Tony Stewart addresses backlash received after news of SHR closure

Since announcing the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing effective at the end of this season, Tony Stewart has taken some heat. Fans and media have at times been critical of the way the NASCAR team has gone about things.

16 years with Stewart-Haas Racing in the Cup Series. Now, it is almost over. Three more weeks of SHR. Tony Stewart has heard a lot of noise from the outside throughout the year, too.

Speaking to Kevin Harvick on his Happy Hour podcast, Smoke talked about that criticism. He isn’t afraid to address it and tackle it head-on.

“The bashing I got online and on social media was very unjust through the process,” said Stewart. “It’s easy to sit on your ass, on a chair, on your couch in your mom’s house and sit there and tell us how we’re doing it wrong. But nobody can seem to sit there and come in on Monday morning and tell us how to do it right.

“I feel like our group did a great job of taking care of our people the best that we could, and with the right intentions and with the attitude of our employees came first – and that’s what the focus has been this year, is making sure that we do everything to take care of our employees in a season that’s a transition year for everybody.”

So, keep criticizing, Smoke doesn’t really care. He knows that he has done all that he can in this sport up to this point. You won’t find him second-guessing this decision.

Tony Stewart not going back on closing SHR

Between his NHRA career as a driver-owner, owning Eldora Speedway, a sprint car team, and becoming a father soon, Tony Stewart has a lot going on. So, it’s clear to see why he would step away from NASCAR at this time.

You won’t find Stewart second-guessing himself here.

“It’s just a different time in the sport,” he said to Harvick. “The sport’s going to be healthy, it’s going to survive. It always has, it always will. But I’m happy at this point in my life to make this change. Like I said, it wasn’t that way at the beginning of the year, we had different reasons for why we had to shut down at the end of the season.

“As time’s gone on and watching the owners and NASCAR fight and just the chaos that’s going on over there, I’m fine being done with this at the end of the year.”

Not a fan of the legal dispute going on right now, Tony Stewart is happy to exit now. Two championships, 70 wins, and a lot of memories, including the final win at Darlington with Chase Briscoe.