A lot of buzzes went down the alleys of NASCAR throughout the entire season about Tony Stewart‘s absence from the Cup Series races. Back when Kevin Harvick got ousted from the 2023 playoffs at Bristol Motor Speedway, Tony Stewart wasn’t there. Even when Harvick got DQ’d and his P2 finisher at Talladega got snatched away from him, Smoke wasn’t there to pat his driver on the back and cheer him up. It seems like Tony Stewart is too busy with something else.

Stewart’s obsession with drag racing has enraged the NASCAR fans lately. So much so, that there were instances where the fandom urged Tony Stewart to sell the team off to an owner who would care more about it. But the nail on the coffin came when Stewart wasn’t seen anywhere at Harvick’s photo session with everyone he has worked with. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr was present to congratulate Harvick before the last race of his illustrious career.

A sorry season for Tony Stewart’s Cup team

It’s safe to say that Stewart-Haas Racing has not been able to live up to the expectations with which the team had set out at the start of the 2023 season. Despite being a leading Ford team, Stewart-Haas Racing failed to advance more than one of its four cars into the playoffs. On top of that, none of the SHR drivers have a win this year. Clearly, the drivers are not at fault.

Aric Almirola, Ryan Preece, and Chase Briscoe all succumbed to the team’s inconsistency along with Kevin Harvick, who got ousted from the playoff rumble, right in the first round. Visibly frustrated, Harvick pulled no punches, letting it out on the inferior quality car that he’s been driving all year long.

Looking at RFK Racing, also a Ford team, anyone would realize that it’s not the car manufacturer that’s causing the issue. RFK Racing, a much newer team than SHR, was able to get both its cars in the playoffs while for SHR, it was just Kevin Harvick. After the seasonal finale at Daytona, even NBC analyst and NASCAR veteran Kyle Petty admitted that RFK Racing was a way better unit than Stewart-Haas Racing.

But SHR could have stayed away from all the hate had Stewart been involved in the team’s operations. Weeks after weeks, Kevin Harvick kept battling his misfortune and Tony Stewart kept playing hooky from the scene. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr, whom Kevin Harvick had driven in the Xfinity Series from 2014 to 2016, was present at Harvick’s photo session.

Watch this story: Carson Hocevar Joins Spire Motorsports, Shares Special Bond with Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Alas, Stewart wasn’t seen as usual. Needless to say, the repercussions of his absence weren’t any different from before.

Fans bash Tony Stewart asking him to sell his team off to Dale Earnhardt Jr

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Kevin Harvick has carried the banner of JR Motorsports to the victory lane 6 times in the Xfinity Series. Hence, it’s quite normal that Dale Earnhardt Jr would show up on the #4 Ford sensation’s special day. Renowned FOX Sports journalist Bob Pockrass tweeted the group photo saying, “Photo shoot of those who worked with Kevin Harvick who are here in garage today. DaleJr here as Harvick drove for him in select Xfinity races.” Seeing the photo around Harvick’s Mustang for Phoenix, fans on Reddit couldn’t help but notice the absence of Tony Stewart from the grid.

Someone said, “You know what’s funny, his freaking car owner, Tony Stewart, the guy who has employed him for the last 10 years, couldn’t even be bothered to be here for the pic. At this rate, sell your damn company to Dale Jr. and go race in a straight line.”

Another exclaimed sarcastically, “Damn. Didn’t even think about that because Tony’s been so absent anyways. Great point”

A user wrote, “If Jeff Gordon/Mr H, Dale Jr., or Roger Penske started ignoring their race teams for other endeavors, the morale of the team would start to fail. I promise you if he was around more, they would be running a lot better. Sometimes something as simple as a pat on the back or a y’all did a great job can go along ways for people work ethic.”

Both Tony Stewart and wife Leah Pruett have been involved in the NHRA racing series nowadays with great success. The fans, however, weren’t nice about it. “It’s no coincidence that SHR started a downhill spiral after 2020 when Tony met Pruett,” said someone .

Still, Tony Stewart could make up for all of this by showing up for Harvick’s final race. On that note, a motorsport enthusiast said, “The real question is-will he be there on Sunday?”

“I do agree that Tony could be more involved, but him and Kevin are good friends, I don’t think they’re going to take a missed photo opportunity too personal,” added another.

How do you feel about this? Do you think Tony Stewart should be more involved in his team than carrying out his personal goals? Let us know in the comments below!

Read more: Photo shoot of those who worked with Kevin Harvick who are here in garage today. DaleJr here as Harvick drove for him in select Xfinity races.