An interview with Tony Stewart, Part Two

Two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, who earned his first victory in a points race for Stewart-Haas Racing when he took the checkered flag in the Pocono 500 on Sunday, sat down for an extended interview last month. He talked about everything from Ryan Newman to race ownership, his working relationship with Hendrick Motorsports, concern about General Motors and his future as a driver.

As usual, Stewart held little back.

Here is Part Two of the interview:

Given the struggles of smaller teams that align with larger teams, including Haas CNC Racing and Hendrick Motorsports in the past as well as Hall of Fame Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing, what made you think going in that you would succeed?

Stewart: “My conversations with Rick Hendrick.”

What did Rick tell you?

Stewart: “Obviously, we wanted to know what the relationship was between the two and how the resources worked, how the information worked. What I heard from Rick made me feel confident this is a no-brainer for us. He assured me that he would do whatever it took to help us be successful with this and he's done that. I can't tell you how many nights I’ve called him at 11 o'clock at night because I was nervous about something or needed to make a decision and wasn't quite sure, thought I had a pretty good idea of what was the right decision to make. But Rick's kind of been a father figure from that standpoint with this organization. He's not done it for us, but he's worked really, really hard to help us get the people in place.’’

“When it came time to hire Ryan and when it came time to hire a competition director, those were phone calls that I made to Rick and said, ‘Hey, what do you think? Give me your input on it.’ ’’

What’s next in your empire building?

Stewart: “I’ve learned to never say never, for sure. ... I feel like right now my plate’s full with the partnership, partial ownership in two racetracks, a full ownership in a racetrack, the open wheel teams that we have and now the Cup. I think finally the plate’s full.''

Is the arrangement with Hendrick and the domination of the two teams good for NASCAR?

Stewart: “You’ve still got the competition. Even with Hendrick having four teams, on Sunday they still have four teams, four independent race teams competing against each other. Three teams are going to lose. It's really no different. It’s still two separate entities. It's not run out of one shop.''

Is the gray in your hair and beard a reaction to ownership:

Stewart: “This didn’t just show up in the last five or six months. It’s been there awhile.''

On General Motors, which was rumored to be considering filing for bankruptcy when the interview was conducted. GM has since filed for bankruptcy:

Stewart: “Whatever happens, we'll work around it. Obviously, it's big to not only our race team but a lot of race teams and the sport. But I guess my initial thought isn't how it affects me as much as how it's going to affect millions of people in our country. That bothers me more than us.

“The one thing about racers and race teams and race drivers across the country, there's thousands and hundreds of thousands of drivers and teams that are underfunded but they still find a way of getting to the racetrack every week and do what they do. We'll be no different. Worst case scenario, if they go away and we lose that support, we'll still be at the racetrack, we'll still find a way. But a lot of it for us is I've been with General Motors a long time, and have a lot of relationships with a lot of people that have been there from day one and have helped build our career and you worry about those people initially. It's millions of people that you worry about, but it's more personal with a lot of these folks that are in corporate tha tyou work with and work side by side with every weekend. You worry about their future and their livelihood and how it’s going to affect them more than how it’s going to affect us.

Do you find yourself more competitive with owners now than with drivers?

Stewart: "No, and I'll tell you why: The thing that I think makes our sport so different than any other sports is, obviously, Rick ... is somebody that said if you need something, call me.

"Before we had even made the decision what we were doing and it was rumored, Richard Childress came up to me and said, ‘Hey, I don't know what you're going to do, but if you need anything, let me know.’ At Daytona, when we had the crash at Happy Hour, Richard knew that we were out of cars for Ryan at that point, which we ended up being fine... Richard was the first guy to come over and say ‘Hey, I've got a speedway car if you need one.’ This is a guy you’re racing against the next day. Joe Gibbs has been the same way, if you need something call me. This is a sport that's always been about people.

“It’s a unique sport where the same people you compete against are the same people that are some of your best friends and the people that work with each other and around each other, they’re very resourceful, they do whatever it takes to help. I think that’s somethng that made me feel good going into this side, the ownership side, the Richard Childress's and Joe Gibbs’s and Rick Hendrick’s have come up and said, ‘Hey, whatever you need, let us know. That shows me that they’re behind me making this step as a car owner.''

Does ownership change your timetable for retiring as a driver:

Stewart: “It hasn’t at all.”

What is that timetable?

Stewart: “I honestly don't know. There's not a timetable yet. It’s kind of like Mark Martin. Mark was ready to retire, now he's signed up again for another year to run full-time.

I think a lot of it is year to year. Obviously we have contracts that take us further than a year, but you get toward the end of that and you look and say, ‘Hey, am I having fun doing what I’m doing?’ As long as you’re having fun doing what you’re doing, why would you want to do something else? this is what we live for.

“If you look at me and you look at my businesses and you look at what I do, I am a racer. Everything I do is race-oriented. My racetracks, my race teams, most of my businesses revolve around racing. That's my life. That's what my life is always going to be. Whether I'm an owner or driver or not. if I didn't have another race team, if I wasn't driving, I am going to be around racing for the rest of my life.’’

Click here for Part One.