Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour presented by NASCAR on FOX - Tony Stewart Interview

Episode Date: October 24, 2024

On Episode 68 of ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour,’ Tony Stewart joins the show for an exclusive interview with Kevin Harvick! They discuss Stewart’s drag racing career, the closure of SHR, their favorite memories together, and so much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know, NASCAR, you and I've been around it for a long time. It is not what it used to be. It is drastically different than what it used to be. And that's okay for some people, and for some people it's not. Welcome to Kevin Harvick's Happy Hour, presented by NASCAR and Fox. And this week's guest for our interview is Tony Stewart. And for me, this one was pretty easy to prepare for because Tony and I have been through so much together.

And so today we're going to cover NHRA. We're going to cover shutting down Stewart-Hoss Racing. and we're going to touch on a few things about being dad and what all he has in line. So Tony's in a great spot. I was fortunate to in life, and I was fortunate to spend a day with him while he was here in Charlotte racing his top fuel car. So I hope you enjoy this conversation. Well, we're excited to have Tony Stewart in the chair just on the other side of the country. So Tony, thanks for taking the time today to join us.

I know that you're out there on a little media tour for the NHRA. And let's just start there. We went to the race while you guys were in Charlotte a couple weeks ago. And I got to tell you, I'm super excited for you because of the fact of how happy you are and just what seems like a great spot that you're in. But tell us how the season is gone and just where you are with the team and how everything's going. I wish I could say it's been an uphill or going trending uphill, but it's not. It's, you know, we've been fighting all kinds of problems this year.

You know, over the off season, the chassis specs changed gauge-wise on the tubing. My wife that drives the car normally, I'm just the fill-in driver while she's pregnant right now. We're about five weeks away from her giving birth to our son. And so I'm the fill-in guy that's 60 pounds heavier than my wife. And we thought that was a major issue early in the year. found out that's not really the problem either. But it's, uh, it's been a very trying year. It's, this is a humbling sport. It's, it's not like what you and I were used to where, you know, we've got a three and a half hour race. We've got, you know, six, eight pit stops that

we're going to have during the day. And, and we've got three, four, five hundred laps to get the job done. If we make a mistake, we're going to fix it. And we're going to have plenty of time and opportunities to fix it. We're drag racing. It's the opposite of that. Instead of being in the car for three and a half hours, you're literally driving the car three and a seconds and going from zero to 330 miles an hour and you know, three point six, three point seven seconds on a good run. So it's drastically different. You know, I think the world we came from where I would say 70% of the,

the results were due to what we did in the car with our hands and feet and how we drove the car and 30% on the crew chief and the team. That's reversed. This is a, this is a sport where the tuners and the crew chiefs really have that big responsibility on their shoulders of the car's performance, and they're that 70% of the equation. The 30% of the equation for me as a driver is, A, leaving on time, you know, cutting a good light on a reaction time on the tree, keeping it in the groove. And then on race day, I mean, if it smokes the tires, you got to be ready to pedal it. But there's nothing I can do to make

the race car go faster, but there's about 20 ways on every run that I could screw it up. So it's a totally different mindset than what you and I've been a part of in the past. But I, I really really enjoyed. I mean, when you think of the fact that that one motor that's sitting behind me makes the same horsepower as the top half of the starting field of the Daytona 500 combined, and you sit there and go, that's sitting right behind me. And when those things, when something goes wrong with a nitro motor, it's big. It's a big boom. It's a big fire. That's why our uniforms weigh 10 pounds compared to the uniforms that we wore on NASCAR. I mean, you've really got something that's drastically different than any form of motorsports that you and I've ever been a part of.

So it was very interesting as, you know, we went, we went through the day and Leah came up to the suite and sat with us. And for me, I'm obviously very interested in racing. But sitting up in the, and watching with her, we watched every race in the first round in every class. And she explained every single thing that every person did wrong. And it was just like snapping her fingers. It was that went wrong. That went wrong. He did this.

