Tony Stewart is one of the all-time greats in NASCAR. Stewart, along with being known for his extremely successful career in the sport, is also known to be a very eccentric personality, who was mostly adored and loved by the fans and his colleagues. Yet, he had to have had a rival, that one rival that every athlete has in their career, right?
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Of course, he did. And this was a question that Stewart Haas Racing asked their drivers in a ‘Tony Trivia’ series of videos. The question, ‘Who was Tony Stewart’s arch-nemesis while he was racing?’, was posed to Kevin Harvick, Ryan Preece, Aric Almirola, and other SHR drivers.
But only a few of them got the right answer.
Who was Tony Stewart’s NASCAR ‘arch-nemesis’?
Answering the question of who Stewart’s archenemesis was, Harvick simply asked, “Who was it?” He then replied, “Kenny Irwin was probably the early ones.” Ryan Preece too didn’t have any names to guess at first as he said, “I mean, it’s tough, he had a few,” later wondering if it was, “Joey Logano.”
Chase Briscoe added his guess as he said, “In my eyes, it was always Jeff Gordon,” something Aric Almirola also echoed as he replied, “His arch-nemesis? Jeff Gordon.”
Later, Tony Stewart himself gave his own guess for a question about himself as he said, “God, I don’t know. I’m going to say, Jeff Gordon.”
So turns out, it was Jeff Gordon indeed who was Stewart’s biggest rival, his arch-nemesis.
Now, while Gordon was Stewart’s biggest rival, the SHR co-owner was pretty far away from Gordon’s tally. Jeff Gordon ended his career with 93 wins and 4 Cup titles, while Stewart managed 49 wins and 3 titles in his career.
Gordon won the Daytona 500 three times while Stewart never won the Great American Race. The Hendrick Motorsports legend is also the record holder for most wins in the Brickyard 400 with 5 over Stewart’s 2. Moreover, Gordon is the winningest NASCAR driver on road courses, with 9 wins compared to Stewart’s 8.
So clearly, those two were rivals, two of the all-time greats, two of the biggest icons of NASCAR, but it was Gordon who was ahead of Stewart when it comes to a head-to-head.
Jeff Gordon paid Tony Stewart a touching tribute in his final season
As we’re approaching the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this coming weekend, and given that the subject is Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, it’s worth looking back on the heartfelt gesture Gordon had for Stewart in the latter’s final season in NASCAR as the show came to IMS.
“I think it’s only fitting, and Tony, I know that you don’t want to be recognized,” Gordon said to Stewart, who had made it clear that he doesn’t want any special farewell treatments in his last year. “You’ve been doing an amazing job this year, and I know you want to keep it on the lowdown, but I’m sorry, buddy. We’re in your home state. You were born and raised in Indiana. You’re at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”
“I know as we’ve gotten to know one another as friends and competitors over the years what this place means to you. I think that this is not a year about saying goodbye. It’s a year about celebrating what you’ve done on the track and off the track.”
Gordon congratulated Stewart for all that he had done on and off the track, claiming he was a great person, but more than that, he was “a heck of a racecar driver.”
