including the fourth warnings to the teams of Brad Keselowski and Tony Stewart.

Keselowski and Stewart will lose pit stall selection for this weekend’s race at Richmond International Raceway. Receiving a fourth written warning results in losing pit selection.

Stewart’s car failed pre-race template inspection twice. Keselowski’s car failed pre-race laser inspection three times.

Carl Edwards‘ team also received a third warning for failing pre-race laser inspection three times. Edwards and Keselowski will both lose 15 minutes of practice time Friday at Richmond.

The teams of Joey Logano and Jeffrey Earnhardt each received their third written warnings for failing pre-race laser inspection twice.

NASCAR also fined Ryan Blaney $1,000 for not wearing gloves during practice for the Southern 500, which is a P1 penalty.

Stewart: 'I feel like I'm looking at myself'

Tony Stewart describes his out-of-body experience over the No. 14 team communications as he looks at Joey Logano and Carl Edwards' throwback paint schemes at Darlington Raceway.

NASCAR on NBC podcast, Episode 35: Tony Stewart

The deep thinking happens on heavy equipment these days for Tony Stewart.

Though in his final NASCAR season, the three-time Sprint Cup champion’s pace hardly has slowed between racing a stock car, co-owning Stewart-Haas Racing and managing a myriad business portfolio that also includes dirt tracks, a racing series and a PR firm.

On a 400-acre spread near his Columbus, Indiana, hometown, Stewart’s best moments of reflection come aboard an excavator while clearing land.

“I get a lot of thinking done when I’m out working,” Stewart said on the latest episode of the NASCAR on NBC podcast. “Having a project to work on gives you the outlet to get away from things, but at the same time, when you’re in a piece of equipment by yourself,  you can think of other things that are on your mind, and it gives you time to sort it out and think of solutions to problems that you have.”

During a wide-ranging discussion taped Aug. 3 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame after the unveiling of his Coke-sponsored Southern 500 car that honors Bobby Allison, Stewart explained what life is like on a sprawling homestead that also features an 8.5-acre pond, a 1,500-gallon trout stream and a 5,600-gallon freshwater aquarium.

It’s become an occasional home to two bald eagles, and Stewart plans to begin breeding deer this fall. He has used Periscope to document the other part-time residents of his property – Camping World Truck Series driver Rico Abreu and his open-wheel team. Abreu discussed living in Stewart’s house on a previous edition of the NASCAR on NBC podcast.

“There’s no shortage of fun with us,” Stewart said, describing some epic fireworks battles with the group. “I thought Rico was going to blow up my Lamborghini and possibly burn my house down in the process. But we definitely race hard, we play hard and care a lot about each other.”

During the podcast, Stewart also discussed his decision to retire after the 2016 season from NASCAR’s premier series, which he describes as a lot of work, stress and pressure because of the demands from a 36-race slate that runs February through November.

“For the last 20 years, I’ve been on a NASCAR schedule,” he said. “Everything you do revolves around NASCAR’s schedule. I’ve loved it. If I had to go back and start over, I’d do the same thing over again. I wouldn’t change a thing about it.

“But I’m at a point in my life that I’m ready to do something different. There’s unfinished business that I have with a lot of other categories in my life that I want to go back and finish things. To do that, I’ve got to step aside from the NASCAR side.”

You can listen to the podcast by clicking below or download and subscribe to it on iTunes by clicking here. The free subscription will provide automatic downloads of new episodes to your smartphone. It also is available on Stitcher by clicking here and also can be found on Google Play, Spotify and a host of other smartphone apps.

Here are time cues for easy referencing while listening to the episode:

Tony Stewart teams with Coca-Cola for Bobby Allison tribute in final Southern 500

Tony Stewart‘s last shot at conquering the Southern 500 will be a tribute to a driver and paint scheme combination that did it twice.

Stewart, who retires from Sprint Cup competition after this season, will make his final start at Darlington Raceway in a Coca-Cola sponsored homage to Bobby Allison’s Southern 500 winning cars from 1971 and 1972.

The car was unveiled Wednesday at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte, North Carolina, which Allison was inducted into in 2011. Stewart has been sponsored by Coca-Cola his entire

Sprint Cup career, which began in 1999.

“Tony Stewart is a real racer who would’ve fit right in during the time I raced in NASCAR,” Allison said in a press release. “He’s a perfect fit for this Coca-Cola Chevy. I know what car I’ll be watching in the Southern 500.”