she did that. And it was very intriguing. What's it been like to have Leah as your coach? Because it's not only husband and wife, my goodness, but driver coach and fill in driver, it seems like it could be a little bit of, it could be difficult at times, but it seems like it could also be just a quick way to get yourself to progress to the point where you are today. because obviously you've bit off a lot to get to drive the top fuel car. So what's that been like with Leah? I'd say the easiest way to describe it is think back when we were in high school and, you know, we had to read 250, 300 page books that none of us wanted to read, but it was required. And having the ability to go down to the bookstore and get the Cliff Notes version that was 30 or 40 pages and it told you all the stuff that you truly needed to know for your exams and test,

that's what it's like having Leah as a coach. And the one thing that when we knew that this was, the direction we were going this year because of Leah's starting a family. I sat down with her and I said, listen, you're never going to hurt my feelings telling me I'm doing something wrong. I said, you're only going to hurt my feelings if you don't tell me what I'm doing wrong. I said, I don't want to do this 98% right. I want to do it 100% right. And I said, my goal is a driver is to come into my rookie season doing this and not look like a rookie doing it. And there's a lot of things that can happen that you see. And once you've been a part of the sport for a while, that you see it. tell the rookies and the rookie mistakes they make.

But having Leah there, I mean, she would literally come back after every run, look at video, way more in depth in the video than I am, but she could sit there and critique everything. You know, when you go into those stage beams, if you let it roll just a little bit further, it makes your reaction time look better. But it also hurts the elapsed time of the car. And so for qualifying, you want that ET. That's what sets the field.

So she would literally sit there with the camera and look at the replay of it and count frame by frame how many frames from the time that she would see the amber lights on the tree start until she saw the arm on the injector move, which meant when I was hitting the throttle. And so she could validate whether my reaction time was a legit reaction time. She could watch how I was staging, how controlled I was, the cadence of it. All those variables in the equation is what she's great at. And not only Leah, but got Matt Hagan on the funny car side as well. And he's been coaching as well.

but Leah has done an excellent job. I mean, I couldn't have asked for a better coach. And yeah, I wondered what it was going to be like, too. I thought, you know, am I going to be getting yelled at by my wife every week because I'm making mistakes? But she knows how much the detail, the attention to detail that we put into what we do. And she knows that I don't want to be good at it. I want to be great at it. And everything, anything that even if it's a decent run or a good run and I did everything, okay, how can I make it better?

and she's really good at picking those fine details out. So I've absolutely loved working with her. There's not one time that we were ever cross-threaded with each other or sideways because she said something. She knows how to tell me everything in a way that I understand and that I know why, you know, if I make a mistake, she says, this is what you did wrong, but this is how you correct it. Or be mindful of this.

And having someone like her that understands me as a person, you couldn't ask for a better coach than her. So you yelled at me one time. Do you remember why? No, I hardly ever yelled at you. I only remember you yelling at me at me one time. It was at Charlotte Motor Speedway. You were still driving.

And we were trying to time the qualifying correctly. By far had the fastest car, and we missed the last round. And that was by far the biggest, and I think only asked you in that I got from Tony Stewart. Well, I drove at Stewart Haas Racing. Has she ever come in there as the coach, kind of team owner, definitely in charge and just ripped your ass over something that you did wrong? Not at the racetrack or anything racing related. I give her plenty of reasons when we get home to do that, but never at the racetrack.

She's been amazing. I mean, you think of what she's gone through this year, and especially at the end of the last season, to make a conscious decision. And you know what it's like for us being professional race car drivers. That's what we live, eat, breathe, sleep, everything revolves around that. And for her to sit there and take herself, make the decision to take herself out of her own race car, which is what she loves more than anything, to start a family and know that she was going to be, I knew there was no shot she was not going to be at the racetrack every day.

And for her to make that decision and have to sit there and watch somebody else, let alone your husband, drive your race car, that's a feeling that I can't imagine what that would feel like. but she's embraced it. She's very active with the team every week. She's my driver coach, but she's also working with the crew chiefs. She's working with the rest of the team. She's always trying to find ways to make our program better. And I love her for that.

I mean, it gives me a lot more flexibility to be out signing autographs at the rope with the fans or to be looking at video or to be over with the funny car side and make sure they're doing okay. So she takes a lot of that daily load at the racetrack off my shoulders. But yeah, she's, I'm telling you, man, she is one strong and very tough woman. And, you know, I love her for that. Yeah. And sitting up there, she's also very intense.

And she was, when you had the little issue with spinning the tires there and lost, and I gave her a couple minutes to just kind of gather it up because I could tell she was kind of, she had flames coming out of her ears, not happy because at that time, she didn't really know everything that you guys figured out after the run. but she was not thrilled with the way that that run went. Have you had any of those moments? How do you blow off steam when you only go out there and race for, you know, four seconds, three and a half seconds?

