Tony Stewart Recalls Turning Down Cup Series Debut for Rick Hendrick in 1996

Tony Stewart is a NASCAR legend. One can even add that he is an American motorsport icon, and no one would call it out; such has been Stewart’s influence in the realm of motorsport over the years. It’s not the NASCAR accolades that make him stand out, but his approach to trying different race car series has helped him reach this stature. To name a few, he is an Indy Car Series champion, 2006 IROC champion, 2021 SRX Series champion, 2002-07 Chili Bowl champion, and so on.

But Stewart always took his sweet time while making a major switch in his racing career. This was when an ample opportunity came knocking on his door during his early racing days. In 1996, Stewart received a call from Mr. Rick Hendricks, who wanted him to drive the No. 25 for his team in the Cup Series. Surprisingly, Stewart rejected the offer. To turn down HMS, who were starting to assert domination in the series, was a bold move. Luckily for Stewart, it turned out pretty well as he debuted in 1999 and took the series by storm.

Tony Stewart wasn’t ready for the Cup Series challenge when Mr. Hendrick offered him to race for HMS

In 1996, Stewart was already making waves in the Indy Car series as he won the championship that year. During the same time, he was running in the Busch Series in NASCAR, eyeing a leap into the major leagues. However, when the big opportunity came calling, a young Stewart boldly decided not to join Hendrick Motorsports. However, he would curse himself for making that call as he had a successful Cup Series career with Joe Gibbs Racing and even won two championships.

Shedding light on the story, Stewart, while speaking on MotorTrend’s YouTube channel, said, “Back in ’96, when I ran my first season with IRL and started in Busch Series in NASCAR at the end of that year, I got hurt. I was literally recuperating at my mom’s house, and I got calls from Rick Hendrick to drive the 25 Cup car, and I also got a call from Barry Green from team Cool Green to run the Indy car in the Indy Car series, and I turned both of those down.”

“I was like, I’m not ready for that, and my theory was you work your whole life to climb that ladder, and it’s one step at a time; nobody’s jumping steps. When you get to that second to last step, you better make sure when you take that step you’re ready for it. I knew I wasn’t ready, I just didn’t have enough time yet.“

Read More: Tony Stewart Steered SRX Series Was Doomed For Failure and Here is Why  

Leah Pruett was keen for Stewart to take her place at the NHRA Top Fuel 2024 event

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It’s not new to see Tony Stewart racing in different car series over the years, but for once, he had reservations regarding his involvement in the Top Fuel 2024 season. Leah wanted to start a family with Tony Stewart and decided to step away from the drag racing series. Lyle Barnett was next in line to take the role, but Stewart’s wife, Leah, had other ideas. Having raced in the Top Alcohol class, this jump to Top Fuel was significant.

“In the fall, when it came back up, we had narrowed it down to Kyle Barnett, and I was excited about that. If I was gonna put anybody on it, that’s the guy I would want. But Leah said, are you sure you don’t want to be on this list, I’m like right now I’m alright(…) I feel like another year in Alcohol class would be ideal to make this jump. But you know when your wife says, hey, I want to start a family, and I think you should be on the list. What do you tell her, ‘no?'”

With his Cup Series team’s resurgence plans and SRX’s cessation for 2024, do you think this was the best time for Stewart to switch to the drag racing series?

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