Don’t adjust your screens.
What you are about to see is in fact Tony Stewart once again driving a stock car around a road course.
The three-time Cup champion and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing was back behind the wheel of a No. 14 Ford Thursday. But Stewart didn’t pilot the car around a NASCAR track.
Instead, it was part of a demonstration run at the Circuit of the Americas, the 3.426-mile, 20-turn road course in Austin, Texas, where Formula 1 will compete this weekend.
Stewart gave rides to Haas F1 drivers Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen before they got a chance to get behind the wheel.
“It was a lot of fun for me to drive on a new track I hadn’t been around,” Stewart said Thursday afternoon on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio’s “SiriusXM Speedway.” “It was fun for me to watch those guys that know the track drive a car they’re unfamiliar with. Most of all, I think the most fun part for me was to help show the media a little more of why these guys got to this level. To take guys and put them in a car they’re unfamiliar with, for them to do as good a job as they did really shows why these guys made it to the Haas F1 program.”
Stewart, who hasn’t made a NASCAR start since he retired from Cup competition after the 2016 season, says the demonstration “fueled that fire” to possibly make a Xfinity Series start on a road course someday.
“I’d say even though I’m officially retired, I might do a Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and pull a one-off here or there,” Stewart said. “It doesn’t mean we’re doing it, it doesn’t mean we’re trying to put something together, it just means it could possibly be on the radar.”
Welcome back to a stock car, Smoke! 😎#AlwaysRac14g | @TonyStewart | #COTA pic.twitter.com/KOi6R25GTq
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) October 31, 2019
Helmet on. Straps tightened. Smoke is ready to roll. 💪#AlwaysRac14g pic.twitter.com/s5Xkv6eRIB
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) October 31, 2019
Just like old times! 🤩 Smoke has still got it.#AlwaysRac14g | #COTA | @TonyStewart pic.twitter.com/DF5lsqr8K3
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) October 31, 2019
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) October 31, 2019
Smoke is back! 👊 Well.. at least for today. @TonyStewart hopped back into a stock car to show @RGrosjean and @KevinMagnussen how it's done at #COTA. Tap the ❤️ if seeing the boss man behind the wheel brings back good memories.#AlwaysRac14g pic.twitter.com/y7SnCb2IDH
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) October 31, 2019
Merci monsieur https://t.co/ezdUa4lqig
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) October 31, 2019
Ready for the podium! 🏆#AlwaysRac14g | #COTA pic.twitter.com/Xl6Q9qhgMU
— Stewart-Haas Racing (@StewartHaasRcng) October 31, 2019
