Stewart reflects on career ahead of final race – Nascar

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Tony Stewart met with the media for perhaps his final press conference Friday in Miami, touching on such topics as his legacy and his future. The Stewart-Haas Racing driver and co-owner will retire from full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series racing following Sunday’s Ford EcoBoost 400 (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“Normally legacy means you’re old and you’ve been around a long time,” Stewart joked. “It’s just been fun. It’s been a fun 18 years. Not every part of it has been fun … but the thing that I think at the end of it, I’ve always said what was on my mind, whether it was popular or unpopular. I’ve always fought for what I believed in.”

The oft-outspoken driver will continue to race, just not in NASCAR’s premier series. He previously said he plans to fill up his schedule continuing to race on dirt, and in his ownership of Eldora Speedway.

“I look at it like it’s halftime in a ball game,” Stewart said of his NASCAR career coming to a close. “It’s going to be just as much fun, if not more fun, than the first half was.”

Messages have poured in to Stewart over the weekend, although the driver said he may be slow in responding to them — his phone was stolen Thursday night.

“I was in the process of answering text messages,” Stewart said. “I got a flood of text messages last night, I’m sure it will be absolutely crazy when I turn it back on. People I haven’t talked to in a long time have reached out this week. It’s been pretty cool.”

This story will be updated.