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HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Tony Stewart took the stage Friday morning inside Homestead-Miami Speedway‘s media center — a few minutes late as is his M.O. — and participated in his final pre-race press conference as a full-time NASCAR driver.
He was quiet and businesslike, but as the questions came, Stewart was very much the “Smoke” who has won over fans, challenged reporters and boosted the sport for the past 18 years.
Sunday’s season finale will mark Stewart’s final Sprint Cup Series start in a three-championship, 49-victory, always-interesting stock car career that started with him racing alongside the ranks of his friend, the late Dale Earnhardt, and concludes on a weekend that another friend, Jimmie Johnson, is contending for a historic seventh championship.
“Smoke” is in a good place. And he promised again, he is only hanging up his helmet. He will still be visible and vocal, narrowing his role from NASCAR owner/driver to NASCAR owner. He is reticent to buy into the notion that he’s “retiring.” Instead, he prefers to think he’s refocusing.
“Normally legacy means you’re old; you’ve been around for a long time,” Stewart said, smiling. “It’s just been fun. It’s been a fun 18 years. Not every part of it has been fun and I’ve made your guys’ (reporters) life hell at certain points during my 18-year run here, but … at the end of it, I’ve always said what was on my mind whether it was popular or unpopular.
“I always fought for what I believed in, whether it was safety for other drivers or something etiquette that was going on n the race track or whatever; I always fought for what I believed in. At the end of the day I can sleep all right knowing that is why I did it. It wasn’t because I was trying to be a jerk or something like that; I just always spoke my mind and fought for what I believed in.”
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Even as Stewart answered weighty questions about his legacy, the impact of his career, and the weekend’s tally of celebrity good wishes, he joked that his focus was just a tad off because his phone was stolen Thursday night while visiting a local fair in South Florida with his girlfriend.
Legendary NASCAR status doesn’t make you immune from petty theft as Stewart found out.
“We were just getting ready to leave and I realized it wasn’t in my pocket,” Stewart said of his cell phone. “I had her phone, my phone and a couple of other things I was holding for her. When I was checking to see where it was, it was not there anymore. We had bumped into some people right before that and I’m fairly certain that is when it decided it went a different direction, but it was kind of fun because they have that Find My iPhone app.
“We went chasing people forever trying to find it. Until we realized they were in the parking lot and they got in the car and they were gone. I hit block on it and deleted it and now I’ve got to get a new phone, which is devastating because I do everything off of my cell phone. My life is on that cell phone, so I start my life over tomorrow (laughs).”
In many ways, this weekend isn’t a final start for Stewart, but a fresh start. And he is ready.
Stewart was 23rd fastest in Friday’s opening practice for Sunday’s 18th Annual Ford EcoBoost 400. And he didn’t get a single question about the speed of his No. 14 Mobil 1 Chevrolet. He patiently and thoughtfully answered questions from what he feeds his dog to which special guests will attend his last Cup race to the million-dollar question of what he expects to miss the most. “I don’t know that I’m really going to miss anything because you know, the great thing is I still get to see the people and be around the people,” Stewart said with a smile. “That is probably the best part of the whole deal. I’m still going to be around the sport. I’m still going to be active.”