If you ever thought for a minute that racecar drivers mellow down or tone down their passion, for better or worse, after their retirement, then you’re wrong. Absolutely wrong. At least when it comes to Tony Stewart.

The former NASCAR driver recently got in a messy situation with Ernie Francis during an SRX Series race at South Boston.

Stewart can be seen raining down his fury on Francis, who seemed to be making a point about an in-race situation. But the Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner was having none of it.

Tony Stewart on the incident with Ernie Francis

In a post-race interview, Tony Stewart, who eventually went on to win the race, reflected on his feud with Ernie Francis. “Well, (Francis) pissed off Uncle Tony right now,” he said.

“They’re about to get a dose of it they don’t want. Trust me, I know every dirty trick. I’ve got it in my bag,” he continued. Stewart described what Francis did as “the dumbest s**t” one can do.

“I’m just done playing nice with everybody. Anybody that touches me, I’m touching back times five. I’m done jacking with some of these clowns,” he added.

Speaking about his race win, Stewart added that he was worried they’d get a late caution. He described how he hadn’t been to South Boston in nearly two decades, since the time he ran a midget race there in 2001 or 2002.

The former NASCAR driver added that he doesn’t need “much motivation” by default, but, “When you’ve got the fans of South Boston cheering like that every time you get the lead, by God you’re not gonna let them down,” he said.

Suffice to say, Big Smoke hasn’t changed all that much. He just switched rides.

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