NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart is pushing back against claims about his rocky relationship with the media.
Throughout his illustrious career, Stewart has been a force in the world of NASCAR, not only as a successful driver with three Cup Series championships and 49 race wins but also as a team owner with Stewart-Haas Racing.
Despite this success, his reputation for having a blunt and sometimes contentious relationship with the media persists. In a recent interview with Sullivan Town BBQ (below), Stewart discussed these perceptions, claiming that the reality of his interactions is more amicable than they appear on the surface. He explained:
"Actually, much more fond than people think. Even the NASCAR media back in the day and there's some of them that I didn't like back in the day that I'm good friends with now and the ones that I was okay with and friends back then we're still friends. Have a lot of friends in media contrary to popular belief."
Stewart's journey through NASCAR—from his days as an aggressive driver to a team owner and now a broadcaster—has provided him with ample opportunities to form various professional relationships.
The challenge of managing media interactions is one Stewart is intimately familiar with. He discusses how drivers often encounter media queries immediately following races when emotions are still running high. He added:
"It was that way with the media though, you get out of the car they'd stick a microphone in your face and you hadn't even had time to get over being mad or at least even talk to the person that you're mad at and get their side of it... I mean I became a media guy I started doing commentary for FOX..."
Stewart recently closed his NASCAR operations by the end of the 2024 season. Speaking about the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing, Stewart explained, as previously reported by Newsweek Sports:
"It's honestly, especially in the last two to three weeks, it's starting to feel exactly like a year ago when we knew you were coming to the end of your career," he said.
"And thinking of the fun we had together on the road, the times I drove your Xfinity car, just the fun stuff that we did together. Like you mentioned, I literally went to Talladega, went from Talladega to Charlotte, spent the whole day at the shop, got to see as many people as I could at the shop, and knowing that when I left the building there that there's some of those people that I've known for 16 years and I may never ever see them again, unfortunately.
"This is a time where things are drastically changing in the sport. You look at what's going with 23XI and Front Row Motorsports right now and their battle with NASCAR and the direction that things are going, it's not a direction that I want to be a part of.
"This is the right time, this was never a part of a master plan but this is, as this year has gone on this has become very clear that this is the right time for me to get out of the sport."
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