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Stewart Set for Final Cup Start
- Updated: November 18, 2016
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One of the fiercest, toughest, passionate and generous drivers ever to strap on a helmet in the Sprint Cup Series is set for his final start in Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. In what will be his 618th start in NASCAR’s premier division, Tony Stewart will climb behind the wheel of his No. 14 Chevrolet one last time after an illustrious career that includes 49 wins and three championships. His car will carry a special paint scheme with signatures of each Stewart-Haas Racing employee, photos from his career and the words “Always a Racer, Forever a Champion” on the hood.
“I saw it on Wednesday and loved it,” Stewart said about the car Friday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “The thing I like most about it is all the employees of Stewart-Haas Racing signatures are on it and that means a bunch to me. That was pretty cool to see and it’s going to be pretty fun to run that car this weekend.”
Many of Stewart’s colleagues and friends have reached out to him this week, but there is only one problem – Stewart’s cell phone was stolen on Thursday night.
“Somebody reached out and touched me yesterday and stole my cell phone out of my pocket,” Stewart said. “It’s been a hell of a start to the weekend to get your phone stolen. That was part of the biggest thing that was disappointing last night when I realized my phone was stolen is the fact that I was in the process of answering text messages from people. I got a flood of text messages yesterday. I think when I have a phone by tomorrow I think when I turn it on its going to be absolutely crazy.
“It’s been neat. People or friends that I haven’t seen or heard from in a long time reached out this week. The overall support from everybody is really awesome.” In his 18th season, Stewart made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup for the ninth time since the “playoff” format was implemented in 2004 – thanks to his win at Sonoma Raceway in June. “Before the season, we said our only goal was to go out and have fun,” Stewart said. “Anything else would be icing on the cake.” Stewart’s NASCAR career started in 1996 with a part-time ride for Harry Ranier in the Busch Grand National (now XFINITY) Series. He began that season by riding down to Daytona in the truck that hauled his No. 15 Pontiac. “I saved about $150 in gas money,” Stewart said. “As a rookie driver, $150 was a lot of money. I was happy to have a free ride down there and didn’t have to buy a plane ticket.” The next season, …
