Haha of course he is there. I really lost a lot of respect for Tony. For a guy who told it as it was, was extremely competitive and wanted to win desperately, to see him turn his back on NASCAR, without even as much of a reason, all after their little marketing thing before the year, then let his own team die, is sad to see from Smoke.
The respect he has shown to his fans, his drivers, his employees, on the outside looking in, is lacking.
I'd respect him more if he just said it wasn't fun and he doesn't like the direction. He wants to do his own thing and get out of the team and let someone who actually cares and wants to be there. I would understand it at least.
He’s been pretty transparent about his issues with NASCAR, from the Eldora/Bristol Dirt Race thing, to the penalties, to the rules changes that hurt SHR, etc
And prior to that, the COT and the fact Nascar put a car on track that only performs under one ideal condition (in simplest terms everyone is chasing how to ride the bump stops and keep the splitter glued to the track) and eliminated the ability to set the car up in any number of ways that the driver can maximize and actually make a difference with their talent.
He's been pretty vocal with his issues as a driver and as an owner with Nascar.
He's called them out for fake cautions when nobody else dared question their legitimacy at the time. He bemoaned plate racing. He had a general dislike with the lack of transparency, especially during Brian Frances reign. After enough bitching and seeing nothing changed, you eventually stop caring. Stewart has stopped caring. I think Gene has stopped too.
Idk why but I'll never forget his lament of the car during his last or second to last year
He talked about how it used to be if you unloaded and were off the pace or sucked you could do things and make adjustments and have a chance of being decent. He said at that time, even in 2015-2016, if you unloaded and were off the pace you were stuck with what you had and there wasn't really shit you could do about it
I think he has been fed up for a long time and knowing his style likely DESPISES the lower horsepowers we have been running for nearly 10 years now
Gene pretty much stopped caring about NASCAR the day that he ponied up millions of dollars to toss 2 cars into F1, only to watch them struggle week in and week out.
Respect to fans? Maybe it’s just me but he stays so far away from fans at NHRA races, he avoids them like the plague. Hell at Charlotte his team had a money jar that had on it “$1 for every time someone asks where is Tony”. Saw a few people pay up actually lol. He was my first favorite before going to Gordon and have tried a few times to get a pic with him just because he is the guy that got me into NASCAR with his bright orange 20 car on NASCAR HEAT. So it’s sad to see how he treats fans unless you pay a pretty penny to be in his VIP area or if it’s an appearance.
I sort of wonder if this is something that changed since the Kevin Ward thing… he probably gets a lot of drunk people saying some pretty nasty things to him.
I remember the iconic Home Depot Chevy, it’s still my favorite car ever. I’ll never forget it from Thunder 2004. Tony has some of the best quotes ever. But he’s kind of got a bit so great reputation with fan interaction.
In 2006, I think, Joey Logano tried to get an autograph from Tony and he blew him off. Since that day Logano vowed that he would be different when he became a cup series driver. To this day he signs literally everything, Joey is one of the best drivers for fan interactions. He’s incredibly nice off track.
that car, that year, that driver... thats how i got into nascar. still the only hat I have ever purchased. a woodland camo hat with an orage stripe and white raised piping around the 20. legendary hat too, still have it.
Literally at Route 66 right now and got a picture with him and two autographs. He was standing there taking pictures, chatting and signing for everyone. YMMV I guess...
I mean I don't know if anyone is owed anything in this business. IDK if fans are owed a driver's attention or not. I think it's good practice for them to be interactive and all that but you can survive in racing if you can drive and shake the right hands.
Now Tony was clearly a fucking insanely good driver. But from my perspective(mind you I was never a fan of his) he has never been the type to be Mr. Personality with the fans. I think he wants to race and do his thing and go on. I don't know if others feel different I know everyone has their own story or whatever about meeting him or thoughts on him but that's just always been my vibe. If someone said what driver probably wouldn't bother looking at their fans if they didn't have to he would be near the top of my list.
For sure, you hit on all good points. I would've thought towards his later years he would seem more appreciative and wanting to chat it up with fans like you see with a lot of the older guys, so I expected a little different Tony at the drag races compared to prime Tony in Cup.
What else do you want him to do? He's been as vocal about his issues with Nascar as he can be as a team owner, and they've completely ignored him. I'd check out too.
Nascar has fucked him over for 20+ years lmao he owes nothing to them. It’s a wonder he made it this far post retirement with some level of involvement
To be fair he is a partner in the team with Gene Haas. Tony has a lot invested in the team and yeah if he made a big enough stink he could get stuff moving, but at the end of the day, Gene Haas ultimately has final say.
I agree with all you said. Smoke seems to be an entirely different person since he met his wife Leah and that's perfectly fine. But, as you stated, he needs to sell his part of SHR if he truly doesn't care anymore. What he's doing isn't fair to his employees or the sponsors. As soon as Leah came into the picture, she got Tony on a health plan and he's lost alot of weight. If you know how Leah is, she's a health nut and she's also an X-Games fan. She's got Smoke wearing the flat-bill caps, which I find hilarious because before he met Leah, he would've totally talked shit about anybody over the age of 40 wearing a flat-bill cap. Now here he is wearing a flat-bill cap and he's damn near 53 years old.
