Tony Stewart Exposes NASCAR Icon Michael Waltrip’s “Corny” Trait That the Entire NASCAR Grid Loathed

In the wake of Kevin Harvick’s retirement, the young commanders of Tony Stewart’s troupe are gearing up to bear Stewart-Haas Racing’s mantle. Chase Briscoe, Stewart’s senior-most Cup driver next year, was eager to imbibe his Champion team owner’s endless wisdom.

During a tête-à-tête captured by his team, the Hall of Famer produced a hilarious gem to tickle the #14 driver for Tony Stewart’s memory vault had taken him straight to veteran racer Michael Waltrip.

Michael Waltrip single-handedly miffed Tony Stewart and fellow NASCAR drivers

2 x Daytona 500 winner Michael Waltrip was Tony Stewart’s competitor in the early 2000s. The 60-year-old former racer is now engaged with Fox as a NASCAR analyst. It would be prudent to assume that Stewart must have been educating his young driver with stunning on-track tales of their racing days. In an amusing twist, Waltrip’s name came up in an unexpected manner when Chase Briscoe asked an innocuous question about driver meetings. 

Familiar with his team owner’s humorous persona, Briscoe was curious about the meetings two decades ago and whether they brought out varying motives akin to the current times. The #14 driver was hilariously reassured to discover that administrative meetings were unanimously tedious regardless of the time period. Moreover, all the drivers in those days were wary of Michael Waltrip’s attendance, as the racer was infamous for elongating them with irrelevant questions. Stewart recalled, 

“Well, the majority of my career Michael Waltrip was there, and Michael always, in every driver’s meeting, at the end of it when they would ask for questions, as soon as we’d see him raise his hand we were like [sigh of annoyance]. Because it probably was going to extend the driver’s meeting five more minutes with something corny that had nothing to do with what we were doing.” 

Stewart then expanded his recollection to provide an overview of the meetings that differed according to the agenda at hand. “I guess it was different every time. I mean when it was a big race you were a little more nerved up, if your car was good you were a little edgy when you went to the driver’s meeting, and then there were races that you felt good and you just had fun at the driver’s meeting, just dependent on what the scenario was that weekend.”

Watch this story: Christopher Bell’s Stand Against Tony Stewart’s Aggressive Racing Style

Interestingly, the prolific owner chose to sit through several more meetings with Waltrip when they drove together in Tony Stewart’s Superstar Racing Experience.

Michael Waltrip waved away Tony Stewart’s bad racing days

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When Tony Stewart conceptualized his popular SRX series, he invited Michael Waltrip to drive in its premier season. The rookie season in 2021 included NASCAR veterans such as Bill Elliott and Bobby Labonte along with Waltrip and Stewart himself. The series owner opted to promote it the year before on Fox’s Waltrip Unfiltered podcast. In front of his racing companion, however, Tony Stewart only revealed warm and fuzzy memories of the support he received from Waltrip.

“I had a blast racing with you because there were days that my car was so bad and I was so mad at what was going on that I couldn’t see straight and then you’d either go by or I’d catch you and we’d go by and we’d wave at each other and it was like ah it’s not so bad we’re still getting to race today and have a good time.”

On his part, the senior driver heaped praises on Stewart’s recruitee and vouched for his boundless potential. “There’s not a better man in America than Chase Briscoe. He has a heart of gold and he can drive the snot out of a car.”

Chase Briscoe would cherish all the gems from these racing treasures before he dons his battle armor to establish Stewart-Haas Racing’s former glory.

Read More: “Don’t Give a Flying F”- Tony Stewart Exposes Owners’ Blatant Attitude, Reveals Real Reason Behind Selecting Kyle Larson To Sustain His Legacy