"Whatever it is, it's not that bad" - When Tony Stewart recalled NASCAR veteran's advice from a personal tragedy

Modified Dec 11, 2024 15:30 GMT

NASCAR: Daytona 500-Media Day - Source: Imagn

Tony Stewart earlier this year revealed the advice he got from a NASCAR veteran which changed his life. During an interview with Youth Inc., Stewart revealed the talk he had with Mike Wallace, the brother of Rusty Wallace, which left him with a piece of advice he has never forgotten.

Stewart recalled that Wallace, whom he didn't know well at the time, came to his motorhome. He asked if the two could talk, after which they went outside and sat on two lawn chairs. In an interview shared on YouTube in February this year, Stewart shared details of their conversation, saying (via YouthIncSports),

"He told me a story about his first son. He was backing out of his driveway and backed over his son and killed his son. He goes, 'I don't know what's bothering you. I know something is bothering you. Whatever it is, it's not that bad.' And I've never forgot that conversation and...Mike and I are great friends."

It's worth mentioning that Mike Wallace won 9 races in total in his NASCAR career, four of which came in the Xfinity Series and five in the Truck Series. Notably, he won the Truck race at Talladega in 2011, at 52 years of age.

Meanwhile, in an interview with NBC Sports earlier this week, Wallace said while he didn't have as great a career as his brother Rusty, he still had "a great time." He put that down to winning "some major races" and getting to race for 25 years.

When Mike Wallace's brother reacted to Tony Stewart's comments amid his leaving NASCAR with SHR

Earlier this year, Stewart-Haas Racing announced that the 2024 year would be their last in the sport. This meant that Tony Stewart would no longer be a presence in the NASCAR garage.

Mike Wallace's brother, Kenny Wallace, shared his take in an interview in October this year on Stewart's words at the time. Wallace said,

“Tony Stewart said, basically in a nutshell, now I’m paraphrasing … Once again, I know NASCAR is watching I’m not a dummy. He said, ‘NASCAR’s headed in the wrong direction and I don’t want to be a part of it and now seemed like a good time to get out.’ There you go.

"Some of you might say mic drop, some of you might go, boom! But I’m going to say it one more time, Herman is going to repeat himself, Tony said, it’s so difficult to get sponsors nowadays,"

He claimed that with all the difficulty in the sponsorship side of things in NASCAR today is "exhausting." Wallace further speculated that a "third" factor in the mind of Tony Stewart for leaving could've been the 23XI-FRM legal feud over charters with NASCAR.

He added that Stewart perhaps didn't like the direction NASCAR was heading in. And so exiting the sport might have made "more sense" to the NASCAR legend.

About the author

Shaharyar is one of the most experienced NASCAR journalists at Sportskeeda, having also worked in the motorsports journalism industry for over 3 years. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and has previously worked with Essentially Sports.

In addition to watching as many races as possible and tracking all the storylines on raceday, he aims to be attentive and objective in his reportage by cross-referencing all the information he obtains with multiple sources. Shaharyar also tries to be empathetic with his coverage and understand the emotions of athletes and fans alike.

Although he admires Max Verstappen due to the hard work that has gone behind his recent dominance, he also has a soft spot for Charles Leclerc and Ferrari. Having covered NASCAR for quite some time, Shaharyar is resigned to the fact that it will struggle to eclipse F1 due to its old-school nature, though he believes the series has its own merits, just as F1 has limitations.

Shaharyar is also an indie filmmaker and his spare time is largely spent on that field either writing, directing, or editing a story or a project to make it come to life.

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Edited by Eeshaan Tiwary