![\"Tony](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/GettyImages-2261324684-1.jpg\")
\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Tony Stewart sounded off on NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell in a recent interview.<\/p>\n
If Tony Stewart and NASCAR<\/a> CEO Steve O\u2019Donnell were in the same room, there would not be much of a conversation. <\/p>\n With their past grievances that were aired out in a courtroom last December, \u201cSmoke\u201d would not have much to say to NASCAR\u2019s Chief Executive.<\/p>\n There would not be words, only fists.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I saw O\u2019Donnell now, we\u2019d be in a fistfight, for sure, and that\u2019s because of what they did to me in the past,\u201d Stewart said via Door Bumper Clear<\/a>.<\/p>\n While the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion gave props to O\u2019Donnell for his latest NASCAR efforts, Stewart is not over the beef and revealed a stunning text message he received from the CEO during the latest episode of DBC.\u00a0<\/p>\n The bad blood between Stewart, O\u2019Donnell<\/p>\n During the legal battle between NASCAR and Cup Series teams 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports over charter agreements, text messages written by O\u2019Donnell came to light.\u00a0<\/p>\n O\u2019Donnell was critical of Stewart\u2019s Superstar Racing Experience, a series he owned that operated from 2021-2023. The NASCAR CEO expressed frustrations in the texts regarding Cup Series drivers and owners racing in Stewart\u2019s series, believing it was a rival competitor.\u00a0<\/p>\n One text from O\u2019Donnell, in frustration of Cup Series driver and team owner Denny Hamlin announcing his intentions to race in SRX, read<\/a>:<\/p>\n \u201cOh great, another owner racing in SRX.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Donnell also testified in court last December about the SRX.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought this looked more and more like NASCAR. \u2026 I was concerned with what was happening on the racetrack,\u201d O\u2019Donnell said<\/a>.<\/p>\n The trial between the Cup teams and NASCAR was ultimately settled.<\/p>\n A few months later, when Stewart returned for a one-off race in the Craftsman Truck Series at Daytona last February, he was asked if he had seen O\u2019Donnell since arriving to the 2.5-mile and if he would like to.<\/p>\n \u201cI have not had that pleasure yet. \u2026 I\u2019m going to do my deal. If I run into Steve O\u2019Donnell, then he\u2019ll have to deal with that part. I\u2019m gonna go do me and I don\u2019t really care what he does this week,\u201d Stewart said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stewart reveals text from O\u2019Donnell on Christmas morning<\/p>\n On Christmas morning last year, exactly two weeks after the NASCAR lawsuit was settled, Stewart received quite the text message.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSteve O\u2019Donnell sent me a text message on Christmas morning last year. We haven\u2019t spoken for a long time and it wasn\u2019t, \u2018Hey, just want to say sorry about the past but, hey, if we can put this behind us, maybe we can work together.\u2019 He goes, \u2018Oh, Merry Christmas. This and that. We\u2019re trying to get the needle moving in the right direction, you think we could get together?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n With everything that had just aired out in a North Carolina courtroom, Stewart did not take kindly to O\u2019Donnell\u2019s Christmas message.<\/p>\n The 49-time Cup Series winner resented O\u2019Donnell\u2019s proposition and has no intentions of a working relationship with NASCAR\u2019s CEO in the future.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m like you can\u2019t even say sorry yet and you want my help now? Piss off. I\u2019m not ever going to help him,\u201d Stewart said<\/a>.<\/p>\n Stewart applauds O\u2019Donnell for role as NASCAR CEO: \u2018He geniunely cares\u2019<\/p>\n Personal beef aside, Stewart was able to commend O\u2019Donnell on the current job he is doing as CEO.<\/p>\n NASCAR has undergone many changes since O\u2019Donnell took over, most notably a return to the Chase points format. Although Stewart has his own personal gripes with the Chief Executive, he believes O\u2019Donnell is making an effort to grow the sport with good intentions.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think he\u2019s making a difference now and I do think he\u2019s trying. I genuinely think he\u2019s making a genuine effort to try and make it better and not because of an ego; I think he genuinely cares about it,\u201d Stewart said.<\/p>\n Stewart is set to return to NASCAR next month when he pilots the No. 25 Kaulig Racing Ram in the Craftsman Truck Series race at Talladega. He previously fielded the truck at Daytona but a crash ended his race early.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tJohn Breeden<\/a> John Breeden is a NASCAR contributor at Heavy Sports. He has five years of sports journalism experience. He graduated from James Madison University in May of 2022 with a degree in media arts and design. John is also a sports reporter for the Daily News-Record in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Previously, John was a sports writer for JMU’s The Breeze and a NASCAR content writer for Sportskeeda. More about John Breeden<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Tony Stewart sounded off on NASCAR CEO Steve O’Donnell in a recent interview. If Tony Stewart and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":913564,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[446],"tags":[49,48,634,82],"class_list":["post-913563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nascar","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nascar","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=913563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/913563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/913564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=913563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=913563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=913563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}