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IndyCar: Tony Stewart not ruling out Indy 500 return

By Asher Fair

27 May 1997: Tony Stewart drives his car during the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana.
27 May 1997: Tony Stewart drives his car during the Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Indiana. /
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Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion and 1996-1997 IndyCar champion Tony Stewart is not ruling out a return to the Indy 500.

Tony Stewart, one of the few drivers who had success in IndyCar and then had success in the NASCAR Cup Series as well, revealed that he is not ruling out a return to IndyCar’s most prestigious race, the Indianapolis 500, in 2019.

Stewart, who spent three seasons as a full-time IndyCar driver from the 1996 season through the 1998 season, spent 18 seasons as a full-time Cup Series driver from the 1999 season through the 2016 season.

The 47-year-old Columbus, Indiana native earned three IndyCar victories and won the 1996-1997 IndyCar championship, and he earned 49 Cup Series victories and won the Cup Series championships in the 2002, 2005 and 2011 seasons. He current co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing in the Cup Series and the Xfinity Series.

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While Stewart only competed full-time in IndyCar for three seasons, he has driven in the Indy 500 five times. He drove in the race in 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001. He took the pole position for the race in 1996 and recorded a career-high finish of fifth place in 1997.

Stewart is one of the four drivers who has attempted the Memorial Day Double, meaning he competed in IndyCar’s Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and then NASCAR’s Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on the same day. He did so twice.

The four drivers who have attempted the Memorial Day Double have done so a combined nine times. Only once did a driver complete the 1,100 combined miles of both races. Stewart was the driver who did so when he finished in sixth place in the 2001 Indy 500 and then third in the Coca-Cola 600 later that night.

Stewart’s sixth place finish in the 2001 Indy 500 is tied for the highest among the Indy 500 finishes of all drivers while attempting the Memorial Day Double, and his third place finish in the 2001 Coca-Cola 600 is the highest among the Coca-Cola 600 finishes of all drivers while attempting the Memorial Day Double.

Here is what Stewart had to say about potentially competing in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” once again in a recent interview. (WARNING: NSFW language contained within video)

In the past, Team Penske team owner Roger Penske has stated that he would be willing to field an entry for Stewart in the Indy 500, so the possibility of Stewart returning to the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” and doing so as the driver of a competitive car certainly exists.

Next. Top 10 Indianapolis 500 drivers of all-time. dark

Do you believe that Tony Stewart will return to the Indy 500 in 2019 for the first time in 18 years? If not, do you believe that he will return to the race sometime after 2019, or do you believe that his Indy 500 career ended back in 2001?