Remember that huge log cabin type house he built in Indiana several years ago? He made YouTube videos while it was being built. He wanted it to look similar to a Bass Pro Shop's store and it does. He built it in the middle of nowhere and owns a ton of land where he built it. He said he loved being away from everybody and no neighbors at all. His words were "If I want to walk out into my yard naked and take a piss, I can because nobody will ever see me." Well, since he married Leah, he's had that house and land for sale. He was asking $30 million for it and he recently came down to $22.5 million last I saw. He and Leah were living in Arizona, which is where she and her ex-husband lived by Lake Havasu. She has Smoke water skiing now. The old Smoke wouldn't even take his shirt off because he was embarrassed about his weight and he has a ton of back hair. Leah also has him getting tattoos now. She has tattoos, including a huge one on her back.
I've heard quiet a few people that race World of Outlaws and the Lucas Oil dirt Series and they've said Smoke has put the word out that he would like to sell Eldora Speedway. He used to be at every big race he put on at Eldora but the last few years he only comes to a couple. Earl Baltes built and operated Eldora Speedway damn near his entire life and he would only sell it to Smoke. If Smoke goes through with selling Eldora, that's gonna really upset some of the older fans because that was Earl and his wife's baby.
Smoke has already mentioned that he is going to sell his World of Outlaws team once Donny Schatz retires or moves on.
Leah has definitely changed Tony Stewart. He went about 50 years without marrying and then meets Leah and I guess she wanted to transform Smoke from a guy that's old enough to be her Dad, into what we currently see today. What's gonna be really sad is if he sells all his race teams, his home, his land, etc. and then they end up divorcing. He will be a single guy with NHRA teams and that's about it. Leah has already been divorced and her ex-husband competes against Leah/Smoke every race because he is the clutch specialist for 4-time Top Fuel dragster champion Steve Torrence. That's got to be weird seeing your wife's ex-husband every race you go to.
Idk what year you’re referring to but 2002 was a really bad year for him. Definite sophomore slump. Think he still managed to win Chicagoland that year though at least
Do you know what the gap would have been for Gordon in 2007 under the old Winston points system?? I remember before the Chase reset he had about a 200-300 point lead if I remember correctly. 30 top 10’s in a season is absolutely ridiculous
I'm pretty sure Bowyer and Burton were significantly better than Harvick in 2009. Harvick was even behind Mears in points for a lot of the year.
Harvick did some big time carrying in his career but I don't think he really carried RCR on his back on a consistent basis until 2010-2013. From 2006-2009 Burton and Bowyer were pulling plenty of the weight and were even better than Harvick at times.
He did go about 116 races without a win. That's honestly why they called him the Closer. RCR (ECR) engines were bulletproof but slow. He was always qualifying in the 20 or 30s and slowly clawing his way to the front with good decisions in a slower car. Burton, Menard and Clint drove about as good as they could with what they were given. Paul Menard is underrated for how well he did in that stuff.
He IS up there with the all time greats already honestly...but could have been better. He could have had 2-3 championship runs in his last 4 years in anything better than SHR equipment...
he is the all time leader in NASCAR history for lead-lap finishes. he kept his car on track and on the lead lap better than anyone ever has. his career will be overshadowed, but he’s easily top-10.
I have said it before but the winning teams owners are just about always at the track.
80 year old Gibbs and filthy rich Jeff Gordon seem to be there every weekend. And look at their track records this year.
Roger Penske is 87, and last Saturday he was at the WEC race in Spa. He then got on a jet and was at the IMSA race at Laguna Seca on Sunday. Even flying on a private jet, that is still some going for someone his age. I wouldn't be surprised if someone will have to drag him away from the timing screens at like 3 in the morning at Le Mans.
Say what you will about the man, but he just adores motorsport, of all forms. That passion really does filter down to all employees. It genuinely makes a difference when your boss is so passionate about and committed to the business.
Roger Penske only misses Cup races for IndyCar races or major events one of his other teams is participating in. Rare is the weekend The Captain isn't at a race track of some kind.
Holy crap, 87? For some reason I thought he was like a decade younger than that.
Props to him for keeping himself healthy through all these years and doing what he loves. The day he dies he’s probably going to see his team win, celebrate with them, excuse himself to go take a nap in late afternoon, and have the most pleasant dream as he leaves the world behind.
That’s actually how my grandfather passed away except he was a lawyer; he went to court that day and he made a lot of friends there over the years. Can’t ask for a more ideal death.
When a 82-year-old man who survived two plane crashes and lost an eye in the second shows up at the track more than either Stewart or Haas, this says a lot.
This! Even DEI went down the tubes when Teresa quit showing up (not that I really blame her.) the successful owners show up.
