It has been quite some time since Tony Stewart graced the field in NASCAR. Despite all of these years out of the sport, he has kept himself busy with his responsibilities as a team owner and his participation in the NHRA series. Although this year’s Daytona 500 saw the return of former glorious drivers such as Jimmie Johnson return from the shadows, this did not seem to influence Smoke to get back into the sport. So the question has to be asked. Why doesn’t Stewart want to get behind the wheel of a next-gen car?

During a recent interview, the three-time Cup Series champion detailed how his NASCAR ship has sailed. Tony also raised a point about last year’s champion, Joey Logano‘s comments about there being a 30% chance of almost everyone finishing the race if they were on the grid.

What did Tony Stewart say about his return to NASCAR?

Stewart made it clear that he would not be accepting the 30% bait, just to get back into the sport.

As reported by, speedsport.com, Stewart mentioned, “I’m not going for the 30 percent chance. If I go, it’s because I feel like I’ve got a shot to win the race,” Stewart clarified. “As much as I love the Daytona 500 and I haven’t checked it off the list with a win, I’ve kind of just come to terms with it and I’m OK with that now.”

With that being said, Smoke did mention that he would still be interested in joining one specific race. And that would be Bristol. This is mostly due to his fascination with dirt tracks.

Stewart further mentioned, “since deep down inside, I’m first a sprint car and dirt-track driver before anything else.”

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Tony Stewart is more ambitious about the NHRA than NASCAR

As of now, it seems that Stewart has become more and more interested in Drag Racing. He has even fielded his own team along with his wife, who already is an accomplished drag racer.

As per Smoke’s comments, it is evident that he does not hold any intention of making a NASCAR return. He even went on to mention how he had left it on Jimmie Johnson to “carry the flag” for the retired NASCAR driver making a comeback to the sport.

Despite his lack of interest in NASCAR, Stewart is still active in other formats of motorsport. The 51-year-old describes himself as a dirt racer and continues to participate in midget races across the country. However, ever since receiving the taste of high-octane straight-line racing of drag racing, the former NASCAR driver seems like he would be dedicating himself to this particular sport.

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While we won’t be seeing him making a return to the Cup Series, he would still be racing, just not in NASCAR. It is good to see Stewart continuing to be active as a racing driver, despite the age factor. We look forward to seeing him participate in several sports and grow his racing portfolio even larger as time passes on.