“Drives Like a Little…”: Iconic Tony Stewart Flare-Up Is Ryan Blaney’s Favorite NASCAR Moment

NASCAR is an incredibly fast-paced sport. When 40 cars rev their engines at full throttle and run along the ovals three or at times, even four wide, the chances of contact are just inevitable. It is this dare-devilish aspect of the sport that attracts worldwide fame.

Nevertheless, when two or more drivers collide, a series of unruliness is bound to follow. And there have been certain moments of on-track brawls and expletive verbal altercations that NASCAR drivers find funny to this day.

Motorsports on NBC set out to interview several drivers on some of their favorite moments. Needless to say, Tony Stewart’s verbal attack toward 22-year-old Joey Logano made it to the top of the list.

It was the 2023 Cup Series champion Ryan Blaney who found Smoke’s exchange with his teammate hilarious. He said, “Tony Stewart. When he and Logano got into it… Lives with me all the time.” But what actually happened out there that had Tony Stewart fuming at the Team Penske icon?

It all started with the Auto Club 400 at Fontana in 2013. During a restart following a yellow flag, with just a few laps till the checkered flag, Logano veered below the white line and blocked Tony Stewart’s #14 Ford. Later, Stewart walked up to Logano on pit road and a series of punches followed.

Logano said that he did that on purpose. “I had to throw the block there,” said Logano. “That was a race for the lead. I felt like if (Stewart) got underneath me that was going to be the end of my opportunity to win the race. I was just trying to protect the spot I had.”

That certainly didn’t help Tony Stewart to cool down. In a post-race interview, Stewart pulled no punches, slamming Logano when he was asked to say a few words about the skirmish. “The dumb little s** runs us clear down to the infield. He wants to f* about everyone else and he’s the one that drives like a little b*. I’m gonna bust his a**,” declared Stewart.

Tony Stewart wasn’t the only enemy that Joey Logano made that day

A week before, Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin had spun Joey Logano out during the closing laps of the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway. And the following week, Joey Logano retorted back to the JGR star with a similar answer.

Logano signed the payback cheque by drifting toward the top groove and nudged Hamlin, which caused him to lose control over his machine and ram straight into the wall. The impact had Hamlin spend the entire night at the hospital due to searing back pain. However, Joey Logano didn’t fumble as he said, “That’s what he gets”.