Stewart: ‘Life is complete’

Tony Stewart is one of the most accomplished drivers in NASCAR history, but this weekend, he’s receiving an honor he may never have imagined.

The Columbus native is getting his own bobblehead doll.

“I don’t know that I ever aspired to or ever thought my career would be complete until I got a bobblehead,” Stewart said in a news release. “But now I’ve got one, so now my life is complete.”

Track president Eddie Gossage came up with the idea for the bobblehead as part of “Tony Stewart’s Last Ride at Texas Motor Speedway.” The venue will hand out the bobbleheads to the first 30,000 fans who show up for today’s AAA Texas 500.

Stewart jokingly accused Gossage of cutting costs by mounting his oversized head on a skinnier model’s body.

“Unfortunately, it does look like me — that’s the scary part,” Stewart said. “I think people are going to put them in the corners of their house to keep the insects and mice away. It will scare everybody and probably ward off intruders.”

Stewart currently sits 14th in the standings. He hopes to move up to 13th, which is as high as he could go in the Chase, in the season’s final three races.

At Texas, Stewart has a pair of victories in his 18-year Sprint Cup career. He has eight top-three finishes, 12 top-fives, 23 top-10s, two poles and has led a total of 183 laps in his 35 career Sprint Cup starts at the venue.

“The track is a great track,” Stewart said. “Eddie is smart enough to know that repaving this track is the worst thing he could do to it right now. This track has enough age on it that, when it is hot and slick, everybody is racing all over the track, and that makes good racing. They treat everybody well here. I think this is the second- or third-biggest purse of the year for us and the crowd here is awesome. It’s a great, great market for our sport.”

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TODAY’S RACE

AAA Texas 500, 2 p.m. (NBC)

Starting position: (qualifying Saturday)

LAST RACE

Finished 26th in Goody’s Rast Relief 500

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