The NASCAR Xfinity Series race in Phoenix was all about Justin Allgaier and his championship win, his first on his seventh attempt. After a five-year drought, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and his team were able to claim the title glory. The visuals of the celebration from the JRM camp certainly grabbed all the attention. These overshadowed Riley Herbst’s splendid performance in winning the race.

It was indeed a special win for the entire Stewart Haas Racing organization, as they are closing down at the end of the season. The race in Phoenix was their last one in the Xfinity Series, and Herbst certainly made it memorable. He was a dominant force throughout the race, leading 167 of 213 laps, and was able to make a late race move on Justin Allgaier to clinch the win by 0.247 seconds.

Herbst certainly wasn’t alone in the victory lane as the team owners, Tony Stewart and Gene Haas, graced the racetrack with their rare presence. “What’s up NASCAR fans? It’s Riley Herbst in the victory lane, Phoenix. I got the boss man Smoke, and got them monster girls. It might be a party in Scottsdale. See you out there.” Herbst shared this message via NASCAR’s YouTube channel.

Tony Stewart recently has been in the news for his comments, labeling NASCAR’s charter system as a “joke,” which forced his hand to call it quits from racing. However, the fans have been critical of the way he handled his race team, and his lack of involvement and absence was often highlighted by them. But to see him turn up for his team’s Xfinity Series race certainly took many race fans by surprise.

NASCAR fans didn’t expect Tony Stewart to turn up in Phoenix

Going into the race, all the hype was about the four drivers and who among them would win the trophy. Would it be Allgaier, Austin Hill, A.J. Allmendinger, or Cole Custer? It was a star-studded Championship 4 lineup. Although these drivers didn’t have to win the race, most of us were banking on a win by one of the four. But Riley Herbst certainly pulled off a spoiler, and it brought out Tony Stewart from the shadows for his last Xfinity race as the owner. Shocked to see Smoke celebrating the win with the team, a fan wrote, “Tony showing up is the biggest surprise out of the whole weekend.”

Unlike Stewart, Gene Haas will stick around in NASCAR. He will continue with his new team, the Haas Factory Team, and run a single-car operation at the Cup level. But, it is indeed hard to recall the last time the fans got a glimpse of the veteran team owner. Age certainly seems to be catching up with him, and this was the first observation made by this race fan seeing him join Stewart in the celebrations. “Gene looks like he’s seen better days.”

“It’s unbelievable to me really that we went from forever to forward to for sale in six months.” This was Kevin Harvick’s reaction to the news of SHR closing down. He believed the race team could’ve survived the tough time had the owners been involved with running the race team. Harvick labeled their approach as “hands off” as they appointed people to do their bidding. Like most fans, he was disappointed to see the team go downhill without the owners actively participating in trying to overturn their misfortunes. Therefore, seeing the two turn up on the team’s last Xfinity Series race was something no one expected. At least, not this Reddit user, “Wow look everybody, the 2 owners of a race team actually showed up to the final races.”

Smoke has already transitioned from his NASCAR project and is now racing full-time in the NHRA Top Fuel division. He raced in place of his wife Leah Pruett for their NHRA team. Moreover, he is also expected to become a father for the first time. So it’s fair to say he’s got a lot on his plate, and given how his exit from NASCAR has been along with his recent comments, fans were convinced he wouldn’t show up. But he did, and it was indeed a shocker for this fan: “Im suprised that stewart even bothered to show up. I fully expected him to ditch the event.”

Stewart Haas Racing was a formidable force from the last decade of 2011-2019. They won two titles and were a consistent championship-contending team with Kevin Harvick in the #4 car. Naturally, a lot of fans have fond memories of those times, and to see the team take an exit door was heartbreaking for them. “I’m just upset to see the team go.”

Now it is indeed hard to expect a similar outcome from the Cup Series race, but hopefully, Stewart and Gene turn up for the mega event in support of their team.