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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tony Stewart might be in the best shape of his life, and just in time.
At 44, the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion has declared this to be his final Sprint Cup season as a driver, and he’s doing everything in his power to make it memorable.
“I’m eating better, drinking better, working out, doing stuff I swore I would never do — and I’m doing it in my last year,” said Stewart, facing Thursday’s a media during the Charlotte Motor Speedway Media Tour presented by Technocom.
“I’ve changed my diet. I’ve changed everything for this year, so if anybody has any questions about how dedicated we are to having the best year we possibly could have, that’s the answer. I’m more excited about this year than I have been in a long time.”
Stewart would love to emulate the farewell season enjoyed by Jeff Gordon, who went into the final race of the 2015 season with a shot at his fifth Sprint Cup title.
“That was 99 percent of a perfect (final) season,” Stewart said. “I don’t have any grand illusions that I’m going to have that kind of year. It may or may not be in our cards. We’re going to give 100 percent, but the main focus will be to have fun this last year. If we can go out and win races and have an opportunity, trust me, I’ll be ready.”
In his dream scenario, Stewart said he would win the Daytona 500, the Southern 500 at Darlington, and a Sprint Cup race at Kentucky Speedway to give him checkered flags at every track on the circuit.
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Kurt Busch said he wouldn’t put anything past Stewart, who is both his teammate and boss.
“Jeff Gordon had a fantastic final season. I don’t see why Tony Stewart can’t do the same thing,” he said. “He’s a three-time champion in stock cars, he’s a champion from open-wheel … he’s won in everything. Having a teammate and a car owner going through a retirement tour, there will be times when I’ll be giving that extra five percent on a given day to help him out.”
Stewart knows that two more victories would get him to 50, but even one victory would be enough to get him to the Chase with a shot at one last title. No matter what, he insists this will be his Sprint Cup swan song.
“Even if we went out there and won 15 races and won the championship, we’re done,” he said. “When Homestead happens, no matter how the year went, we’re done. If it’s a terrible year, I’m not going to sit there and go, ‘Wow, that defined my career,’ because the stats will define how we did over 18 years.”
Stewart’s past two seasons have not been indicative of his 48 career wins and 300 top-10 finishes in 590 Sprint Cup starts. He has not won a race since June 2, 2013 at Dover and failed to notch a top-five finish last season.
There have been extenuating circumstances — a broken leg which halted his 2013 season and the tragic incident in August 2014, when Stewart struck and killed a fellow competitor while running a caution lap during a sprint car race in upstate New York.
Although it will be Stewart’s final season as a Cup driver, he’ll remain active as a co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing with Gene Haas, participating in the day-to-day operations of a high-profile team with championship expectations.
“I think we have two guys who definitely have a great opportunity to race for a championship (this year),” said Stewart, referring to 2014 Sprint Cup champion Kevin Harvick and Busch, a former champ who finished eighth in points last season.