MORE: Stewart announces that 2016 is final Cup season
KANNAPOLIS, N.C. -- He was loose and smiling, joking and what, jovial?
Has Tony Stewart ever been described as jovial?
We've seen him laugh and cut up. Have fun from time to time.
We've also seen him drive the wheels off a race car.
Sadly, we've seen too little of those recently.
The smile was there Wednesday though, no doubt about it.
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It was there when he and co-team owner Gene Haas stepped out from behind the Carolina blue curtains and took their seats on the stage. And it was still there when Stewart, Haas and fellow driver Clint Bowyer departed approximately 50 minutes later.
On Wednesday, Stewart announced that the 2016 season would be his last as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver. Bowyer is his handpicked replacement for Stewart-Haas Racing's No. 14 Chevrolet.
It isn't a retirement, Stewart was quick to note, explaining that "I'm not walking away from something I'm passionate about; I'm just changing roles. … I'm not really retiring, I'm just changing positions."
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He expects to bring the same intensity to his ownership role as he has displayed on the track. He'll be actively involved, probably to the displeasure of more than one NASCAR official, he added.
There have been plenty of opportunities of late for the 44-year-old to step aside. The broken leg suffered in a sprint car crash in 2013; his involvement in an on-track fatality during a sprint car race last summer; a 2015 season that's shaping up to be the worst of his 17-year career in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
But none of those were a factor, he said.
"It's all about timing. There was not one thing that led to this other than I just felt like it was the right time."
The opportunity to bring Bowyer in house played a huge role. "You jump on those opportunities," Stewart said.
"It just all meshed."
It wasn't a knee-jerk decision. No "woe is me" tale of self-pity. Stewart looked and sounded as if it was a decision he had begun formulating long before his career suddenly became tabloid fodder.
He has nothing left to prove on the track. There are races Stewart would like to win -- the Daytona 500 and Southern 500 have managed to elude him thus far. A fourth championship wouldn't be a bad way to leave, either.
But with three titles (2002, '05, '11) and 48 career victories, Stewart's NASCAR resume needs no padding.
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He was already well down the path to a successful career as a racer long before NASCAR became an option in the mid '90s. And his career as a driver was nearly a decade old when Haas reached out with an offer to become partners prior to 2009.
Along the way, numerous enterprises have sprouted up -- from track and team ownership to real estate and public relations companies. Piece by piece, an empire has been built. Opportunities became realities.
"Everything happens for a reason, and you look at my career and you look at all the different entities that we have, nothing was ever part of a master plan," Stewart said. "It all just came about with opportunities coming at the right time and I think this was one of those as well."
WATCH: Memorable moments from Stewart's announcement
Other racing opportunities, in a variety of series, are out there, so Stewart's '16 season likely won't be the last time fans see him behind the wheel. The when and where won't be determined until later.
The Sprint Cup effort -- SHR fields entries for defending series champion Kevin Harvick, Danica Patrick and '04 champ Kurt Busch as well as Stewart -- will be his focus beyond '16, though.
"You know, it's kind of a bittersweet day," he said. "I'm excited about it, but at the same time I'm sad about it as well. I love what I do with NASCAR and I love what I do as a driver, and the great thing is I'm not going anywhere.”
Folks that step away from the sport for any length of time will tell you that it's the people that they miss most, and Stewart's no different. He hasn't forgotten the people that called or texted when he was injured; those that reached out last summer, and those that contacted him when word of his announcement broke earlier this week.
"It's all the guys in NASCAR," he said. "It's all the guys at SHR, and it's co‑owners and other owners in the series, other drivers, crew chiefs. Those are the people that I'm -- that's the reason I'm not going anywhere. I couldn't stand to be away from that family."
The 2016 season will be different as the end of his Sprint Cup career draws nearer, but in many ways it will be the same. There are still races to be run, to be won and a title to be decided. And Stewart's not one to back down from an opportunity.
"I mean I still want to win races," he said. "I can't think of a better way to go out than to go out on top and to win races and win a championship.
"We're going to continue to put all of our effort toward that. … I can promise you, next year is not a coast and collect year."