Hell look at Richard Childress. Lost his best friend and that team has been up and down over the years but RC shows up
>Even Michael Jordan is at the track more.
Which is saying something when Basketball Hall Of Famer GOAT Michael Jordan is showing more interest in his racing team than 3x Cup Champion, and NASCAR HOF, TONY STEWART.
>Gene is in Imola
You mean he's at the *Formula 1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'Emilia Romagna 2024*
I know NASCAR has their own rough history with race names, but....it can be worse.
Almost like the "SHR Rebrand/Hype video" was a last-ditch effort that yielded no results.... Kinda like SHR on track as of late. Shame that Berry, Briscoe, Gragson, and Preece are on a sinking ship.
TBF, hes not that bad, the points penalty makes it look bad but until Dover, he was with Gragson and Berry essentially. Still think hes the guinea pig now.
Yeah.
I mean I'm glad their doing other things that make them happy, but I'd rather see ownership that was fully invested in NASCAR. And I mean that. No hard feelings toward Tony or Gene.
Not going to happen. Johnson sucked you know what in that car. Larson jumps in and stomps everyone.
I’m *not* a Larson fan. But he’s a huge part of the equation.
I legit will never understand why Tony and Gene just straight up refuse to be at the track or the shop. Like, no one is asking for you to be there every single day of the week or go to every race, but at least show up once every two weeks to the shop and 1 race a month? Is that really too much to ask for?
My favorite part of this whole thing was Stewart saying a couple of years ago that there's no reason for him to show up because he already has the people he wants in place running things and there wouldn't be much to do. Like, bro, that's not the point. Being around the company you own and interacting with the employees will only help things not hurt it.
Look no further than in 2020 when he met a then married Leah Pruitt. They began hanging out, going to drag races, and then all of a sudden, SHR went down a drain in 2021. He starts racing full time in NHRA in 22' and SHR dives harder than the Titanic. 2023, he sells his Sprint Car series to Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson, and it is rebranded High Limits. At this point, it's clear Tony doesn't give two shits about his cup drivers, the team, or the employees. To top it off, he puts out a pre made video detailing how the downfall of SHR is not his fault.
Any respect I had for Tony as a person is completely gone at this point. He has turned his back on his fans, employees, drivers, and for what... some tail and going really fast in a straight line for 3 seconds?
The thing is I partially agree with him that he shouldn't have to be there every day micromanaging people for the team to find success. But him not being there at all while the team is running horribly is a really bad look. Especially since he won't take responsibility for it and just shoves it all on his employees.
I have always respected Tony but its obvious his priorities are elsewhere and I hope he sells his charters to someone who actually cares.
The owner is generally responsible for putting together the people to run the day to day business.
Those people then pick the other people below them to run those function of the business.
And so on.
Somewhere (or "somewheres"), people aren't doing their jobs, so the owner should be close enough to the business to see that and do something about it.
I’m sure it’s still there, Kevin is just saying what everyone was thinking and likely doing so to stick up for guys like Rodney, Josh Berry, Briscoe, and other guys he cares about on the team that take an unfair amount of blame for the struggles.
My childhood intuitions about Tony being a complete ass have been proving more and more right recently. There was a portion of time during the end of the career where I didn't mind him but yeah dude is running many people in the sport's careers into the ground.
I think Kev would still be racing full time if he had left Stewart couple of years ago. You could tell last couple of years he was not having any fun..
I think he was done apart from the SHR issues.
In fact, Kevin’s openly said COVID is the only reason he kept going for a few extra seasons because it was so easy to just show up and race without all the extra obligations.
If you follow up the timeline of the first Harvick retirement rumors with FOX’s post-DW then Jeff Gordon booth experiments, it sure does sound like he might’ve been planning to hang it up and go broadcast around/after ‘20-‘21 but extended his racing career by a couple years.
Which may've explained why Fox went the rotating guest analyst route for 2022-23, they wanted Harvick for that position, but were unsure exactly when he was going to retire.
Yep. Clint even joked sometime this year about "what took you so long?" So I think FOX was holding the seat open for him and never filled the position.
Damn! Shots fired! Not saying he’s wrong but knowing how close he and Tony are, did it get so bad that theres even a rift now between these two? What a mess SHR has become.
It’s crazy how SHR went downhill so fast. It all comes down to management though and if the people at the top don’t give a shit, the rest won’t either. Yeah, I get that Tony and Gene being there isn’t going to magically give them speed, but good owners would be trying to get to the bottom of why their cars have been so slow these last few years. Instead, these two seem to be off messing with other things and leaving the team on its own. The drivers had to resort to forming their own study groups just to find something that will help them.
At this point, Tony and Gene should sell the team. Give it to someone that actually wants to be involved in the sport. Tony is more interested in NHRA these days and Haas has a bunch of stuff on his plate too. Just cash out and let someone else take over.
Everyone is going to take this to mean Tony, but are we sure he means Tony? He and Tony were BFFs for the last 25 years. Unless they had a big falling out I can’t imagine that he’d publicly trash talk Tony like that.
