Stewart: ‘Tony’s Last Chapter’ adds fun to final season – Nascar

He helped re-create “Smokey and the Bandit” and brought the phrase “soda cookies” into the NASCAR vernacular. Both with the help of sponsor Mobil 1.
 
Now, as Tony Stewart prepares to ride off into the sunset, he and the folks from one of his longtime sponsors are at it again.
 
“Tony’s Last Chapter,” a digital video series consisting of four 30-second pieces, debuted March 3 with the three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion exploring potential hobbies following his impending retirement from competition at season’s end.
 
The winner of 48 points races in NASCAR’s premier series, Stewart will remain in the sport as co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, the four-team Sprint Cup Series group that includes drivers Danica Patrick, Kurt Busch and Kevin Harvick.
 
Two of the Mobil 1 episodes — “Tony’s Meat Smoker” and “Tony Learns French” — began airing two weeks ago.
 
“Tony Picks Up Painting” and “Tony Becomes a Cheese Connoisseur” launched on Tuesday.
 
Each of the videos can be found on the Mobil 1 YouTube channel, as well as the Mobil 1 and SHR Facebook pages.
 
Stewart, currently sidelined due to a non-NASCAR related injury sustained before the start of the 2016 season, spoke with NASCAR.com earlier this year during a break in filming of the episodes.
 
“It’s fun, that’s the great thing,” Stewart said. “From Day 1 when we’ve worked with Mobil 1 it’s all been funny, off-the-wall stuff that is not super serious. The stuff we’re shooting today, we’re all laughing with each other, cutting up and having a good time.”
 
The “we” consisted of SHR teammates Harvick and Patrick.
 
“It’s bad when you get Kevin and Danica and I all in the same deal because you know no matter what it is, we’re going to find a way to make it fun,” he said. “But they’re funny spots to begin with.”
 
The content and cast of characters, he said, made any attempt at being serious a bit more difficult.
 
“I tried … and then Danica said something that actually embarrassed me and I couldn’t even do the next take,” Stewart said. “It was the only time we had to start over in the middle of a take.
 
“Everybody thinks she’s sweet little innocent Danica and then she’ll say something that nobody hears and I’m like, “Did you really just say that?’ “
 
Perhaps the most difficult aspect was arranging the busy schedules of all three drivers with the start of the ’16 racing season just weeks away.
 
“That’s really the challenge, getting Danica’s schedule, Kevin’s schedule and my schedule to where we can all give them a day like that. When we can get a day when we can get organized like this it’s best to take as much time as we need so we can get it done,” Stewart said.
 
Mobil 1, an official NASCAR partner, has been affiliated with Stewart’s Sprint Cup efforts since 2011. Nine of his 48 career wins have come with Mobil 1 as a primary or co-primary sponsor of his No. 14 SHR Chevrolet.
 
“It’s a big deal to us,” he said. “Mobil 1 has been a great partner and the stuff that they are putting into my last year … that’s the fun part about these spots. They’re celebrating it being my last year and … making it fun.”