I’ve watched how he’s operated the All Stars tour over the past several seasons, too. He runs the series exactly like he runs Eldora Speedway, the dirt half-mile in Ohio that he owns: with a clear mind of what needs to be done. If he has to make a decision, he makes it for the betterment of the series, and for no other reason than that.

There are people who have made the comment that they believe part of the reason Tony stepped out of the car and is now “reconsidering his schedule with the All Star Circuit of Champions due to his ownership of the series” (according to a statement on Saturday from his publicist) is due to a perceived conflict of interest.

I can understand why that’s being said. From an outside perspective, it would certainly appear to make for tough calls from the officials’ booth, if a decision or other potential penalty had to be levied against the owner of the series because he’s also driving in it.

But Tony was also the one who said, before he ever dropped any official news about his return to dirt track racing, that if he ever competed in an All Stars race he wanted his officials to be as hard or harder on him than anyone else, because of that exact fact. No favoritism, no games: just the facts.

When I look at this situation, I see a lot more questions than answers.

We don’t know the true specifics behind why Tony decided not to compete, other than the statement released by his publicist on Saturday (which I believe to be true).

We don’t know why he reportedly left the race track once his car was loaded on the trailer. For all anyone knows right now, something could have happened behind the scenes, where Tony felt that the best course of action was to remove himself from the middle of the fray temporarily. It didn’t hurt the racing any. Tony has had the best of the best running and operating the All Stars for the last two years while he’s had to be away many nights fulfilling NASCAR obligations. That hasn’t changed overnight.

And we don’t know what’s next for Tony from a racing standpoint. Only he does, until such time as he decides to tell the rest of the world.

If you want my honest opinion, what I see here is the owner of the All Stars — who still carries a driving passion the likes of which few others in the entire industry have ever possessed — realizing that the demands of owning and operating his series, which has had a lot of success since he took it over, weighed on his mind as he was trying to get back acclimated to racing again. And because of that, he’s reevaluating what the best course of action is.

Because for Tony Stewart the All Stars owner, the first priority is and always will be making sure he helps to put on the best possible show for his racers and his fans. That’s the way it should be for any track or series owner. It’s the only way for success to follow.

Do I know that for a fact? No, I don’t, and I don’t pretend to speak for Tony.

But I know Tony well enough to know that if making sure his series remained prosperous meant that driving a sprint car was off the table, because his focus was simply too divided to do both to the best of their ability, he’d ax the driving portion in two seconds to help make sure the rest of his racers have a kick-ass series to race with.

Because that’s simply how Tony Stewart is, always making sure that others are taken care of first. It’s selflessness at the highest degree.

So to all of you race fans out there trying to put the onus of Saturday’s situation on Tony’s shoulders, shut up. He’s got plenty to deal with already without the rest of the world chiming in, not knowing the whole story.

Let the man live his life and race his race.

Besides, isn’t that what we all try and do every day ourselves?

The opinions expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Race Chaser Online, the Performance Motorsports Network, Scorpion Radio Group, their sponsors or other contributors.

About the Writer

Jacob Seelman is the Managing Editor of Race Chaser Online and creator of the Motorsports Madness radio show, airing at 7 p.m. Eastern every Monday on the Performance Motorsports Network.

Seelman grew up in the sport, watching his grandparents co-own the RaDiUs Motorsports NASCAR Cup Series team in the 1990s.

The 22-year-old is currently studying Broadcast Journalism at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C., and is also serving as the full-time tour announcer for the Must See Racing Sprint Car Series.

Email Jacob at: [email protected]

Follow on Twitter: @Speed77Radio or @JacobSeelman77

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