NASCAR Fans Differ From Tony Stewart on His “Zero Interest in That” Statement

During the announcement of Josh Berry recently, Tony Stewart made an interesting statement, or rather, he slammed a reality of motorsports which many disagree with. You see, in any form of motorsports, strong financial backing is one of the main things that leads to one’s progress in the field. Such is the nature of the sport.

However, often times some drivers have been known to slice through the traffic and grab themselves a seat with their personal or parental financial backing. Thereby, creating an unfair divide between them and the ones who have genuinely worked hard to get up the ladder.

Discussing the prospect of having someone pay their way up into the Cup Series, Stewart recently issued a statement on the matter where he straight away slammed the prospect of having such a driver drive for his team.

Tony Stewart mentioned “Zero Interest” towards pay drivers in his own team

Reputed NASCAR journalist, Jeff Gluck, recently reported that the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing explicitly expressed his disinterest in allowing these so-called ‘pay drivers’ to secure a spot on his team.

“I’m not interested in some kid’s father coming in and buying their way into the Cup Series,” Stewart said. “I have zero interest in that.”

NASCAR has seen its fair share of ‘pay drivers’ in the competition. This isn’t to say they are entirely devoid of talent. However, their presence is often viewed as inequitable for other competitors vying for the same seat. Moreover, the situation isn’t exclusive to NASCAR either; it’s a prevalent issue in many other racing disciplines as well.

Interestingly, a driver’s parents might inject substantial amounts of sponsorship money to secure seats for their child. Even more disconcerting is when they go to the extent of purchasing a stake in a racing team solely to propel their children’s motorsport careers. Well, if anything, that would be highly unfair for the ones competing for the team on their own merits. Stewart’s resolution to ensure no ‘pay drivers’ infiltrated his racing team could be seen as a wise move.

Having said that, there was a section of fans on Twitter who believed that Stewart has been ignoring the ones that are already there within his team.

Fans react to Tony Stewart’s statement

After hearing what Stewart had to say about never hiring a pay driver, several fans across social media pointed out that such a driver currently sits in the NASCAR Xfinity Series. That being, SHR’s Xfinity Series driver, Riley Herbst. Moreover, fans also brought up names such as Cole Custer and Aric Almirola. Both of them have been driving for SHR with major personal financial backing.

Meanwhile, Stewart asserts that he won’t allow any ‘pay drivers’ to occupy a seat on his team, indicating his desire for merit-based selection. Yet, paradoxically, Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR) has a past intertwined with ‘pay drivers’.

This contradiction makes it difficult to ascertain Stewart’s precise intentions.