As one of the most versatile drivers in NASCAR, Tony Stewart has a never-ending list of accomplishments. However, despite being a NASCAR Hall of Fame and National Sprint Car Hall of Fame inductee, Stewart could never check the Daytona 500 box. But what if he was on the verge of achieving this feat?

In his recent appearance on The Bubba Army, the show’s co-host presented Stewart with an interesting last-lap Daytona 500 scenario. As a part of which, he asked Stewart who would he pick as a backup if he was leading the last lap at the Daytona 500 race. To this, the Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner replied, “A teammate. Somebody that you know is not gonna dump you.”

However, when the host asked him to pick a driver he had raced with over the years, someone who could push him the best, Stewart replied, “Dale Earnhardt Jr actually. Dale and I … we were never teammates, never drove for the same team and I did drive his Xfinity car some. But we got to be really good buddies at restrictor plate tracks at Daytona … Talladega.”

Moreover, he shared how their partnership was viewed by the entire field. He said, “We would get hooked up together. And it got to the point where we did such a good job of drafting together that the rest of the field would do everything they could the entire race to keep us broke apart and split up in different lines in different areas.”

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Tony Stewart explains why Brad Keselowski just doesn’t have that ‘finesse’

After hearing Tony Stewart talk about his amazing drafting partnership with Dale Earnhardt Jr, the show’s co-host revealed that he was curious to know if all the drivers are good at pushing.

Explaining how he feels Brad Keselowski might not be the best backup, Stewart said, “Brad Keselowski, he is a good pusher but it’s sketchy. I mean he hits you hard.

So, when he hits you … if you watch the race and you watch the qualifying race on Thursday, anybody that was in front of Keselowski, their cars look terrible. [laughs] They were all over the place. Well, that’s ’cause Brad’s pushing them all over the place. So, some guys have a little more finesse when it comes to the pushing.”

Well, now it is crystal clear whom Stewart will and will not count on as a backup for his ideal Daytona 500 scenario. And going by to his explanation, Keselowski might not be his first choice if Dale Earnhardt Jr refuses to push him at the last lap.

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