Tony Stewart returns to NASCAR for Friday Truck race at Daytona: ‘I’m as surprised as all of you are’

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- For the first time since November 2016, Tony Stewart is a NASCAR driver. The NASCAR Hall of Famer is strapping into the No. 25 Kaulig Racing Ram for Friday's Fresh From Florida 250 (7:30 p.m. ET, FS1, NRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio), the season-opening race for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona International Speedway. MORE: Speedweeks schedule | 2026 Craftsman Truck Series schedule A three-time Cup Series champion with 62 NASCAR national series wins on his resume, Stewart was convinced his time in top-level stock-car racing was over. So much for that. "It's been odd," Stewart said in a Thursday press conference. "I mean, I think we all knew -- everybody that I've known, at least -- when I quit driving here in general in NASCAR, we thought we would never see this moment again. And trust me, I'm as surprised as all of you are." Surprises aside, Stewart returns to the 2.5-mile superspeedway a different man than he was the last time he climbed behind the wheel of a NASCAR vehicle. Well, sort of. The same Smoke snark that became Stewart's signature remains fully intact, evidenced by:

• Multiple laughs with media members mid-conference -- "I just followed (the Kaulig Cup haulers) till about an hour north of here, so I got some drafting practice in."
• Casually dropping profanity -- "What you're talking about is a side note, and it's the one that makes you money and puts money in your pockets; it's a thing I don't give two [expletives] about over here."
• Producing plenty of clip-able moments through that trademarked rye smile.

[caption id="attachment_500136" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Jeff Curry | Getty Images[/caption] The difference now is that at age 54, Stewart is the father of a 1-year-old son, Dominic, no longer a team owner in NASCAR and a recently converted Top Fuel drag racer in NHRA competition. Stewart has long left any NASCAR aspirations behind -- a point he emphasized Thursday with a stern rejection of ever chasing the Daytona 500 again despite going 0-for-17 in his illustrious career. But a one-off return with a manufacturer that is making a long-awaited comeback of its own? Stewart simply couldn't say no. "It is a neat and unique opportunity to do this with Ram and through our partnership with Dodge and Stellantis," Stewart said. "Tim Kuniskis (Stellantis CEO) literally asked me last year if I would be interested in running a truck race. And, you know, kind of sounds fun. I didn't think I would hear much more out of him from it, but got another phone call, and that was the one that I knew was the confirmation that, yep, we're going to be driving a truck race somewhere, and here we are." Stewart has a history of offering young racers some teaching moments post-race, a reputation fueled by classic clips of him expressing his frustration pretty passionately. (Consider this the aforementioned "side note" Stewart referenced earlier.) But with so much to learn in such little time, Stewart acknowledged his own inexperience after all this time could come back to bite him Friday night. "The reality of it is, too, I could be somebody that makes a mistake in it," Stewart said. "I got the same opportunity as all those other guys that haven't been here as much as I have to make the same mistake that they may or may not make. So I've got to do my part too. It doesn't mean that I'm not going to do something wrong out there. But nobody does anything intentionally out there to cause problems. It's just trial and error, and that's how you learn from your mistakes and that's how you become a better race-car driver." Preparation is also a key part of becoming a better driver, but that task is more challenging without significant track time, a 50-minute Thursday practice notwithstanding. So how does someone actually prepare to race fender-to-fender in a pack at 185 mph? "About a month and a half off and on of iRacing. Literally," Stewart said. Stewart and a group of friends regularly hop on the sim-racing service when Stewart can escape his daily responsibilities. As his Daytona opportunity came to fruition, Stewart subtly suggested racing the Truck Series at Daytona in the simulator more and more often. "They didn't really question it," Stewart said. "And then when the announcement came out and I could actually tell them that I was doing a truck race, then they were like, 'now we know why you kept asking for more.' And literally, I have to give my group of iRacing guys — I mean, they're all the way from Pennsylvania across to out by Seattle, Washington. We got a big group of guys. I've got to thank those guys, because they literally, from the moment we announced we were doing that, they were all in on truck races at Daytona. And that's not what we normally do on a night, but they were all in on doing anything they could do to help us just get laps." [caption id="attachment_500134" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]Chris Graythen | Getty Images[/caption] Simulation or not, those became real reps for Stewart as he prepared for one of the most unique styles of racing in motorsports. It was also a training ground for Stewart and his spotter, TJ Bell, to familiarize one another with their lingo and cadence before Friday's 250-miler. What remains to be seen for Stewart is just how accurate iRacing has replicated the physics Stewart will experience behind the wheel of his Ram truck when the green flag flies. It is safe to say, though, his video review with Bell left him optimistic. "I can say that TJ and I were at the motorhome last night. We were going over video of last year's race," Stewart said. "There were some aspects that we saw that I had picked up on the iRacing side that I'm like, 'I don't know if it's really going to translate or not.' And more so than I really even thought, we were seeing that in aspects of the race yesterday." Stewart's NASCAR comeback to Daytona is not one that will be long-lasting. He's here to race, have fun, spark life into Ram's return to the sport and let his NASCAR legacy speak for itself. But the relationships he made throughout the sport's garages are still as strong as ever. He cruised through the Cup garage Wednesday to reconnect with familiar faces, running into guys like Alex Bowman and Justin Allgaier before seeing an old friend, former rival and fellow Hall of Famer in the media center Thursday. "Some of them, the number one question is, have you lost your mind?" Stewart laughed. "I'm like, 'Yeah, I have', as you know. But it's been fun. It's just been fun to see those guys before everything (got) really busy yesterday. I mean, it was nice to just spend time and chat and catch up with guys, and I think that's part of what's going to make this probably the most special part of the week is just catching up with everybody." [caption id="attachment_500133" align="aligncenter" width="1300"]James Gilbert | Getty Images[/caption]