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Team owner and driver, Tony Stewart, has won just about everything he's raced all except the Indy 500.
Roger Penske, the winningest Indy 500 team owner shocked a NASCAR Awards banquet crowd in December offering the three-time NASCAR champion Stewart a ride in the 2013.
A lot of people laughed but Penske was serious about offer.
Eventually Stewart turned down the offer due to obligations with his Sprint Cup team, sprint car (open wheel) team and other duties.
During a trade show weekend in Indianapolis Stewart and Penske and team president, Tim Cindric had dinner in Indianapolis.
“I didn't tell (Penske) no forever,” Stewart said during the NASCAR media tour. “I told him this: 'You put me on the spot with the offer. I'm not going to tell you no, but I'm going to tell you no for now.' So the way I look at it, it's an open offer for more than one year. He didn't say no to that, so I think we may have an open offer down the road if we choose to do so. You might want to confirm that with him though.”
“It was an interesting dinner,” Stewart said. “That's pretty flattering to have Roger there, and then Chip sitting behind him giving me the look like, 'If you take his offer and don't give me a shot at it ....' I can say that was one of the coolest moments of my career, having that offer.”
“Every year I think about going back to Indy,” said Stewart, whose best finish in the 500 is fifth. “My resume still has one big blank spot at the top of it and it's still an Indy 500 victory, but it's not just as easy as saying yes or no.”
Tony Stewart went on to catalogue his commitments to his various teams as the reason why - for now - the answer is no.
Roger Penske, the winningest Indy 500 team owner shocked a NASCAR Awards banquet crowd in December offering the three-time NASCAR champion Stewart a ride in the 2013.
A lot of people laughed but Penske was serious about offer.
Eventually Stewart turned down the offer due to obligations with his Sprint Cup team, sprint car (open wheel) team and other duties.
During a trade show weekend in Indianapolis Stewart and Penske and team president, Tim Cindric had dinner in Indianapolis.
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| Photo: IndyCar |
“I didn't tell (Penske) no forever,” Stewart said during the NASCAR media tour. “I told him this: 'You put me on the spot with the offer. I'm not going to tell you no, but I'm going to tell you no for now.' So the way I look at it, it's an open offer for more than one year. He didn't say no to that, so I think we may have an open offer down the road if we choose to do so. You might want to confirm that with him though.”
“It was an interesting dinner,” Stewart said. “That's pretty flattering to have Roger there, and then Chip sitting behind him giving me the look like, 'If you take his offer and don't give me a shot at it ....' I can say that was one of the coolest moments of my career, having that offer.”
“Every year I think about going back to Indy,” said Stewart, whose best finish in the 500 is fifth. “My resume still has one big blank spot at the top of it and it's still an Indy 500 victory, but it's not just as easy as saying yes or no.”
Tony Stewart went on to catalogue his commitments to his various teams as the reason why - for now - the answer is no.