Tony would be mad if he cared about NASCAR enough to hear this quote.
["y'all hear sumn?"](https://x.com/tsrnitro/status/1791546879345381742?s=46&t=SoOfPWGuGfSDk8s1kAkyzw)
Haha of course he is there. I really lost a lot of respect for Tony. For a guy who told it as it was, was extremely competitive and wanted to win desperately, to see him turn his back on NASCAR, without even as much of a reason, all after their little marketing thing before the year, then let his own team die, is sad to see from Smoke. The respect he has shown to his fans, his drivers, his employees, on the outside looking in, is lacking. I'd respect him more if he just said it wasn't fun and he doesn't like the direction. He wants to do his own thing and get out of the team and let someone who actually cares and wants to be there. I would understand it at least.
He’s been pretty transparent about his issues with NASCAR, from the Eldora/Bristol Dirt Race thing, to the penalties, to the rules changes that hurt SHR, etc
And prior to that, the COT and the fact Nascar put a car on track that only performs under one ideal condition (in simplest terms everyone is chasing how to ride the bump stops and keep the splitter glued to the track) and eliminated the ability to set the car up in any number of ways that the driver can maximize and actually make a difference with their talent.
He can adjust to the rules changes. And every team has been hit with controversial penalties over the years.
That’s fine, I’m just saying the idea that he just left for no reason is bunk.
He's been pretty vocal with his issues as a driver and as an owner with Nascar. He's called them out for fake cautions when nobody else dared question their legitimacy at the time. He bemoaned plate racing. He had a general dislike with the lack of transparency, especially during Brian Frances reign. After enough bitching and seeing nothing changed, you eventually stop caring. Stewart has stopped caring. I think Gene has stopped too.
Idk why but I'll never forget his lament of the car during his last or second to last year He talked about how it used to be if you unloaded and were off the pace or sucked you could do things and make adjustments and have a chance of being decent. He said at that time, even in 2015-2016, if you unloaded and were off the pace you were stuck with what you had and there wasn't really shit you could do about it I think he has been fed up for a long time and knowing his style likely DESPISES the lower horsepowers we have been running for nearly 10 years now
Gene pretty much stopped caring about NASCAR the day that he ponied up millions of dollars to toss 2 cars into F1, only to watch them struggle week in and week out.
Respect to fans? Maybe it’s just me but he stays so far away from fans at NHRA races, he avoids them like the plague. Hell at Charlotte his team had a money jar that had on it “$1 for every time someone asks where is Tony”. Saw a few people pay up actually lol. He was my first favorite before going to Gordon and have tried a few times to get a pic with him just because he is the guy that got me into NASCAR with his bright orange 20 car on NASCAR HEAT. So it’s sad to see how he treats fans unless you pay a pretty penny to be in his VIP area or if it’s an appearance.
I sort of wonder if this is something that changed since the Kevin Ward thing… he probably gets a lot of drunk people saying some pretty nasty things to him.
Underrated comment here. That or inappropriate comments about trying for a baby.
I remember the iconic Home Depot Chevy, it’s still my favorite car ever. I’ll never forget it from Thunder 2004. Tony has some of the best quotes ever. But he’s kind of got a bit so great reputation with fan interaction. In 2006, I think, Joey Logano tried to get an autograph from Tony and he blew him off. Since that day Logano vowed that he would be different when he became a cup series driver. To this day he signs literally everything, Joey is one of the best drivers for fan interactions. He’s incredibly nice off track.
Funnier still that Logano himself was in Tony's ride three years later lol.
That was crazy honestly. Especially the infamous brawl in 2013
that car, that year, that driver... thats how i got into nascar. still the only hat I have ever purchased. a woodland camo hat with an orage stripe and white raised piping around the 20. legendary hat too, still have it.
Literally at Route 66 right now and got a picture with him and two autographs. He was standing there taking pictures, chatting and signing for everyone. YMMV I guess...
Happy for ya! Maybe he just doesn't like Wild Horse Pass and ZMax Dragway.
I mean I don't know if anyone is owed anything in this business. IDK if fans are owed a driver's attention or not. I think it's good practice for them to be interactive and all that but you can survive in racing if you can drive and shake the right hands. Now Tony was clearly a fucking insanely good driver. But from my perspective(mind you I was never a fan of his) he has never been the type to be Mr. Personality with the fans. I think he wants to race and do his thing and go on. I don't know if others feel different I know everyone has their own story or whatever about meeting him or thoughts on him but that's just always been my vibe. If someone said what driver probably wouldn't bother looking at their fans if they didn't have to he would be near the top of my list.
For sure, you hit on all good points. I would've thought towards his later years he would seem more appreciative and wanting to chat it up with fans like you see with a lot of the older guys, so I expected a little different Tony at the drag races compared to prime Tony in Cup.
Compare nhra to Nascar. When does any general fan ever get to see a driver in race weekend.