When you're mad, I mean, it has to happen pretty quick. And then you get to the end of the runway, into the track there. And all of a sudden you get out and you're with your team and you've got to get the car back. I mean, I'd have to blow off some steam and get mad somehow. And I know you do that as well. Have you had to, how do you do that in drag racing? Yeah, I try to wait until we get back to the pit.

And, you know, I have responsibilities once the car gets back, helping get the jack underneath it, get the car up on the jacks and drain the fuel in the front. And then I can go change. And when I go change, I'm in a lounge by myself. And that's where I can kind of blow off steam and just yell at myself, yell at the mirror, whatever. But it is hard. I mean, it's a smaller group of people.

I mean, you and I were used to having 350 to 315 to 3.000. 380 people at SHR. Between both of these teams in our hospitality trailer and what it takes to run hospitality at the racetrack, we have 25 people. So these people, I know every one of their names. I know most of their wives' names or girlfriend's names, know their kids, and they're a tight family. And these guys all travel on the road together. They all drive the rigs together. So you have to have that outlet.

I have to have somewhere to go where if I'm frustrated, I don't always want the crew chiefs see it because like I said, they have 70% of the responsibility on their shoulders. So when it goes wrong, it's not necessarily because of something I did or, you know, just circumstances, but they carry that burden on their shoulders way more than I do. So when I get frustrated, I try to go off in a different lounge and vent that way to where I'm not doing it in front of the crew chiefs. They carry enough stress and load having to run me in their race cars. So, you know, but I think as time's gone on, you know, you try to find better ways to deal with it. You know, the majority of the season, we've struggled with some aspect or another,

but you know it's part of the growing process. And I've tried to be more of a cheerleader than getting mad after every run and coming back. And when you know something's happened, it's, you know, A, I want to know what was it that went wrong? Because at least if we know what went wrong, then we're halfway to the solution, I feel like. So take five minutes, let the emotion go, give them time to look. at the computers and diagnose what happened with the run and then go sit down with them and let them explain what happened.

All right. Well, let's get to the serious stuff. You're getting ready to be a dad. Obviously, you're in this top fuel car. This is serious stuff. Yeah, this is serious because, you know, I look at, I look back at some of these scenarios, whether it was with the monkey or with the tiger. I was on my way to Kansas one time and I got a call before I left.

hey, we're going to leave the monkey in the cage. I need you to take this monkey, put it in a backseat of your car. I'm going to leave it in the FBO, put it in the backseat of your car, go to my motorhome and just put it inside the steps. So that isn't an option. I hope you know that you can't just drop it off to somebody else. But tell me about, is there any anxiety or anything that you have that may be leading up to this with having to having to give the baby? I remember when Delaney and I left the hospital and having to load Keeling up into the car. First one was a lot different than Piper the second time. But loading Keelan into the car and realizing that you're driving out of the hospital and you're driving home

and now you are responsible for this human being is way different than any dog or any monkey could ever be. Are there any concerns there that you have that you need to tell us about? I'm scared to death, bud. I mean, you know me. You've been around me long enough. I can barely take care of myself. You know, the dog, I mean, thank God, the dog, if it doesn't get fed, it can make it until morning and it doesn't get too upset about it. But, you know, I'm not going to be able to get away with that with this kid. But, you know, the great thing is I've watched you and Delana go through parenthood and go through two children and watch the process. I've been able to watch from afar. And, you know, we've got someone that's going to help us.

obviously we got a lady that's going to come be with us and help. And that is what I call my insurance policy because I don't have a clue. I mean, I can go get in. I feel like any race car and I'm going to be able to pick up part of it or some of it or a lot of it. May not know all of it, but can do enough to get by out of the gate. I have zero clue. But I did joke with some of my buddies. I said, I am going to put a GoPro in the car when we leave the hospital because my buddies are

swear up and down, I barely will run the speed limit probably going to the house. So I thought, well, we are going to make plans to do that. But, man, it's, apparently kids are like unicorns. I mean, there's no two alike because everybody I've talked to, everybody's had advice, but all of their advice is drastically different from each other. So that's right. It's, you know, I guess you just learn as you go is what everybody says. And Leah kind of jokes around about it, because I get stressed out. My wife is like a concrete foundation. Nothing phases her hardly.

And she's just ready to rip, ready for the kid to come and ready to be a parent. I'm like the Marks brothers on the other side. You know, woohoo and jumping around and you don't know where we're going. But she goes, I don't know why you're nervous. She goes, crackheads do this. And their kids seem to turn out okay. We can do this.

