It takes something special to overshadow the season opener at Daytona. This year, it took Tony Stewart. He didn’t know that he would strap back into a truck; he’d rewrite the broadcast record books.

Tony Stewart’s return boosted FOX Sports

According to FOX Sports PR on X, the ‘Tony Stewart effect’ was immediately apparent, as viewership jumped a staggering 37% from last year’s 1.01 million to 1.38 million, a clear indicator of his drawing power. The viewership peaked from 9:45 PM to 10:00 PM ET, reaching 1,604,000. All of these made the race on FOX’s FS1 the most-watched race in the last decade, going back to 2016, thanks to Stewart’s return.

The three-time Cup Series champion decided to make a comeback to the Truck Series in 2026 with Kaulig Racing and RAM. RAM Trucks, under the brand Stellantis, also returned to NASCAR after signing off as Dodge in 2013.

Stewart raced with Kaulig Racing’s #25 RAM 1500, and this was his first truck race since 2005. ‘Smoke’ also participated in the NASCAR race for the first time since the season-ending race at Homestead-Miami Speedway in 2016.

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“It was fun to come back here,” Stewart said after the race. “It’s fun to watch the style these kids run. I mean, you could tell the guys that their trucks felt good right out of the gate, and they were aggressive. And it’s like, man, I wish I had the confidence to do that. But it was getting more fun when the balance was getting closer to where we needed it to be.”

However, one must admit that it was not just the Tony Stewart effect that boosted the viewership. The fact that Cleetus McFarland, a renowned YouTuber with over 4.6 million subscribers, also participated in the race.

McFarland’s enormous fan following added up with Cup Series stars’ fans who participated in the race—Ricky Stenhouse Jr., John Hunter Nemechek, Michael McDowell, Corey LaJoie, and Carson Hocevar, among many others.

Notably, Hollywood actor Frankie Muniz and American stunt performer Travis Pastrana’s fan base also played an important role. The Truck Series race was a success, unlike Tony Stewart’s return.

Tony Stewart had an outing to forget at Daytona

Tony Stewart‘s much-anticipated return ended in disaster after the 54-year-old driver suffered a race-ending crash on Lap 36 of 100. ‘Smoke’ was hit by Jake Garcia’s #98 truck while exiting Turn 4. As a result, Stewart’s truck hit Garcia’s truck on one side and the wall on the other, resulting in a broken suspension and damaged body, and ending the outing in a DNF.

“The hard thing is I’m not really sure what happened that got us there, but we just ended up on the wrong end of that stick,” Stewart said after the race.

The Fresh From Florida 250 race took place on Friday at the Daytona International Speedway for two hours and six minutes. There were six cautions involved and 32 lead changes among 12 different drivers. Chandler Smith of Front Row Motorsports won the race, as he finished ahead of Gio Ruggiero and Christian Eckes.