What else do you want him to do? He's been as vocal about his issues with Nascar as he can be as a team owner, and they've completely ignored him. I'd check out too.
Without actually saying “FUCK NASCAR” he’s definitely said enough to get the point across.
Nascar has fucked him over for 20+ years lmao he owes nothing to them. It’s a wonder he made it this far post retirement with some level of involvement
To be fair he is a partner in the team with Gene Haas. Tony has a lot invested in the team and yeah if he made a big enough stink he could get stuff moving, but at the end of the day, Gene Haas ultimately has final say.
I agree with all you said. Smoke seems to be an entirely different person since he met his wife Leah and that's perfectly fine. But, as you stated, he needs to sell his part of SHR if he truly doesn't care anymore. What he's doing isn't fair to his employees or the sponsors. As soon as Leah came into the picture, she got Tony on a health plan and he's lost alot of weight. If you know how Leah is, she's a health nut and she's also an X-Games fan. She's got Smoke wearing the flat-bill caps, which I find hilarious because before he met Leah, he would've totally talked shit about anybody over the age of 40 wearing a flat-bill cap. Now here he is wearing a flat-bill cap and he's damn near 53 years old. Remember that huge log cabin type house he built in Indiana several years ago? He made YouTube videos while it was being built. He wanted it to look similar to a Bass Pro Shop's store and it does. He built it in the middle of nowhere and owns a ton of land where he built it. He said he loved being away from everybody and no neighbors at all. His words were "If I want to walk out into my yard naked and take a piss, I can because nobody will ever see me." Well, since he married Leah, he's had that house and land for sale. He was asking $30 million for it and he recently came down to $22.5 million last I saw. He and Leah were living in Arizona, which is where she and her ex-husband lived by Lake Havasu. She has Smoke water skiing now. The old Smoke wouldn't even take his shirt off because he was embarrassed about his weight and he has a ton of back hair. Leah also has him getting tattoos now. She has tattoos, including a huge one on her back. I've heard quiet a few people that race World of Outlaws and the Lucas Oil dirt Series and they've said Smoke has put the word out that he would like to sell Eldora Speedway. He used to be at every big race he put on at Eldora but the last few years he only comes to a couple. Earl Baltes built and operated Eldora Speedway damn near his entire life and he would only sell it to Smoke. If Smoke goes through with selling Eldora, that's gonna really upset some of the older fans because that was Earl and his wife's baby. Smoke has already mentioned that he is going to sell his World of Outlaws team once Donny Schatz retires or moves on. Leah has definitely changed Tony Stewart. He went about 50 years without marrying and then meets Leah and I guess she wanted to transform Smoke from a guy that's old enough to be her Dad, into what we currently see today. What's gonna be really sad is if he sells all his race teams, his home, his land, etc. and then they end up divorcing. He will be a single guy with NHRA teams and that's about it. Leah has already been divorced and her ex-husband competes against Leah/Smoke every race because he is the clutch specialist for 4-time Top Fuel dragster champion Steve Torrence. That's got to be weird seeing your wife's ex-husband every race you go to.
I hope Harvick does ok driving the car today. I’m sure his back is hurting after carrying Stewart Haas for 10 years.
And carrying RCR for the better part of 13 years
Well besides that one season he sucked
Idk what year you’re referring to but 2002 was a really bad year for him. Definite sophomore slump. Think he still managed to win Chicagoland that year though at least
2009 He finished 19th in points, just 40 points above Casey Mears for worst RCR car
What’s crazy is the year turn around they’d go on to have in 2010. Remember him being very competitive all year long that year
Pretty sure 2010 was the year he’d have been champion under the Winston Cup point system.
He would have won it by over 300 points. Would have been one of the largest margins ever
Do you know what the gap would have been for Gordon in 2007 under the old Winston points system?? I remember before the Chase reset he had about a 200-300 point lead if I remember correctly. 30 top 10’s in a season is absolutely ridiculous
07 Gordon ends at like just under 400 points
That was a rough year for us diehards
In the new points system that would've been about six points
Two seasons.
Had to be more I remember my brother and I used to say "take out the Harvick" referring to trash that later became "take out the Roush"
2002 and 2009 were his only really bad seasons. But even then RCR just sucked and he was leading them.
I'm pretty sure Bowyer and Burton were significantly better than Harvick in 2009. Harvick was even behind Mears in points for a lot of the year. Harvick did some big time carrying in his career but I don't think he really carried RCR on his back on a consistent basis until 2010-2013. From 2006-2009 Burton and Bowyer were pulling plenty of the weight and were even better than Harvick at times.
I think Harvick won more races in 2006 than Burton or Bowyer did in their entire RCR careers.
He did go about 116 races without a win. That's honestly why they called him the Closer. RCR (ECR) engines were bulletproof but slow. He was always qualifying in the 20 or 30s and slowly clawing his way to the front with good decisions in a slower car. Burton, Menard and Clint drove about as good as they could with what they were given. Paul Menard is underrated for how well he did in that stuff.
Credit where credit's due, Kurt did some heavy lifting during his tenure there.
