As Tony Stewart continues to work his way back after breaking his leg last year in a sprint car wreck, concerns surround how well the two-time Sprint Cup Champion will perform this season. Both Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch, who will race for Stewart’s Sprint Cup team Stewart-Haas Racing in 2014, say not to worry.
Busch commented that well some people would worry about the mental aspect to it, it shouldn’t be a problem for Stewart as he has kept busy even during his rehabilitation time with rehab and developing the team.
One of the pieces to developing the team was working on relationships and in that regard, it worked in their favor. Busch said that he and Stewart were able to spend a lot of time talking, getting to know each other, without having to worry about other distractions that Stewart normally would’ve had to attend to.
“We’ve been able to jump over hurdles and run things and go through processes together even before the season started,” Busch said. “You can’t say the injury was a blessing in disguise, but it has brought us closer as competitors and as teammates.”
Kevin Harvick was also able to spend some time with Stewart to discuss plans heading into the new season, including a key conversation that sticks out in Harvick’s mind.
“As we went through the year, he was looking for things to do and worried about the team and the performance,” Harvick explained. “The best conversation I had all year was I sat in the bus and he said, ‘You are my motivation to make sure we get that race team back competitive because I want to win the championship as the owner with you driving this car’.”
Despite all that, everybody knows it’ll be a big moment simply when Stewart gets behind the wheel at Daytona.
“I know he just wants to get back behind the wheel of his No. 14 Bass Pro Shops Chevy to feel that comfort again, to feel that desire he has been missing all those months,” Busch commented on Monday. “We have to get him back in the car; we got to get him to Daytona so he can have fun that again.”
After all, as Harvick explained, racing consumes Stewart and makes him the person that he is.
“This racing consumes his life – whether in NASCAR or be in sprint cars or just watching a race on TV,” Harvick explained. “He doesn’t have any kids or a wife – these race teams are his family and he spends a lot of time with the guys on the different teams. He’s just a racer and he’s just got that drive and determination to not only do what he did before, but to be better when he comes back. It’s just a matter of seeing it all on the race track and I think for him, he’s just a hardcore racer and that’s all he knows how to do.”
A lot of people expect Stewart to come back strong right out of the gate at Daytona simply due to his competitive nature. Tony may be Tony and keep his hard-headed attitude on things, but Busch says some lessons may have been learned along the way.
“This is a lesson that will make you go through steps – through rehab to getting back in the car to getting back competitive,” Busch commented. “But Tony is Tony and he’ll probably win the 500 and we’ll be like, ‘Tony’s fine’.”
As the year goes forward, Harvick is also looking forward to working with Stewart as he knows that they’ll both be honest with each other, which in return, makes each other better.
“When you get into a situation like this with myself and Tony, when the other tells you something, it’s not cause he’s trying to hurt you. It’s cause he’s trying to make you better and that’s part of the reason I came to this team is to figure out how to win a championship,” Harvick commented.
