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Tony Stewart retiring after 2016 NASCAR season

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by franticscribe, Sep 28, 2015.

  1. franticscribe

    franticscribe Well-Known Member

    Kind of surprising, kind of not.

    I've always thought he is the kind of guy to hang on into his 50s. Then again, he hasn't seemed the same since the 2013 sprint car crash that broke his leg. Gotta wonder if that and the death of Kevin Ward aren't big factors.

    Source: NASCAR’s Tony Stewart to retire after 2016 season
     
  2. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Whether it's him or Jeff Gordon, it seems that the stories often note that the driver is retiring from "full-time driving." (This story doesn't say that, but I've seen it and certainly have seen it regarding Gordon.)

    Maybe it's been like this at all stops this year, but the support for Gordon in Chicago was incredible. I bet Gordon gear outnumbered any other driver 4 to 1. I don't know that Stewart will get the same reception next year - he gave people reasons to dislike him, while I think with Gordon it was kind of like, "Remember when we hated you? Yeah, we were just fucking around. Great career, man."
     
  3. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    The Ward crash is definitely reason No. 1. That absolutely tore him up emotionally, and I think that having his hobby (racing sprint cars) essentially taken away has really hurt him on-track in Nascar. Driving once a week on the cookie-cutter roundy-rounds isn't enough for a racing junkie. With the awful year he's having I'm surprised he's coming back for one more, he doesn't strike me as the farewell tour type. And this one, I imagine, will feel more sad than Gordon's.

    But we'll see what Stewart says in a Wednesday press conference.
     
    murphyc likes this.
  4. murphyc

    murphyc Well-Known Member

    Absolutely agree on the Ward angle being the top reason. I wonder if he's racing in 2016 simply to fulfill contractual obligations and/or didn't want to steal the limelight away from Gordon. I'm sure Clint Bowyer wishes Stewart would retire this year.
     
    Last edited: Sep 28, 2015
  5. Stoney

    Stoney Well-Known Member

    It also seemed to wreck him as a driver, as he hasn't looked the same on the track since.

    I doubt early retirement will be a happy thing for a lifelong competition-junkie now battling inner demons. In hindsight, he probably should've taken a year or so off to deal with the psychological and emotional issues caused by the Ward incident before returning to the track.
     
  6. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I imagine that would have been more of an option at age 33 than age 43.
     
  7. playthrough

    playthrough Moderator Staff Member

    True, sponsor obligations must be involved. And they'll get more bang out of their buck from a final-season tour than from this year, with Smoke being virtually invisible.
     
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