In 2014, Tony Stewart walked back into a NASCAR garage with the weight of tragedy on his shoulders. Kevin Ward Jr. had just lost his life in a sprint car incident involving Stewart. Though a grand jury decided not to press charges, the emotional burden was heavy. Yet what awaited him at Atlanta Motor Speedway wasn’t silence—it was love. Fans lined the fences, scribbled messages on pavement, and shouted “Welcome back, Smoke.”

Some weren’t even Stewart supporters, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson fans included, but they respected the man and his pain. “It was one of the most flattering, if not the most flattering experience I’ve had in my life. People who don’t like me… were sympathetic of the situation,” Stewart said. Even drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson stood in solidarity. “Racers have always taken care of racers,” Stewart said.

And through that grim chapter, the fans reminded him that he wasn’t alone. That NASCAR still had a soul. That people still cared. And maybe that’s what kept him going. Now, almost a decade later, Tony Stewart is stepping up once again. But this time, it’s not about returning to the track—it’s about calling out the powers who run the sport he once ruled. In a brutally honest interview, Stewart didn’t hold back. He questioned the very leadership of NASCAR, echoing the frustrations fans have voiced for years.

While Stewart was thriving in NHRA, where fan engagement and competition felt real again, his frustration with NASCAR only grew. Recently, in a scathing appearance on the Rubbin’ is Racing podcast, Stewart let it rip. “They care more about how much money they’re going to put in their pockets than they are making sure that the teams are healthy,” he said.

He further recalled a moment from 2014 when almost half of the garage went to NASCAR to suggest some changes in the sport, only to get a deaf ear. “The fans aren’t even smart enough to know that that’s what we need. Because they don’t. And it’s not their fault—they don’t drive the cars. We came up with that shit years ago and went to NASCAR with it. They were so ignorant. The guy that was in charge of it—that vetoed it—looked at 20 of us drivers. We had twenty drivers—half the field—sit in a room and agree on five things to fix racing. And one guy told us all five were wrong. He never drove a car, never worked on one, but he had ‘data.’ He looked at 20 of us drivers… and told us we were all wrong,” Stewart recalled.

In September 2024, Denny Hamlin described charter talks as “stagnant,” and called out NASCAR’s unwillingness to listen. “One side will have to wake up and be reasonable,” Hamlin said. And when asked which side? “Not ours.” Hamlin and others have slammed the organization for promoting aggressive pack racing that often leads to multi-car wrecks. “I just want to see us do something different, to put the sport back in it and take luck back out,” Hamlin said at Daytona 500 this year.

Between questionable rule changes and tone-deaf responses, NASCAR seems more interested in optics than outcomes. But Stewart still believes there’s a way back. And ironically, the fans, the very ones NASCAR often overlooks, might hold the key. “What’s best for the fans is the only thing that’s going to stop and change NASCAR’s mind,” Stewart said. That change won’t come from polite tweets. It’ll take a stand. A boycott. “Until they stop watching—nothing’s going to change with NASCAR,” he warned. Stewart believes it’s the fans’ love that can heal the sport.

What changes do fans want? More horsepower? Softer tires? Closer racing, right? When NASCAR entered the Next-Gen era, the aero package, combined with the 650 horsepower engines, made racing boring in a way. Just look at Kyle Larson’s Bristol dominance. To lead over 400 laps in two consecutive races at the same track is no easy feat, yet he did it because the scope of parity in the sport allowed him to. But will increasing engine power really make a difference? According to one racing legend, it will only make things tougher for teams.

“If we were to extend the power from 650 horsepower to 750 horsepower that probably won’t be much of a change for us today. To go back to the 900 horsepower engines that would be quite the project and it would decrease the life of the engine,” legendary engine maker Doug Yates said. NASCAR needs a solution, and while the engines may be the one part they need to find the balance to make racing is exciting.

For now, let’s see what Stewart has to say about his greatest NASCAR moment.

Smoke talks about his greatest NASCAR moment!

Tony Stewart has had more than his fair share of legendary moments. But none shine brighter than the 2011 finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Coming into the Chase with a rough regular season, no one expected Stewart to do much. “If someone said (before the Chase) we were going to win a race or five races, I would have lost every bet,” Stewart later admitted. But against all odds, his #14 Stewart-Hass Racing team clicked at the right time, and what followed was pure magic.

Tied in points with Carl Edwards, the championship came down to that last race. It wasn’t clean. Stewart’s car picked up debris, took damage not once but twice. There were rain delays and a bad pit stop. But the turning point came with a daring fuel strategy. “I get a call on the radio from the crew chief to start saving fuel. Well, the only way you save fuel is to slow down… and [Edwards] has literally four or five car lengths in front of me,” Stewart said. Smoke thought he was giving the title away, but the gamble worked.

Edwards, who had started on pole, pitted late and restarted behind Stewart. That was all it took. Stewart surged, held the lead, and sealed the deal, not just for the race, but for the championship. With five wins in the playoffs to Edwards’ one, Stewart took the title on the tiebreaker. “There was enough drama in that race to be dramatic for five races,” Stewart recalled. It wasn’t just a win, it was a war. And Stewart, as always, came out swinging. That race didn’t just earn him a third Cup title. It reminded everyone why fans shouted “Smoke!” from the stands.