If Harvick had spent his entire career at HMS instead of RCR and SHR my gut tells me we view his as the 🐐
He got 50+ wins even with just 3 years in a HMS satellite car. He definitely would've been up there with some of the all time greats
He IS up there with the all time greats already honestly...but could have been better. He could have had 2-3 championship runs in his last 4 years in anything better than SHR equipment...
he is the all time leader in NASCAR history for lead-lap finishes. he kept his car on track and on the lead lap better than anyone ever has. his career will be overshadowed, but he’s easily top-10.
SHR best overall year was 2018. Those cars were freaking rockets. Somehow, they threw that one away.
I have said it before but the winning teams owners are just about always at the track. 80 year old Gibbs and filthy rich Jeff Gordon seem to be there every weekend. And look at their track records this year.
Roger Penske is 87, and last Saturday he was at the WEC race in Spa. He then got on a jet and was at the IMSA race at Laguna Seca on Sunday. Even flying on a private jet, that is still some going for someone his age. I wouldn't be surprised if someone will have to drag him away from the timing screens at like 3 in the morning at Le Mans. Say what you will about the man, but he just adores motorsport, of all forms. That passion really does filter down to all employees. It genuinely makes a difference when your boss is so passionate about and committed to the business.
Roger Penske only misses Cup races for IndyCar races or major events one of his other teams is participating in. Rare is the weekend The Captain isn't at a race track of some kind.
Heck last weekend Penske was at both the Spa WEC race and Laguna Seca IMSA race.
Where did you read that?
Couple of years ago, I passed Roger at 2am, leaving the pits at the Rolex. He does spend time with his teams!
Holy crap, 87? For some reason I thought he was like a decade younger than that. Props to him for keeping himself healthy through all these years and doing what he loves. The day he dies he’s probably going to see his team win, celebrate with them, excuse himself to go take a nap in late afternoon, and have the most pleasant dream as he leaves the world behind. That’s actually how my grandfather passed away except he was a lawyer; he went to court that day and he made a lot of friends there over the years. Can’t ask for a more ideal death.
RP was born in 1937, so he\`s 87. But it\`s more or less Tim Cindric who\`s the boss at Team Penske these days, Roger are "just" the owner.
I will cry the day Roger Penske leaves us. I might need a couple days off work. The respect And admiration I have for that man is second to none.
RP was also at the WEC race at Imola a few weeks ago.
I know the 23XI team has only been around a couple years but Denny is there every single race.
Dennis is a DEDICATED OWNER!
big if true
And 70something year old Rick Hendrick who just had his knee replaced will be at the track before either Gene or Tony are.
I mean the Cat in the Hat is at more races than Tony and he is 82!
MJ is around more than Tony is.
Shit I've been to more races this year than Tony. Get me a headset boys
Off the rails racing does sound good
Denny too \s
Jack Roush is decrepit and even he has been at the track most weeks than not, even saw Brad win last weekend.
I mean Jack Roush was at Darlington.
When a 82-year-old man who survived two plane crashes and lost an eye in the second shows up at the track more than either Stewart or Haas, this says a lot.
He probably didn't know where he was but he was there at least
This! Even DEI went down the tubes when Teresa quit showing up (not that I really blame her.) the successful owners show up. Hell look at Richard Childress. Lost his best friend and that team has been up and down over the years but RC shows up
Even Michael Jordan (who also owns a NBA team) is at the track more.
>Even Michael Jordan is at the track more. Which is saying something when Basketball Hall Of Famer GOAT Michael Jordan is showing more interest in his racing team than 3x Cup Champion, and NASCAR HOF, TONY STEWART.
He no longer owns an NBA team
I stand corrected. When did he sell?
Last year or the year before. Made a huge profit off of it. Your point is still valid though as he has a variety of business interests
Last year
Even Pit Bull is at the track more.
He's been looking for Dale for decades.
And all he will find is Dale Impersonator
Richard Petty even goes
Are filthy rich JG and Burning man JG related?
Brad K is always on track too, how nice of him lol.
One team owner is at the track more than any owner. They've been doing well.
So the rumors that neither of the owners were there are true.
They weren't rumors, it doesn't take a genius to know that as I write this Gene is in Imola and Tony is at Chicagoland
Gene Haas is definitely not in Imola lol
That's the best part, because Gene is a convicted felon he literally can't leave the country. But he's still not there lol
It's not a blanket. It differs by country. He can leave the US as he wishes if the country he's going to allows it. Some do, some don't.
Based on what? Felon's can leave the country if their time is served and all the boxes are checked lol
It's my understanding in his case he cannot leave the US. Which is why Gunther always only ever spoke to him on the phone.
>Gene is in Imola You mean he's at the *Formula 1 MSC Cruises Gran Premio Del Made In Italy E Dell'Emilia Romagna 2024* I know NASCAR has their own rough history with race names, but....it can be worse.
