NASCAR Latest News and Rumors: Tony Stewart Goes Back to Dirt Track Racing After Retirement
For racing great Tony Stewart, retiring from the Sprint Cup and NASCAR does not mean retirement in racing in general. It's sad to see an icon call it quits from the most popular stock racing competition in the world, but if it's any consolation, he emphasized that he actually will be competing in other racing disciplines, particularly dirt track.
Speaking to a bunch of reporters at the Chili Bowl Nationals on Monday, he officially admitted that he literally is not out of the "race." "I plan on running a lot of dirt races after the end of the season when I retire from the Cup stuff, so I would say this is on the radar," he said.
But it's not really surprising for the fans of the three-time Sprint Cup series champ since he has long been known to have traveled many parts of the country just to race sprint cars. There were even instances when he joined races secretly — more like what happens in the movies. He's also used to heavy schedules just like that of dirt track car events.
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The 44-year-old has had many achievements in a long career in racing, but the one stain in his legacy is the 2014 tragic accident at Canandaigua Motorsports Park, where he struck Kevin Ward Jr. in a sprint car race. Ward died because of the hit, but a grand jury decided that the hit was unintentional and Stewart won't be facing criminal charges.
Although Stewart signified his intentions of keeping himself active in dirt track racing, he actually was not an official participant in the Chili Bowl. His presence was to provide assistance in track preparations. He did say a lot of good things about the competition. "It is the dirt track race of the year," he said. "I don't care what series, what track, this is the place to be," the American racecar driver added.