And so I kind of calm down once she says that. And just having somebody that we know will be there with us to make sure that we don't make mistakes. This isn't like you get a toy at the toy store and you take it home. get it out of the box, you scratch it, you break it, you take it back, it's under warranty, you get another one and bring it back home. We can't screw this up. So just having somebody there to help out. And, you know, obviously our mothers are there to help us out. But I literally thought, you know, you can learn how to do anything on YouTube these days. And I thought, surely to God, there's a manual for these kids. And they're like, no, there is no manual.

I'm like, it's not like this is a new concept. And people are just now having babies. How can they not have a manual that goes with these or a quick reference guy or something, but they say, you know, they just say you naturally pick it up quick and they tell you. Let me give you an example. There will be a point where you have the baby in the back seat and you are by yourself and that baby decides to crap halfway up its back in the middle of nowhere and you're going to have to make a decision. You're going to have to make a decision whether the baby you need to pull over and find the nearest, the nearest rest area, the nearest gas station, phone store, whatever it is, because it's going to be the worst smell and situation you've ever experienced in your life when you take those seatbelts

off and the pajamas or onesie or whatever you have on at that particular point. And you're going to have some decisions to make at that particular point. I just don't know if I want to be alone with this child right now. I don't know if that's a great idea. The child, it has a mind of its own and it has no schedule of when those types of scenarios are going to pop up. So the first time that happens to, I hope you remember this conversation. And you call me and you tell me, you tell me what your decision was at that particular point because I can remember the first time it happened, I was luckily with Delana and we wound up in a sprint parking lot in the middle of nowhere wondering what we were going to do. And that Keelan went home with a diaper on.

That was about it. Everything else wound up in the trash can. So, I can't wait for that. I think you guys are going to be great parents. It's going to be experience of a lifetime. And I remember those days of just being not really knowing, but before Keelan came. And then it was just some of the greatest moments. And they just keep coming. So I'm super excited for you guys.

When you look at the NASCAR side of the world and everything that's happened with Stuart Haas racing, I know you put so much time and effort won a championship. We were fortunate to win a championship with the four car, had so many people on the team that you knew, became friends with, worked with as a driver, as an owner. Obviously, you know, you and Gene decided to make some changes to Stuart Haas. You're going to get out of the ownership side. But what's it like going into these last few weeks of the season,

and knowing, it's got to be somewhat like when you retired. Because for me, when you got to those last handful of weeks, you started to realize, holy crap, there are no more next times. And so what's that been like for you as you get to the end of the road here with Stewart Haas Racing? It's honestly, especially in the last two to three weeks, it started to feel exactly like it felt like a year ago when we knew that you were coming to the end of your career. And thinking of the fun that we had together on the road, you know, the times that I

drove your Xfinity car, just the fun stuff that we did together. And like you mentioned, I mean, I literally went to Talladega, went from Talladega to Charlotte, spent the whole day at the shop, got to see as many people as I could at the shop. And knowing that when I left the building there, that there's some of those people I've known for 16 years and I may never, ever see them again, unfortunately. And it's, I don't know that it's even bitter sweet. It's more bitter than sweet, I feel like. It's, you know, it's a tough decision. But, you know, things. and life change, your priorities change and, you know, variables outside of your control change as well. You know, NASCAR, you and I've been around it for a long time.

It is not what it used to be. It is drastically different than what it used to be. And that's okay for some people. And for some people, it's not. And, you know, I guess I'm one of those people that I have a lot of respect for the France family and for the opportunities I've had to be a professional race car driver. and to race at the highest level and to race with Dale Sr. and Rusty Wallace and Jeff Gordon and yourself and so many great race car drivers. But, you know, this is a time where things are drastically changing in the sport. I mean, you look at what's going on with, you know,

2311 and front row motorsports right now with their battle with NASCAR and the direction that things are going. It's not a direction that I want to be a part of. It's this is the right time. This was never a part of a master plan, but this is, as this year has gone, on, this has become very clear that this is the right time for me to get out on the sport. There's things that I see that I definitely don't like. And I'm happy doing the stuff I'm doing now. I mean, I've always been somebody that's ran all kinds of different series. And, you know, I don't have a Hendrick Motorsports.

I don't have, you know, Penske Truck Rentals and all the things that a lot of these guys have to back their race teams. We have to do it solely on sponsorship. And that is a ton of work. It's more competitive now getting sponsors. than it's ever been, I feel like, in our sport. I mean, when you and I started, there were more Fortune 500 companies that wanted to be on cars full time

that couldn't because there wasn't cars to be on. And now you're fighting for one-race sponsorships, two-race sponsorships. You're constantly having to change wraps out, change uniforms, crew uniforms. It's just a different time in the sport. The sport's going to be healthy. It's going to survive.

