Throughout his career, Tony Stewart has never minced words. When he gives his opinion, it’s transparent, honest, and sometimes so bold that it may tick off sanctioning body officials, other drivers, and even fans.
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In the most recent edition of The Smoke Show: Live With Tony Stewart, Stewart was asked a hypothetical question: if sprint car racing such as the World of Outlaws, Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, All-Star Circuit of Champions series, the Super DIRTcar series, the Kubota High-Limit Racing series and others had the same financial resources as NASCAR, where would some of today’s top NASCAR and dirt racers race?
“If the money was equal – and I’m not going to speak for Kyle (Larson) and Kyle and I have never had this conversation – but I feel very confident in this statement that if the money was equal, that Kyle Larson would be in a sprint car, not in a Cup car,” Stewart said. “I feel the same way about Christopher Bell. I feel the same way about Chase Briscoe.”
“And like I’ve said, I’ve never had this conversation with any of those guys about it, but that’s my gut instinct, that’s what my gut tells me that if the money was equal, they’d be on dirt, they’d not be in NASCAR right now.”
As an aside, when NASCAR suspended Larson in the 2020 season for uttering a racial epithet during an online racing game, he was still able to keep racing in various dirt series. None of those series honored NASCAR’s ban of Larson, thus allowing him to keep racing – and also was a big financial boon to the racing series as Larson’s name sold tickets, and lots of them.
And by keeping his racing skills sharp, Larson was able to come back from his suspension the next year and wound up winning the 2021 NASCAR Cup championship.
Driving for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Cup Series, Larson earns approximately $10 million annually. In comparison, his earnings from the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series in 2020 were reported at $233,100. NASCAR drivers earn substantial salaries and bonuses. Meanwhile, salary contracts are a rare thing in dirt racing, with drivers often relying on a percentage of the purse.
Stewart is an expert source when it comes to talking about drivers who excel in both NASCAR and dirt racing like Larson, Bell, Briscoe and others. The NASCAR Hall of Famer not only has a long history of racing on dirt himself (including winning several races and championships), also owns the Eldora Speedway dirt track in Ohio, Tony Stewart Racing, the All-Star Circuit of Champions and has financial interests in other related businesses.
Tony Stewart is bullish on Kyle Busch racing on dirt, and Stewart’s love-hate relationship with NASCAR
Stewart would love to see Kyle Busch, once he retires from NASCAR, to move over to the dirt world.
“If he’s smart, he would (retire from NASCAR),” Stewart said. “Kyle Busch has nothing left to prove. If I were him, I’d go race with his kid on dirt and have a blast. Because it looks genuinely when you watch those guys at the racetrack, they’re having a good time, they’re having fun racing again.”
On another topic, Stewart admitted he has a love-hate relationship with NASCAR these days, particularly since he divested himself of his financial interest in Stewart-Haas Racing at the end of last year.
While Stewart said he still loves NASCAR, he also hates the series that made him more famous than any other type of racing he’s done, including IndyCar, sprint cars, and currently as a Top Fuel competitor in NHRA drag racing.
“I love NASCAR and as much as I can’t stand NASCAR (these days), I’m very appreciative,” he said. “Because if it wasn’t for my NASCAR time, I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to buy Eldora, wouldn’t have had the opportunity to buy the All-Star Series, I wouldn’t have a chance for TSR to start its 25th year in motorsports this year.”
“None of that would have happened if I didn’t have the opportunity to race in NASCAR. … And for everything that I don’t like about NASCAR, there’s something I love about NASCAR. Yeah, I’m hard on NASCAR right now. I think they make a bunch of unnecessary mistakes.”
And although Stewart didn’t say it, perhaps NASCAR should consider purchasing one or more of the top dirt racing series. With the $7-billion-plus money it will receive over the next decade from TV rights, NASCAR could easily afford to purchase one or more dirt series and put them under its corporate umbrella, much like the way NASCAR purchased the ARCA Series in 2018.
If NASCAR were to make such an investment and raise race purses in dirt racing to be comparable to NASCAR, Stewart’s observation about Larson, Bell, Briscoe, Busch, and others may very well come true. Heck, it may even convince Stewart to come out of retirement and get back into a sprint car himself.
