"I'm glad to see you're back to form" - When Tony Stewart's insult to a reporter made Dale Earnhardt Jr. struggle to hold back laughter

Tony Stewart once insulted a reporter for asking about the lack of wrecks in the last three races instead of his performance. While Stewart vented his frustration on the reporter in 2012, Dale Earnhardt Jr. could be seen holding back his laughter.

In the 2012 NASCAR Cup Series season, Stewart was the defending champion after winning his third title with Stewart-Haas Racing. He was competing with Dale Earnhardt Jr., who was driving for Hendrick Motorsports at the time.

During the post-race press conference at Richmond International Raceway, Stewart didn’t hold back on ESPN’s David Newton, which got Earnhardt Jr. laughing even before responding. The reporter asked:

“Third straight race, there’s been no wreck. I mean does that amaze you? Have you seen anything like that?”

In response, the three-time Cup Series champ said:

“David, only you’d think about stuff like that. I don’t know about what you think of during the race but I try to figure out how to win the race and make my car go faster. I don’t sit there and think of that petty crap that you think of.”

Stewart concluded by saying:

“I’m glad to see you’re back to form.”

The 2012 Capital City 400 at Richmond International Raceway witnessed former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch secure his 24th win in the premier series. The top three were rounded by Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Tony Stewart, respectively.

Stewart finished 3rd after starting the race in 22nd. While the driver was frustrated about his No. 14 crew’s pit stops, he commended the car’s performance in Richmond.

“That’s the best car I had in Richmond in a long time so… I’m really really proud of Steve Addington [crew chief], proud of our guys. We just got, we got some work to do on pit stops right now. I don’t know what their malfunction was but I pretty ticked off about it tonight,” Stewart said after the race.

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A NASCAR mechanic once predicted a DEI comeback with Tony Stewart and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Following the announcement of Stewart-Haas Racing’s exit from the sport, David Green, a NASCAR mechanic, predicted Tony Stewart would partner with Dale Earnhardt Jr. to bring back Dale Earnhardt, Inc. (DEI).

In an X (formerly Twitter) post shared earlier this year, Green wrote:

“My prediction is Dale Jr pairs up with Tony Stewart to bring back DEI. Tony keeps 2 charters and Dale Jr buys out Gene Haas for 25 million each charter. Noah will be driving the #8 Bass Pro car and Brandon Jones in the #88 win Menards. #NASCAR @DaleJr @TonyStewart.”

However, the latest developments suggest that the prediction will not come true anytime soon. The outgoing SHR team is set to be rebranded as Haas Factory Team. The reworked team will field one car in the Cup Series, with Cole Custer slated to drive the No. 41 Ford Mustang Dark Horse next year.

Today, Stewart drives an 11,000-horsepower Top Fuel dragster in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) as a rookie, while Earnhardt Jr. serves as a part-time driver for his Xfinity Series team, JR Motorsports.