Sports

Tony Stewart said never say never. Now he's back in NASCAR again at Talladega

Nairavoice · Sep 24, 2026 · 1 min read

Tony Stewart left the door open for more NASCAR races after ending his 10-year hiatus in February.

“I didn’t think I was going to be here 10 years after I retired, so I think we have to learn to never say never,” he said.

Just eight months later, he’s returning to the track.

The three-time Cup Series champion will hop back into Kaulig’s No. 25 free-agent truck on Oct. 23 at Talladega. It’s the same machine he piloted earlier this season at Daytona.

“Anytime you can get into a Ram truck and go racing at a place like Talladega, you jump at it,” Stewart said. “Daytona in February was a blast, but this trip focuses on having fun while helping Kaulig Racing learn and build their notebook on superspeedways.

“Ram put a tremendous amount of heart into this NASCAR return. If my experience helps this team sharpen its drafting package and speed up the learning curve, everyone wins.”

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Stewart exited the 2026 Fresh From Florida 250 early. Jake Garcia squeezed him into the wall on Lap 36. While Stewart’s ride suffered damage that looked fixable, he wasn’t competing for points during a one-off appearance, so the team decided to park it after the wreck.

His comeback produced plenty of interest, though. Nearly 1.4 million average viewers tuned in on FS1, a 37% increase over the 2025 opener.

Now, Stewart looks to tackle Talladega, NASCAR’s largest oval at 2.66 miles. In 35 Cup Series starts there, he claimed a win in October 2008 and racked up 14 top-10s.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Tony Stewart said never say never. Now he’s back in NASCAR again at Talladega

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