“Would Definitely Trade a Championship for It”: Tony Stewart Still Haunted by Missing Piece in Trophy Cabinet

Winning the Daytona 500 in NASCAR is one of the biggest aspirations for every racing driver in America. There have been drivers who have achieved multiple wins and won several championships, but just not this race. Meanwhile, for the lucky few, the win comes as a gift. At the start of this season, the Great American race was won by Ricky Stenhouse Jr. after hordes of drivers wrecked ahead of him. Although Stenhouse has never competed for a championship in his Cup career, he can live with the fact that he has the Crown Jewel of NASCAR racing.

The same cannot be said for three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart, who was involved with Stenhouse Jr. previously. Throughout his time in NASCAR, Stewart managed to win three Cup championships, but the win at the Daytona 500 always seemed to have slipped out of his reach.

Tony Stewart is ready to trade a championship for a Daytona 500 win

Speaking to Bob Pockrass recently, Stenhouse Jr. mentioned, “I don’t remind him that I won the Daytona 500. But going to his bus after the race, you know, he was, he took my ring off and was looking at it. You could tell what emotions were going through his mind and kind of how proud he was of me obviously.”

“Raced for Tony and he did a lot to me in my career to get me to where I am. And you can see that it was kind of a proud dad moment there you know, looking at that ring. He definitely said he would trade a championship for it.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. drove in USAC for Tony Stewart. Stenhouse doesn’t flaunt that he has a Daytona 500 win while Stewart does not (Stewart has 49 Cup wins to Stenhouse’s three not to mention three Cup titles). Stenhouse describes his interaction with Stewart after winning the 500 pic.twitter.com/aL9glG8f3A

— Bob Pockrass (@bobpockrass) August 3, 2023

After such a long and illustrious career, this was the one event that eluded his grasp every step of the way, something Stewart clearly thinks about to this day.

Will Stewart ever return to attempt the Daytona 500?

Looking back at this year’s Daytona 500, Jimmie Johnson returned from retirement to attempt the Great American race once again. Even though he did not win there, it was a pleasant thing to witness nonetheless. Considering the seven-time Cup Series champion returned for the event, it sparked the question if Stewart will be open to such an opportunity.

However, the 52-year-old Indiana native made his intent pretty clear. While speaking during an NHRA media conference, Stewart mentioned, “But for me, that ship has sailed… I can tell you this, I have zero interest in going and run on a Daytona 500. I respect the history of that event, I respect the sport.”