It always has. It always will. But I'm happy at this point in my life to make this change. And like I said, it wasn't that way at the beginning of the year. We had different reasons for why we had to shut down at the end of the season. But as time's going on and watching the owners and NASCAR fight and just the chaos that's going on over there, it is, I'm fine being done with this at the end of the year.

Well, I'm happy for you. And I think when you look back at, you know, you made such an impact on the ownership side. You made such an impact on the driver's side. And, I mean, that impact that you had in NASCAR will, you know, those, those legacies will live together for forever. But when you look back at those, at those moments, what would be some of your top three moments that you celebrated yourself from the driver's standpoint, you know, looking back at your first win or what were those moments for you that you look back and say, man, that was, that was really cool? I think it really started with

the All-Star race, the first one that we had with SHR. And I literally just met Gene. 24 hours before that. Typical Gene. And I remember when I met Gene, Gene said my goal is just to finish on the lead lap. And I was trying to not just bust out laughing because I'm like, we're going to do that, bud. And then we literally 24 hours later were sitting there in Victory Lane with Gene

going, I think we finished on the lead lap today. And he smiled. But the thing that I remember out of that race in particular that really stood out was it was a proud moment for me because I had, taken a big leap, leaving a very established and very high-performing team to go out and join with Gene Haas and start a new venture together and literally to sit there in May and win our first race and win a million-dollar race with the All-Star race. The thing that stood out the most from that night was not the million dollars, not that I proved the naysayers wrong.

It was literally watching men on that race team that were literally in tears in victory lane. And it was people that had been with the Hoss organization before I got there and had literally had never won a race. And here we got them in Victory Lane. And to see the emotion on their face, it totally changed what I thought our first win might feel like. It literally had nothing to do with me. It had nothing to do with the check. It was literally about the impact it had on our people. And that's the one thing that stood out.

That was huge. 2011 winning our championship and went in five of the last 10 races. I mean, I literally sat there the day before we went to Chicago in Media Day and said, we don't even belong here. There were about three teams that really had performed well right before the playoffs started. And I was like, one of those teams really should deserve the spot because they could do something productive in it. And then we go rattle off two wins right out of the gate and win five of the 10 and win the championship in a tiebreaker. That stood out.

And then obviously winning your championship and being there and seeing that, that just the emotion behind it. And what people don't realize, it's, we all talk about what we have all done. What they don't realize is we've done this all together with a lot of people and a lot of friends. And like I said, being able to run your Xfinity car and the friendship that we built,

and then for you to come join our team and us win a championship together, those are the moments that really mean the most to me. You know, I think 20 years ago or 30 years ago, I'd have felt a lot different about it. It had been more about what it felt like to me. But you realize it's about your people. It's about the people you surround yourself with, the friendships that you have.

You know, I remember some guy, there's a driver in the series that went in and changed my alarm clock one morning. Can't remember who that is. I got up two hours early and was dressed. And the one day that they didn't actually have to wake me up to get dressed, I'm dressed and ready to go. And I'm walking outside, getting ready to get on the golf cart to go in the pits. And, you know, they're like, what are you doing? And I'm like, well, I'm actually on time today for once. I'm proud of that.

They said, you're two hours early. I'm like, what are you talking about? And then everybody's laughing. Well, it just happened to be you, of course. We were parked next to each other. You'd went in and changed my clock. So we have the relationship, a good enough relationship that I just ran right in the motorhome. Well, Delana is still in bed.

You're in the very back in the shower. And I just climbed in bed with Delana with my uniform on. I don't know if she had clothes on or not, but climb in bed. And you're in there. You were more worried. about covering up that little thing you were covering up. And I'm then laying in bed with your wife. But that's the stuff that this point of my life, that's the stuff that I love and cherish. It's the stories, the memories, the fun that we had along the way. And being at Stuart Haas a week ago and seeing those people and, you know, knowing that a lot of those friendships are still going to carry on after this season's over.