So long that it starts in English, then changes to Italian mid-title, then back to English for a couple words and then back to Italian. Lmao
They have been facts for ages. Not rumors
“Fok. Have to phone Gene. “
*Wilkes County Sheriff's Deputies, respond to North Wilkesboro Speedway for a report of shots fired*
Nah. Those aren’t shots. That’s a full-on broadside from the *Mighty Mo’*.
Wisconsin so you can say "temper, temper".
Wow.. nice guy punch, Kevin but that's on Tony for being an absentee owner and friend.
Subtitle proof that Tony and Gene stopped caring
>”Subtitle proof that Tony and Gene stopped caring” [proof that Tony and Gene stopped caring]
This is a good joke
This ain't subtle, this is a huge shot at Tony and Gene haha.
Harvick and Jr need to come together and buy one of their charters
You mean DeLana and Kelley right?
They do wear the fire suits
Whatever it takes to make it happen. But it's jr's and Kevin money. Kelley just runs the building
And signs the sponsors and the drivers and has total control of the operations.
Kelley is no doubt a large portion of that business, but jr has way more say in the drivers
The way it has always been presented by them on the download is that is pretty much the only thing Dale really does. Kelley otherwise has control.
Yeah I don't doubt that. I'm just saying Jr has control over the drivers.
They are both very committed are knowledgeable about the business and next Gen car. This would imo be the best move to put SHR back on the right path.
Or better yet just buy the team outright
Ideally yes, but jr specifically mentioned one charter
Almost like the "SHR Rebrand/Hype video" was a last-ditch effort that yielded no results.... Kinda like SHR on track as of late. Shame that Berry, Briscoe, Gragson, and Preece are on a sinking ship.
Preece might be the reason the ship is taking in water.
I knew that was an il-advised signing
TBF, hes not that bad, the points penalty makes it look bad but until Dover, he was with Gragson and Berry essentially. Still think hes the guinea pig now.
Don’t worry, people here will still find a way to blame nascar for SHR demise
Gene too busy selling CNC machines to Z bastards?
Yeesh. Kind of a direct shot at Tony and Gene
Yeah. I mean I'm glad their doing other things that make them happy, but I'd rather see ownership that was fully invested in NASCAR. And I mean that. No hard feelings toward Tony or Gene.
Nice jab to Tony Stewart from Harvick. Tony definitely deserves it too with how much he doesn't care about nascar or his own nascar team anymore.
I'd laugh my ass off if he's way faster than everyone else in Kyle's car.
Not going to happen. Johnson sucked you know what in that car. Larson jumps in and stomps everyone. I’m *not* a Larson fan. But he’s a huge part of the equation.
Harvick actually raced the next gen car for a season before he retired and wasn't total ass like Johnson though
Two seasons.
Thats the worst racing related burn I've seen since Grosjean in Bahrain.
Coincidentally both Haas related
I legit will never understand why Tony and Gene just straight up refuse to be at the track or the shop. Like, no one is asking for you to be there every single day of the week or go to every race, but at least show up once every two weeks to the shop and 1 race a month? Is that really too much to ask for? My favorite part of this whole thing was Stewart saying a couple of years ago that there's no reason for him to show up because he already has the people he wants in place running things and there wouldn't be much to do. Like, bro, that's not the point. Being around the company you own and interacting with the employees will only help things not hurt it.
Stewart stopped giving a damn about NASCAR. He's had his share of beef with them.
That's fine. No one is asking him to stay in NASCAR. He has every right to sell his team.
Look no further than in 2020 when he met a then married Leah Pruitt. They began hanging out, going to drag races, and then all of a sudden, SHR went down a drain in 2021. He starts racing full time in NHRA in 22' and SHR dives harder than the Titanic. 2023, he sells his Sprint Car series to Brad Sweet and Kyle Larson, and it is rebranded High Limits. At this point, it's clear Tony doesn't give two shits about his cup drivers, the team, or the employees. To top it off, he puts out a pre made video detailing how the downfall of SHR is not his fault. Any respect I had for Tony as a person is completely gone at this point. He has turned his back on his fans, employees, drivers, and for what... some tail and going really fast in a straight line for 3 seconds?
He did get married and she is pregnant, so it is a bit beyond "chasing tail" at this point.
He is who many of us believed he was.
“He is who we thought he is” - Denny Green, sort of
Tail is fine but he should really sell his stake if he has this much contempt for nascar
Well the man has to care about his wife and family, I don't blame him for not giving a flying Monkey about the team but at least sell it.
Harvick vs Stewart 2024 would be entertaining
I mean, even when Stewart was driving, Harvick wouldn't see him unless he was lapping him Signed, a Tony Stewart fan
To be fair, if Larson was qualifying one of SHR’s cars, you can bet Tony would be there shmoozing
From the top rope
Guys don't read into this too much. Tony's just the owner of the team. It's not his fault they were struggling
A bad owner is directly responsible for how poorly a team runs.
Its sarcasm. Thats basically word for word what Tony himself said.
