For most NASCAR fans, last week already felt chaotic with all the lawsuit drama and tension over the charter system that put the sport under a harsh spotlight. However, everything got a whole lot louder when a new wave of leaked emails and text messages hit the internet and sent the NASCAR world into a frenzy.
And out of nowhere, an old Tony Stewart interview from 2018 has suddenly become the most shared video in the NASCAR community, with fans replaying it because what Stewart said back then makes a lot of sense right now.
Leaked Texts Spark Outrage Across NASCAR World
On Friday, a massive trove of emails and text messages became public as part of the antitrust lawsuit filed by 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR. The trial is scheduled for December 1, and the released communications are already causing damage to the reputation of the sporting body.
Inside those records were messages from senior NASCAR executives that shocked everyone, including one text that contained harsh words directed at Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress.
Another exchange attacked the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), the short track series Stewart helped build, where officials called it “trash” and even said a “knife” needed to be put into it when they found out Denny Hamlin planned to race there.
Once those messages became public, social media exploded, and the entire NASCAR community seemed to be disappointed and angry. Many wondered how long that attitude had been simmering behind closed doors and damaging the sport they loved so much, and that is when the old Stewart interview started circulating again.
Stewart is a Cup Series champion, Hall of Famer, and one of the most influential figures in the history of the sport. In the resurfaced clip, Stewart discusses a meeting years ago where nearly twenty veteran drivers sat down with NASCAR leadership to propose five practical changes they believed would help the sport.
He said the ideas were ignored and rejected by an executive who ‘had never raced or worked on a car.’ Stewart felt that the sport was being pulled away from the people who understood it best and said that if the pace of change continued, the sport might become unrecognizable compared to what it was when he first entered.
And now, after reading the leaked messages, fans are starting to realise that Stewart was never wrong about this whole theory.
The charter system played a major part in Stewart eventually stepping away from NASCAR ownership, and he has openly admitted that the financial side of the sport seemed to matter more than the teams or the quality of the racing. Today, Stewart looks happier running dragsters and dirt cars and chooses to stay far from the stress of Cup paddock politics.
Whether the viral interview was meant to resurface or not, it has given fans something to think about, and the gap between decision-makers and the people who built the sport feels wider than ever.