"Trusted Bob Jeffrey with my life" - Tony Stewart remembers championship-winning spotter after his unfortunate death

Tony Stewart shared his condolences over the death of Bob Jeffrey, his championship-winning spotter, through a heartfelt post on X. Stewart praised Jeffrey for being a steadfast support throughout his racing career, noting that the duo always had each other's back.

Bob Jeffrey joined Tony Stewart with the birth of Stewart-Haas Racing in 2009, playing a crucial role in guiding the latter to 16 victories and the 2011 championship until Stewart's retirement from NASCAR in 2016.

Jeffrey's career also included his time with Dale Jarrett, contributing to his 1999 Cup championship victory. He even worked with Danica Patrick during her final Indycar season in 2018.

Reflecting on their times together, Stewart reshared the news announcement of his passing away and wrote:

"I trusted Bob with my life. We always had each other’s back and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. He was one of the best."

In addition to his role with Tony Stewart in NASCAR, Bob Jeffrey also made his mark in other racing series, contributing to championships in both the NTT IndyCar Series and IMSA. Most recently, he served as the spotter for Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward. Together, they clinched victories at the season opener in St. Petersburg and at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course just a few races back.

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Tony Stewart claimed the runner-up spot in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series event at Sonoma Raceway

Tony Stewart, who returned to Sonoma for the first time since his last NASCAR Cup victory in 2016, finished just 10 feet or 0.0214 seconds behind 77-time winner Antron Brown. As a Top Fuel rookie with a background in various motorsports disciplines, Stewart had faced challenges earlier in the season, with four first-round exits in the last six races.

Starting as the P11 qualifier, Tony Stewart made a surprising run, defeating the P4 qualifier and championship hopeful Shawn Langdon in the first round. He continued his unexpected success by outpacing Justin Ashley in the quarterfinals and overcoming Ron August, the last-place qualifier, in the semifinals.

In the final face-off, Stewart got off the line slightly ahead but was soon overtaken by Brown, who clocked a winning time of 3.746 seconds at 329.67 mph in his Matco Tools/Toyota dragster. Although Stewart had a quicker start, Brown's car powered through to clinch the Top Fuel title with a run of 3.746 seconds, edging out Stewart's 3.774.

Reflecting on his performance, Stewart shared on X:

"This was a much better weekend than I anticipated. We didn’t really win anything, but we didn’t lose yesterday. In the final, we did everything we could as we left on one of the best Top Fuel leavers."

"To leave on Antron in the final is very big for me as a driver," Tony Stewart said. "We kept him honest and we made improvements with the car. We are checking boxes one at a time. We’ll take what we learned this weekend and try to make it better," he continued.

Tony Stewart currently ranks P9 in the standings with 617 points. His next competition, the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals, is slated for August 16-18 in Brainerd.