Tony Stewart made an appearance in the NASCAR on FOX booth for the LA Coliseum race. But plenty of people were living under the misconception that he was nothing more than an afterthought.

But one couldn’t be more wrong.

Stewart popped up in the booth once again for the 2023 season opener race. But many were living under the misconception that the Stewart-Haas Racing boss got the gig just because the booth needed someone and his number came up. On the contrary, it was a calculated decision. In fact, they wanted him for more races!

Mike Joy cleared up. “Tony’s not here for this race just because his number came up. We got to the end of last season, and we told Jacob Almond, whose VP, in charge of talent development, ‘how many races does Tony want to do? And we’ll figure out how we fill in the rest’.”

Read More: “It’s Called Community Service… Still Have Hours Left to Complete” – Tony Stewart on Clint Bowyer Partnership After Cheekily Being Asked to Not Have a “Filter” By Mike Joy

Despite being called specially for the gig, the four-time champ still felt he didn’t deserve the honor.

Tony Stewart felt like he wasn’t up for the task at the booth

When Stewart was asked to hop into the NASCAR booth in 2022, he was caught off guard. But the worst of it was the fact that he felt he had no reason to be put to the task. He said, “I remember last year on this day riding the car. And I’m like, I have no business doing this.”

He further added, “I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know why they hired me to do this. This is gonna be a train wreck.”

Of course, he was proven wrong because the SHR boss was exactly what the fans needed. And even he said, “I had so much fun with it, the three races I got to do last year.” 

WATCH THIS STORY: Tony Stewart Masterstroke Leads to “Unexpected as F**k” Brad Keselowski–Hailie Deegan Announcement

He got a similar record this year, making all the fans a star of him once again. Do you want to see the Hall of Famer hop in the booth for more races this year?