That's what really means the world to me. Yeah. You know, and you're exactly right. And you're a lot like I am. You've been. able to accomplish so much and be a part of so many things. I had more joy watching the people. It was Rodney as well. And all the guys on that four team when they started, I had more fun winning races and watching them than I did enjoying them myself because I got more satisfaction out of watching the people be happy and excited and accomplished and celebrating and doing all those things together because there was no better thrill than our group beating your group, not you in particular, but the guy next to you into the garage. And so it was, you know, it was a great group of

people. I'm happy for where you are in life, but I'm also sad because of the group of people that was together. But all things usually come to an end. I've got two more questions. And you don't have to have long-winded answers. But we've had this massive debate in racing about who the best driver than the world is. And we obviously defend Kyle Larson because we think that he could go and get Max Verstappen's car and give him a couple of days probably not be too far off. We don't think Max Verstappen can come back. But I think you have a much better view on Kyle as far as just as what he means to the racing world to go to Indy and to go to sprint cars and midgets and all the different things that he drives. Give us your quick opinion on that and just tell us.

weigh in on that conversation to help us dissect that a little better from somebody who's done all that. Well, I know it's a huge debate, and I've been standing back watching. Obviously, I'm a huge Kyle Larson fan. I love what he does in a sprint car. I watched him run his first dirt, late model races, and he's had success there. Now going to Indy. I was super excited about him going to Indy, and I'm really excited he's getting the opportunity to go back. Very appreciative of that.

I think people need to look at this multiple ways. You know, I totally agree with you. I think Kyle Larson, you can take him and drop him in any race car, and he's going to be up to speed pretty quick, and he'll figure it out pretty quick. But I also remember taking Juan Montoya to Eldora Speedway, putting him in a dirt late model that he'd never even seen before. He'd never raced on dirt before. I literally had to show him how to just drive the car to get on the racetrack, because there's low and high speed gear and how to do it. It's a little bit different than just driving a normal stick shift. his third lap on the racetrack, he was third on the board.

And it's like, here's a guy that had never seen anything like that. Could you take Max Verstappen? Could you bring him and set him in a cup car and him be competitive? I think you could. I don't know how long it would take him, but you could. Could you take him and bring him into a wing sprint car? I believe yes, mainly because I remember we did a deal with Gene Haas. We brought Kevin Magnuson, his F1 driver, brought him to a dirt track in North Carolina

and put him in a 360 wing sprint car. And by the end of the night, he was within two-tenths of a second of me. And that was in four runs that he made. Wow. These guys all, I think all race car drivers, when you get to the pro level, and you and I have both seen it enough. I mean, there's drivers in the Cup Series that ultimately probably don't necessarily belong in the Cup Series because of their credentials.

They've got there for different reasons in different ways. But there's drivers that you could take from the Cup series, from Formula One, from IndyCar, from NHR, and put them in cars, and they're going to figure it out because they're pure race car drivers. That is what Kyle Larson is. It's so much fun to watch him in any kind of race car. I don't give a crap if it's a go car, the cup car, the sprint car, the indie car. I just like watching him drive a race car.

He just polarizes people with what he can do behind the steering wheel. And, you know, you and I've been a part of motorsports for a long time. He's a guy that's a once-in-a-lifetime type guy. It seems like every generation has that one guy that stands out above the rest and Kyle's that guy. Yeah, it's amazing to watch. Last question. What was the first car you drove? What was it?

Where did it go? Did you buy it? Was it given to you? What was it? It was a 79 Plymouth Ferrari, white with a blue vinyl top that a family friend, his father, used it as a mail route car. So it had holes in the interior of the door on the right-hand side for the control. I paid $375 for it. It had war out front shocks on it.

Every two hours, it required, added one quart of oil to get down the road. But I paid for it with my own money. I mean, mowed yards, paper route, all that stuff. So I was proud that I owned it. I remember it got sold to a guy, and the guy actually lived in it for a couple months, which was creepy. I would never want that car back.

But, yeah, I drove some. pretty junk cars at the beginning of my life until I was able to upgrade. Well, we appreciate you taking the time today. I'm super happy for where you're at in life and appreciate you as a friend. Thanks and good luck for the rest of the year and stay out of traffic today, please. The question's going to be, how many tickets am I going to get driving around L.A. today because, man, I'm telling you, there's some clowns out there driving. They struggle out here in California in certain areas.

I know there's parts of California. They can drive great, but L.A. is not one of those areas. All right, man. Have a great day. Thank you. Thank you, my friend. Well, I want to thank Tony Stewart for taking the time today to be in studio, even though it was in L.A., not out east, for taking the time to talk to us and just give us an update on where he is in life. So watch your alarm clocks because you never know who's setting them.

We'll see you next week.