Published 01/04/2023, 12:00 PM EST
All Tony Stewart fans know that the 2011 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is one of the most important and thrilling events in Stewart’s driving career. From internal team conflicts to the entire Carl Edwards saga before clinching the trophy, the championship had it all. But did you know why one race from the 2011 championship is still very close to Stewart’s heart?
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In a 2022 episode of the Skinny Racing Podcast, the host Ken Stout asked Tony Stewart if there was one particular win in his career that stands out. And while answering this, Stewart reminisced about his famous 2011 Homestead win. He explained that according to him, there is one special win for each different silo of racing. May it be his first World Outlaw race or his win at Kernersville, winning the Turkey Night or the Chilli Bowl. Clinching the Four Crowns with Sprint cars, or midget racing – he couldn’t name just one!
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However, he did admit that there was one that was pretty special. He revealed on the podcast, “On the cup side, I would say the biggest single win was still probably the Homestead race in 2011. That helped us win the championship.”
Agreeing with his choice, the interview added, “That was like two races you passed like two groups of cars.“
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Stewart admitted that he does not remember the official number of cars passed. However, he remembers there was a lot of back and forth. He said, “On an official for position count, that’s not counting lap cars that we passed, that’s cars for position. And there’s only 40…at the time there were only 43 cars in the field. And to pass a hundred and some odd cars for position means you’ve went back and forth a lot.”
Tony Stewart on why he actually had no hopes of winning
The 2011 Homestead race was more special because Tony Stewart had actually given up on any legitimate hopes of winning. He shared that initially; the team had to pit because Kurt Busch ‘s u-joint broke and went through the screen of the car. This, of course, affected their race. Stewart thought that it would be quite difficult to come back from it.
HOMESTEAD, FL – NOVEMBER 20: Crew members celebrate with Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office Depot/Mobil 1 Chevrolet, after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford 400 and the 2011 Series Championship at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 20, 2011 in Homestead, Florida. Stewart wins his third NASCAR Championship. (Photo by Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR)
However, that was not it. Another trouble followed the team. He shared, “And then the second one was contact with David Ruderman, who moved at the last minute to let us go a big run on him. And he just saw us at the last minute. So, I didn’t think he was moving. So I started to move and then he moved at the same time. And we punched a hole in the nose and had to come in and fix that and that’s that.”
Tony Stewart’s joke unexpectedly turned into a reality
While reminiscing about the incidents, Stewart jokingly said, “I actually sat there just to lighten the mood. When it happened the first time, I said, ‘Man! They’re really going to be mad when we come back and win this thing from the back.’ And I was joking around with the guys ’cause I was trying to make myself feel better too because I felt like at that point,’ that was it. We weren’t going to be able to get there from there.”
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Furthermore, he added, “And then we drove back and then had the contact again. So, being in a light mood, I said, ‘Man, they really gonna be mad when we come back and win this thing now.’ And was still joking around. Had no idea that we still legitimately had a shot to win at that point.”
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Maybe because of this, the 2011 Homestead race is still close to Stewart’s heart.