SONOMA, Calif. -- Dressed casually in a polo shirt and shorts Ernie Irvan proudly accepted his plaque of induction into the Sonoma Raceway Wall of Fame Friday afternoon between Sprint Cup Series practices. He stood alongside fellow inductee Tony Stewart, still dressed in his driver's uniform, and the two two-time Sonoma winners received a boisterous applause and cheers of good will.
It was a celebration of two of NASCAR's most successful drivers and most famous personalities.
During a brief interview in front of the hundreds of fans crowded around the stage in Victory Lane, Stewart reminded everyone that he may be retiring from NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition but not from competition.
"This is just a farewell to (Sprint) Cup," Stewart said, earning huge applause and cheers after promising his "next" act "will be just as exciting as the first."
Irvan, a California native, was equally as gracious in accepting the Wall of Fame honors. His dramatic 1992 victory here was recently chosen a fan favorite moment. He had to serve a penalty at the beginning of the race for jumping the start and still managed to come back and win.
The 15-time Cup winner said he hasn't attended a Sprint Cup race in two years, although he watches every race on television. He will be trackside Sunday here however.
"I try to come to local stuff like Charlotte and anytime I get inducted somewhere I'll be there," Irvan said, smiling.
Discussing his career, which was cut short following a frightening accident and subsequent concussions, Irvan, 57, was philosophic and thankful. He suffered a severe head injury after crashing at Michigan in 1994, but after a long recovery, he returned to triumphantly and emotionally collect the final win of his career there in 1997.
He retired in 1999 and said he doesn't harbor regrets.
"I always think about what might have been, but it doesn't really matter because it was what it was," Irvan said. "I even thought some in the last couple weeks, you know, I wonder what life would have been if I hadn't gotten hurt that first time. "Coulda had something else tragic happen or I might have been a two or three-time Cup champion. Who knows? The only one that can answer anything about that is God."
These days Irvan -- named one of NASCAR's 50 Greatest Drivers -- is helping his son Jared, 18, make his career in racing and spending time with his daughter Jordan and wife Kim. Drivers were quick to shake his hand and greet him in Sonoma.
"I always think, how can I be discouraged," Irvan said. "I got to do something that 99 percent of people never do. And I actually got to win at it. I got to go to a state dinner at the White House. All these things were given to me because of what I did. I would have done it for free and yet they paid me too.
"It's a matter of being able to do what you love to do and being done with it whether it was shorter or it got stretched out. I would have loved to have done it more, I didn't.
"But I am very happy."