The paint scheme on the No. 14 will include Coke’s slogan from the 70s – “The Real Thing” – and gold wheels and cubic-inch displacement boast on the hood, just like Allison’s car did.

Darlington is one of two tracks Stewart has not won at in Sprint Cup competition. The other is Kentucky Speedway.

In 23 Sprint Cup starts, Stewart has never led more than 10 laps at Darlington. Allson led 558 of the 734 laps available (76 percent) in the 1971 and 72′ Southern 500s. The 1983 Sprint Cup champion won at Darlington five times. Stewart has finished third in the Southern 500 twice.

“Races at Darlington have been pretty tough for me,” Stewart said in a press release. “We’ve had some decent runs there, but it just seems like you really have to put everything together the whole day. If you can say you won a race at Darlington – that’s a feather in your cap because you conquered something that’s very hard to obtain. That’s something to be proud of, knowing that you’re in a group of drivers with names like Allison and Pearson and Petty –the pioneers of our sport.”

Stewart’s final Southern 500 can be seen on Sept. 4 on NBC.

STEWART UNVEILS SPECIAL COCA-COLA LOOK FOR DARLINGTON

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Tony Stewart joked that "I can't remember what I had for lunch most days" but the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion said he can recall the first time he saw Bobby Allison race.

"It was at Scottsburg, Indiana," Stewart said Wednesday during an appearance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. "They ran Late Models, Street Stocks and Bombers or something like that that night.

"It was him in a Coke-sponsored car. He was running around the bottom the whole time; I was yelling 'Run the top!' I wanted to see him run the top once. But he was set up for the bottom I'm sure and I remember he ran eighth.

"That was probably 30-35 years ago but I can remember it."

Stewart will pay tribute to the NASCAR Hall of Fame driver during this year's Bojangles' Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway with a throwback paint scheme similar to that run by Allison between 1970-73. The car was unveiled for the first time at the Hall Wednesday.

Stewart's No. 14 Chevrolet will bear the Coca-Cola logos and feature the same red and gold paint scheme that adorned Allison's familiar No. 12 entry.

"I knew Bobby because he was a NASCAR driver. My family, we barely could afford to race the go-karts we were racing let alone go do something else. ... So I went with a buddy of mine; I didn't know Bobby was going to be there that day. But out front of the race track on the marquee it said Bobby Allison was racing and the date and I thought 'Wow, that's going to be cool.'

Some two dozen throwback schemes for this year's race, scheduled for Sunday, Sept. 4, have been announced. Track officials say they expect the entire field to feature a nod to the past in some form or fashion.

Allison won 84 times in NASCAR's premier series and won the championship in 1983. He won the Southern 500 at Darlington four times, twice (1971-72) while running the red-and-gold scheme.

But what helped make the Hueytown, Alabama-based driver a fan favorite was his willingness to go race anywhere, at any time. Race fans that were not able to travel to Daytona or Darlington, Bristol or Riverside could see Allison compete at the tiny half-mile tracks across the Midwest and Northeast.

Stewart, Allison said, is cut from the same cloth."

I appreciate his enthusiasm for the sport, his ability, his willingness to go anywhere anytime and run different kinds of tracks, different kinds of equipment," Allison, now 78, said. "I ran different kinds but I never really got into the dirt Super Mods or anything. I did run them just a little … never dug into that, which he has. And he's won. I won in quite a few, but not all of them. I look at that and really appreciate him."

Allison spent his entire driving career darting between weekly short-track events while competing in NASCAR's premier series."I felt like any lap was just more experience, more training for me," he said. "Also any differences helped me adjust when the track changed, the weather changed. So much of that would throw the drivers; it helped me adjust to whatever went on anywhere I was racing."

Stewart, co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, will retire from Sprint Cup competition at season's end. It's a fitting way, he said, to honor Allison in what will be his final Southern 500 start.

"He was fierce in a race car," Stewart said. "You knew that if he was out there … you were going to have to be on your game to beat him that day.

"(Darlington) is one of two Cup tracks that we run that I've not won a Cup race at … this is my last chance to cross another one, and a big one, off the list. And it's going to be in a really cool car too."

NASCAR America: Scan All Indianapolis

Take another look at the Brickyard 400 from Kyle Busch‘s victory and late-race restarts to Jeff Gordon‘s return to the track and Tony Stewart‘s suggestion that led to a memorable salute after the race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

'SMOKE' CALLED TO FRONT OF LINE FOR INDY TRIBUTE

SPEEDWAY, Ind. -- Tony Stewart 's final NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Indianapolis Motor Speedway got off to an emotional start here Sunday as NASCAR and IMS officials, along with fans of the three-time premier series champion, paid tribute to Stewart during pre-race activities.

