Tony Stewart discusses sponsorship, Chase, short tracks & what he did on his vacation

It’s official, Tony Stewart will have Mobil 1 as a primary sponsor for 11 Cup races next year. Mobil 1 will be an associate sponsor for 25 races on Tony’s car and also will be an associate sponsor on teammate Ryan Newman’s car.

Stewart said things are now good for the organization in terms of sponsorship for the two teams.

 “Everything is good on (Newman’s car) with Tornados and the U.S. Army coming back,’’ Stewart said. “We’re in good shape on the 14 car now. This fulfilled what we’re looking for to fill the void from Old Spice (leaving) for next year. This allows us to now put that project behind us. We’re always looking for new partners, you never stop in that category. You’re always looking to bring new people into the sport even if it’s not a co-primary position. The search, necessarily, isn’t over, but this does fill the void from the Old Spice brand leaving at the end of the year. For Ryan’s car, we’re still looking for some associate sponsorship also, but we’re very happy that Tornados and U.S. Army are coming back.’’

 After the main part of Tuesday’s program, Stewart took questions on a variety of topics. Here’s some of what he said:

QUESTION: Were you involved with the design of the new Mobil 1 car?

TONY: “On the last off weekend,  I went to the Bahamas on vacation and I was on the laptop working everyday with (team official) Kirby Boone on the design. It’s a process that I’ve been involved with from day one since we started here and it seems like every year when I go on vacation, I have to take the laptop and this seems to be process because it falls in that time frame where we’re trying to get car designs for the next season. I take a lot of pride in the appearance in our cars. It’s something I’ve always been involved in and will always be.

QUESTION: What do you like about the design of the cars?

TONY: “They’re just zooming looking. I’ve always like swirls and big turns in the artwork and this is something that’s different from what we’ve had recently.

QUESTION: How far has your program and Ryan’s program come since the last Charlotte race?

TONY: “I think quite a bit. That was about the timeframe when we started getting things going and it wasn’t any big chunk at one time, it was little bit each week and I think the results are showing.’’

QUESTION: What’s more challenging being 107 points back or fifth (and needing to still jump over four people)? How are you looking at your spot in the Chase?

TONY: “You could be 107 points back and be 12th in points by theory. That 107 points is what we’re focused on right now more than the physical position of where we’re at. We’re not looking to say, “Hey, we just want to get into the top five and stay in the top five.’ We’re still trying to win this championship.’’

QUESTION: Are you running the way you feel that you can challenge for the title?

TONY: “Definitely have the potential to do it. I still think that there’s going to have to be some bad luck on a couple of guys in front of us to get us in that position. We’ve gained 60 points in the last two weeks. .Our performance is there. We’re controlling the part that we can control. There’s some of the variables … that are our out of our control and we’re going to need some help with still, but we’re doing our part and that’s all we can ask for.’’

QUESTION: Are you in a “Here kitty, kitty’’ mode yet?

TONY: “We’ll wait until Homestead for that, hopefully.’’

QUESTION: Would you like to see more short tracks on the schedule?

TONY: “I’m still trying to get them to put a dirt race on the schedule. It doesn’t matter to me. I like short track racing, I always have. I feel like some of the best races are on shorter tracks. It seems like the bigger the track it gets, the harder it is to put on a good show. I think the era of people building mile-and-a-half tracks, hopefully, is coming to a close. I think we’ve got enough of those that if they build anything, they need to be smaller.’’

QUESTION: Have you been approached by any group wanting to build a short track?

TONY: “Is there a group? You find a group and I’ll be more than happy to consult with them. I’m tired of the same two tracks being built everywhere across the country. … I like Richmond because it’s the only one of its kind. Iowa would be a great place because it’s one of a kind. I like going to Kansas and Chicago, they’re two markets, two areas that I love to go race at because of my open-wheel background, but when you pull into Kansas and you pull into Chicago and you go through the tunnel, you don’t know the difference, which one you’re at. They’re identical. I like the individuality of the tracks and the personalities of them. Building the same track in another location, I don’t think that’s what this sport needs. I think they need individual tracks that have their own personality. There’s one Darlington, there’s one Martinsville, there’s one Bristol. Those are the places people like to watch races from because they are unique.’’

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