Tony Stewart is a racer. No matter what vehicle you toss him in, he’ll compete, and he’s proven that across all different disciplines: open-wheel, dirt, Top Fuel, and, most successfully, tin-top stock cars. He hasn’t entered a NASCAR race as a driver since 2016, but he’s putting an end to his 10-year hiatus by returning to action with Ram and Kaulig Racing in a one-off Craftsman Truck Series entry. Really, that’s a bigger deal than you might realize.
I’ll never be surprised to hear that Stewart is getting behind the wheel of something on any given race weekend. However, not everything has been hunky dory lately between NASCAR and the driver affectionately known as “Smoke.” You might remember that Stewart ran SRX, an altogether new stock car racing league that drew talent from everywhere, including NASCAR’s Cup Series. That has since been wound down, but not before NASCAR President Steve Phelps sent some nastygrams about SRX that came to light during a recent court battle.
In those texts, Phelps said, “These guys are just plain stupid. Need to put a knife in this trash series.” That was enough to feed the buzzing news cycle that swirled around NASCAR’s year-long legal fight with 23XI Racing, which only just came to an end. Phelps later announced his resignation from NASCAR, and he’ll be out by the end of January. (It didn’t help that he also berated team owner Richard Childress by calling him “a stupid redneck who owes his entire fortune to NASCAR.”)
Anywho, yeah. With that background, Stewart’s sly grin in the included press photo feels all the more meaningful.
Smoke will be the first competitor in Kaulig Racing’s free agent seat. That means he won’t be driving full-time, as the Daytona season-opener is all that he’s confirmed to run right now. Still, it’s noteworthy considering that Stewart just took a year off from NASCAR with his former team, Stewart-Haas Racing, closing at the end of 2024. It was the first time Stewart hadn’t been involved with the sanctioning body in well over two decades.
“I’ve raced just about everything with four wheels at Daytona, but never a truck. So when a seat in the new Ram was offered up for their first race back in NASCAR, I didn’t hesitate,” Stewart explained. “Ram’s Free Agent program is another great way for me to stay sharp and have a little fun.”
I bet he’ll have a blast.
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