Stewart, twice a winner at the legendary 2.5-mile facility, is retiring from Sprint Cup competition at season's end. Sunday's Crown Royal Presents the Combat Wounded Coalition 400 at the Brickyard marked his 18th career start at the track.

Stewart, 45, led the field on the opening pace lap well ahead of even the pace car prior to the start of the race before falling back in line to his official starting position of third on the 40-car grid.

Earlier, additional room on the pre-race grid was provided to the No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing team to accommodate up to 100 guests on hand to see Stewart make his final scheduled Brickyard start.

Stewart has 49 career victories, including Brickyard 400 wins in 2005 and '07. His 9.6 average finishing position at Indy is his best at any track in the series.

Stewart grew up in Columbus, Indiana, located approximately 50 miles south of the speedway, and he maintains his primary residence there. He has spoken often of what the track has meant to him through the years.

"You know, it means a lot," he said recently. "Some of the greatest race car drivers in the world, whether it was IndyCar, Formula 1, MotoGP, NASCAR, they've run and won at the Brickyard, so that in itself makes it special.

"I grew up ... in Indiana. I didn't move to Indiana. I didn't move away from Indiana. I'm the only NASCAR driver in the (Sprint) Cup Series that's from Indiana that still lives in Indiana, and I'm proud of where I was born. I'm proud to be back.

"I still live in the town I was raised in. I take a lot of pride in that. I think the state of Indiana takes a lot of pride in that, and that's what makes it a big weekend. I'm representing a lot of people around me, and I'm proud to do that."

Stewart made his first start at Indy in 1996, winning the pole and finishing 24th for team owner John Menard in the Indianapolis 500. He finished fifth the following year.

Stewart remains the only driver to complete all 1,100 miles of the Indy/Charlotte double held in May. He finished sixth in the Indy 500 in 2001, then flew to Charlotte Motor Speedway where he drove to a third-place finish in the Coca-Cola 600 .

Schedule for NASCAR Truck Series at Eldora

The Camping World Truck Series rolls into the small town of Rossburg, Ohio, this week for its fourth annual race at Eldora Speedway, the half-mile dirt track owned by Tony Stewart.

Here’s the full schedule for the Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby, including TV and radio info.All times are Eastern.

Tuesday, July 19

3:30 – 11 p.m. – Garage open

6:30 – 7:55 p.m. – Truck practice (No TV)

9 – 9:55 p.m. – Final Truck practice (No TV)

Wednesday, July 20

noon – Truck  garage opens

4:30 p.m. – Driver-crew chief meeting

5:15 p.m – Qualifying; single car/two laps (Fox Sports 1)

7 p.m. – First qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

7:09 p.m. – Second qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

7:18 p.m. Third qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

7:27 p.m. – Fourth qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

7:36 p.m. – Fifth qualifying race; 10 laps (FS1)

8:15 p.m. – Last chance qualifying race; 15 laps (FS1)

8:40 p.m. – Driver introductions

9 p.m. – Aspen Dental Eldora Dirt Derby; 150 laps, three segments of 40, 50 and 60 laps/75 miles (FS1, Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio)

Tony Stewart hot laps dirt track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Of course Tony Stewart was going to play in the dirt Tuesday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The track — to honor Stewart’s final start in the Brickyard 400 on July 24 — built a 3/16-mile dirt track in the infield near the speedway’s Turn 3.

“I was dead set that I was not going to get in anything … (but) I’m addicted,’’ Stewart told reporters shortly before running about 20 laps on the dirt track. “I’m going to have to run a couple of laps.

“I always want to drive something like this. I want something that I’m in control of. I want something that I have to drive the car and the car is not driving me.’’

Stewart grew up about an hour south of the speedway in Columbus, Indiana, and starred on dirt tracks before moving to Indy cars and then NASCAR.

He twice won the Brickyard 400. He raced in the Indianapolis 500 five times, finishing a career-best fifth in 1997. He last drove in that race in 2001, the second and final time he ran in the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day.

For as much as Stewart enjoyed running on the track Tuesday, he looked forward to what might happen in the future.

“If we get to actually watch a race here at IMS on a dirt track, that is going to be pretty awesome,’’ said Stewart, who owns Eldora (Ohio) Speedway and the Arctic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions sprint car series. “They haven’t been able to do that for the first 100 years, but they can do it for the next 100.’’