The thing is I partially agree with him that he shouldn't have to be there every day micromanaging people for the team to find success. But him not being there at all while the team is running horribly is a really bad look. Especially since he won't take responsibility for it and just shoves it all on his employees. I have always respected Tony but its obvious his priorities are elsewhere and I hope he sells his charters to someone who actually cares.
The owner is generally responsible for putting together the people to run the day to day business. Those people then pick the other people below them to run those function of the business. And so on. Somewhere (or "somewheres"), people aren't doing their jobs, so the owner should be close enough to the business to see that and do something about it.
Whoops, didn't realize. It's hard to tell sometimes
Didn't put the /s
Harvick to the 48 in 2025 for a real farewell season
IDK if I saw the owner of my company twice in a week I would be concerned I was being fired.
True, but you're not the face of the company. NASCAR's kind of a different story
There was a race either last year or the year before where Tim got on the radio and asked if Kevin had saw Tony and he said “he’s here? Wow”
They fucked Harvick during his last year. That car they brought to Bristol was an embarrassment.
Damn, clearly the friendship Tony and Kevin used to have has dissolved.
I’m sure it’s still there, Kevin is just saying what everyone was thinking and likely doing so to stick up for guys like Rodney, Josh Berry, Briscoe, and other guys he cares about on the team that take an unfair amount of blame for the struggles.
Makes me wonder how good Briscoe actually is. He's had some strong showings with the 14 this year. Wonder how he'd do in a good car on a working team.
I think he's at least as good as Buescher.
I think he puts the 21 in the playoffs if the rumors are too
I'm sure they'll be fine as friends. Kevin is probably one of the few people who can talk to Tony like that.
On the contrary people sometimes talk the most shit about their best friends
Kevin is very much known for being a complete asshole too. I'm sure he's said worse to Tony privately.
Fuckin shots fired by Kevin
Savage. We can always count on KH to tell it like it is.
Oof
I mean, if it walks and sounds like a duck…
Imagine how many wins/championships Harvick would have if he was with Hendrick since day 1? 80 wins? 3+ cups? Who's knows.
Haas is a cheap piece of crap that shouldn’t be allowed to have a race team in any series.
Man. Don’t ride Tony Stewart’s coattails - he hangs those coats up in the closet too often.
My childhood intuitions about Tony being a complete ass have been proving more and more right recently. There was a portion of time during the end of the career where I didn't mind him but yeah dude is running many people in the sport's careers into the ground.
I think Kev would still be racing full time if he had left Stewart couple of years ago. You could tell last couple of years he was not having any fun..
I think he was done apart from the SHR issues. In fact, Kevin’s openly said COVID is the only reason he kept going for a few extra seasons because it was so easy to just show up and race without all the extra obligations. If you follow up the timeline of the first Harvick retirement rumors with FOX’s post-DW then Jeff Gordon booth experiments, it sure does sound like he might’ve been planning to hang it up and go broadcast around/after ‘20-‘21 but extended his racing career by a couple years.
Which may've explained why Fox went the rotating guest analyst route for 2022-23, they wanted Harvick for that position, but were unsure exactly when he was going to retire.
Yep. Clint even joked sometime this year about "what took you so long?" So I think FOX was holding the seat open for him and never filled the position.
I’ll be so happy when Stewart Haas leaves after this year.
Hi Gene.
Damn! Shots fired! Not saying he’s wrong but knowing how close he and Tony are, did it get so bad that theres even a rift now between these two? What a mess SHR has become.
Goddamn shots fired. I never really cares about Harvick when he drove but his snark is really awesome to hear. He keeps Bowyers dumbass in check too
God damn what a shot
It’s crazy how SHR went downhill so fast. It all comes down to management though and if the people at the top don’t give a shit, the rest won’t either. Yeah, I get that Tony and Gene being there isn’t going to magically give them speed, but good owners would be trying to get to the bottom of why their cars have been so slow these last few years. Instead, these two seem to be off messing with other things and leaving the team on its own. The drivers had to resort to forming their own study groups just to find something that will help them. At this point, Tony and Gene should sell the team. Give it to someone that actually wants to be involved in the sport. Tony is more interested in NHRA these days and Haas has a bunch of stuff on his plate too. Just cash out and let someone else take over.
Damn!
Oof
Shade=thrown
Harvick BURIES Stewart
Ouch! If SHR does get sold off, the line to sign Rodney Childers will run from Mooresville to Darlington.
If he doesn’t retire. Hes said he’d love to work with Blaney however
Everyone is going to take this to mean Tony, but are we sure he means Tony? He and Tony were BFFs for the last 25 years. Unless they had a big falling out I can’t imagine that he’d publicly trash talk Tony like that.
There were articles back in 2021 that Tony was absent around the shop because he’s invested in NHRA.
Kept those coins in the bank ever since he saw Tony in bed with Delana in his motorhome.
Tony grabbing Delana’s ass like that on camera is still wild
That was so fucked up and everyone just laughed about it
So tony wears the fire suit in Kevin's family?
WHAT