Meanwhile, Stewart was inducted by NCARHOF board member John Dodson, the vice president of the NASCAR Technical Institute whose late brother Barry was a champion NASCAR Cup Series crew chief.
Stewart’s induction was a “no-coat induction,” Dodson noted before putting aside his own suit jacket.
“If you want to know about Tony Stewart, you need to Google him, because he’s won and accomplished so much that it’s impossible to put into a single speech,” said Dodson of Stewart. “I should know; I had to try, and I cut a lot of stuff out along the way! It was a nightmare to put this together, but so much fun.
“Tony’s a great person, a great champion, and we’re proud to welcome him onto this Walk of Fame.”
Stewart is a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (2002, ’05, ’11) and 49-time premier series race winner, the 1997 IndyCar Series champion, a USAC Triple Crown champion, the 2006 IROC Series champion and member of the upcoming 2020 class of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, among other honors.
But upon making his way to the podium, he was quick to crack a smile and offer some of the traditional antics that earned him the endearing nickname “Smoke” by many of his fans and colleagues.
“You act like you’re tired from talking or something,” Stewart deadpanned after Dodson sat back down, before opening his acceptance speech with a shot at Petty, who was seated directly in front of him.
“Petty, I just sat here and listened to you lie to everyone, saying how you grew up … and in all the time I’ve known you, you’ve yet to grow up!” said Stewart to a roar of laughter from the crowd. “I can say that, because I too have yet to grow up! It takes one to know one.”
Stewart went on to reflect on some of his career highlights, offering many thanks along the way before nodding to his fellow inductee on their shared accomplishment.
“It’s funny how our worlds all criss-cross and loop around and connect, and even cooler that it’s Jerry and I being inducted here,” Stewart noted. “He mentioned racing at Utica-Rome (Speedway), and I tried to win there (in an All Star Circuit of Champions race) earlier this year and led half the race, but screwed up like I usually do and ran second. It’s just funny how we all end up going to a lot of the same places, even if it is in different decades and in different cars and stuff like that.
“This is a huge honor, though, even if it’s hard for me because I’m still driving sprint cars,” he continued. “I’m going to make it to 100 races this year, and I have to do that because I realized early on that I couldn’t work a real job, so I had to be good at driving a race car. Racing’s been all that I’ve ever done. I still love driving more than ever, but that’s thanks to great people that I’m surrounded with.
“I’ve learned a lot from a lot of people, and it’s because of all of them that I’m standing here today.”
Perhaps Miller summed up the feelings of those in attendance best during his closing remarks.
“This is an incredible situation, because we’ve been doing this for 25 years now, and I don’t know that we’ve ever inducted two people who are warriors of the sport like Tony and Jerry are,” Miller said. “Tony and I knew each other mostly through stock cars, and I got to know Jerry about a decade ago.
“I think all of us can learn something from these two and it’s special that we get to show both of these guys that we appreciate them in this manner. We’re honored to have both of them in our Hall of Fame.”