The announcement that Tony Stewart’s beloved Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) series would not grace fans with a highly anticipated fourth season in 2024 was a lot to take in for many fans of the racing legend. While the official statement stated that market factors were such that the series could not get underway, causing many to claim Tony Stewart’s time at the top was over.
But contrary to what many sources have been suggesting, the owner of Stewart-Haas Racing dismissed all the naysayers by revealing how his plans for the future surpassed what was possible for him to achieve on his own. Now that the High Limit series was owned by Kyle Larson and making waves, Stewart realized that maybe less is indeed more.
Tony Stewart points out that he doesn’t call all the shots as SHR is a team effort
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Sitting down with the MotorTrend channel, Tony Stewart discussed his future prospects for all his projects and how cutting down on certain ones would eventually be inevitable. While Larson and his brother-in-law, Brad Sweet, had done wonders for the Sprint Cars, Stewart felt he had already contributed enough to the sport up to that point.
He shared, “You know, my life has taken twists and turns and if you start writing everything on a piece of paper of what you’re doing, it’s like, well, four Cup teams, two Xfinity teams, World Outlaw team, Eldora Speedway, All Star Circuit of Champions Sprint Car Series, All Star TQ Series – I don’t have any more room on my plate you know, and two NHR drag racing teams on top of that.”
After achieving success in almost every endeavor he’s undertaken, it’s only natural for Stewart to feel the need to slow down and take a back seat once in a while. However, his frustration with the people believing this wasn’t the case was fairly evident as he added, “Everybody goes, ‘How do you do all of this?’ Well, you have good people in place and I read something after our announcement yesterday, some know-it-all on the internet said ‘Well, that’s it! SHR is over, and it’s shut the doors down now’.“
However, just because the founder of Stewart-Haas Racing takes a step back, does not mean the organization as a whole does the same. On the opposite, this allowed Stewart to assemble just the right team to carry his existing ventures to new heights before committing to new long-term projects. He added, “I don’t make calls on the car anyway. It’s not changing one thing that we’re doing in North Carolina.”
Stewart felt it would be no different in the Sprint Car series or with his plans for the Eldora Speedway either. Everything was going to remain just as is. After all, it takes a lot of management capabilities to run a team as successful as SHR whilst still competing occasionally. He concluded by sharing his disapproval with those thinking he’s lost the Midas touch, “So people that have that mindset are dumb, they’re idiots, they don’t know what they’re talking about, and so it’s literally about having the right people in the right places and if you don’t, you can’t do that.”
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Putting aside the speculations regarding Stewart’s competency, the 52-year-old revealed just how he’s set up the perfect team to lead all his ventures forward onto newer horizons.
“I’m not the smartest guy” – Stewart’s concern lies with the bigger picture
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While it’s no secret that Tony Stewart has proven his tenacity as a team leader and more importantly, a business owner, it goes without saying that there will come a time when the needs of the business exceed one’s capabilities. Painting a realistic picture of the situation at SHR, Stewart shared, “There’s no way I could do all this, and I’m not the smartest guy. I’m smart enough to know that I need to hire smarter guys than me to do this. And you hire the right people to do the right jobs, and if you get those people, you don’t have to micromanage them.”
Stewart felt making mistakes like other owners in a similar situation who believed a know-it-all attitude was the way to go was not an option if the longevity of his projects were to be secured. He added, “I knew going into every one of these ventures that I couldn’t do it alone and I needed somebody that was a reasonable sound mind to bounce ideas off of and I come up with bad ideas and they say yeah that won’t work but that’s a good one, and then we execute it, so it’s literally surrounding yourself with good people.”
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READ MORE: NASCAR News: Shocking Disappointment as Tony Stewart’s SRX Series Cancelled for 2024 Season
Stewart felt it was better to find the right fit for a job that will ultimately decide the fate of your legacy than to let pride blind the workings of the organization. Concluding with a life lesson for all the NASCAR community, Stewart shared, “And honestly, it’s that way in life. If people pay attention to that, you know, don’t hang around people that don’t add value to your life. Because you are wasting your life on those people.”