Running Indianapolis "Not Out of the Question" - Tony Stewart

Above all else, Tony Stewart is a competitor. In his time in both the Indycar series as well as NASCAR, he wracked up a total of 52 wins, 644 race starts, and four championships. But one race always eluded him. That race? His home race of Indianapolis.

Now, at age 47, Stewart has taken a step back from major competition, preferring to run his co-owned Stewart-Haas NASCAR team from the sidelines, and taking out his frustrations on dirt tracks around the Midwest. But the glory of Indianapolis still looms large for the Columbus, Indiana native.

"If I go, I’m not going just to run it," Stewart said during the unveiling of the new 2019 Ford Mustang spec NASCAR. "I don’t want to be a sideshow like Danica (Patrick) was at Indy this year. If I go, I want to go feeling like I’ve got the same opportunity to win that everyone else in the field does. "

Rumors have circulated for months that Stewart might jump back into an Indycar at some point this season, to test his mettle around a superspeeday before trying his hand at the Indianapolis 500.

Stewart all but confirmed to the gathered reporters Thursday that if he were to enter Indianpolis, a couple of warm-up races would proceed it.

After stating that an entry into Indy is "Not out of the question," Stewart clarified by saying, "One race might not be enough to feel like you’re where you need to be."

"It’s an insult to the guys who do it every week to show up and think you’re going to be as good as those guys are," he added. "They’re on their game. They know their cars. They know how they need their cars to feel in practice to be good in the race. It’s foolish to think you can just show up and be competitive and have a shot to win."

While it looks like there are many, many details still to be worked out if Stewart were to enter Indianapolis in the near future, it is a guarantee that is he were to come back, he would be embraced by fans, drivers, and management alike.

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