Tony Stewart won’t stop racing after he exits his Sprint Cup car for the final time this season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in November. Instead, he plans to return to his roots. ‘I plan on running a lot of dirt races after the end of the season when I retire from the Cup stuff, so I would say this is on the radar,’ Stewart said during a press conference Monday at the Lucas Oil Chili Bowl Nationals in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Stewart isn’t competing this week at the Chili Bowl Nationals but will help with track preparations as he did last year. That included driving a tractor to get the track in shape at the River Spirit Expo Center at Tulsa’s Expo Square. Stewart, a three-time Sprint Cup champion who came up through the dirt track ranks to IndyCar and NASCAR, has not raced on a dirt track since an incident Aug. 9, 2014, at Canandaigua Motorsports Park that killed Kevin Ward Jr. Stewart and Ward had been racing together when Ward’s car hit the wall. Ward exited his car and walked down the track toward Stewart’s car when he was struck and killed. It’s not hard to imagine Stewart returning to compete in the Chili Bowl next year. ‘It is the dirt track race of the year,’ Stewart said of an event that has 344 cars entered and drivers from 34 states and five countries. ‘I don’t care what series, what track, this is the place to be. It’s the only time all year you’re going to get this many quality cars and drivers and teams to come to one event and race.’(NBC Sports)
