Tony Stewart: NASCAR needs to figure out how to get people watching again

Former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart was in Fort Worth last week for his Smoke Show fantasy camp at Texas Motor Speedway.

The event has raised $1.6 million for Speedway Children’s Charities — Texas since 2009.

Stewart, a three-time Cup champion, talked about the state of the sport during a visit with the media.

“The sport as a whole has got to figure out how to get people watching again,” Stewart said.

NASCAR’s TV ratings have been dismal this year, with Oct. 8 race at Charlotte being the lowest-rated Cup race on broadcast TV since 2000. But Sunday’s race at Talladega was up over last year.

Here’s what else he said.

On the selection of drivers and how their roles have changed since he was driving:

“It’s a totally different deal than it was 10, 15, 20, 25 years ago. A lot these guys now, it’s not their fault but none of the drivers work on their car, which if they tried, the team doesn’t want them to do anything. It’s just a different era and nowadays they are just looking for the next young talent.”

On what he looks for in hiring drivers for his team, Stewart-Haas Racing:

“I’m not hiring drivers that have money. I’ve been that route in the dirt track stuff and I’ve seen it. It’s not the way to run a race team.”

This story was originally published October 25, 2017 at 9:52 AM with the headline "Tony Stewart: NASCAR needs to figure out how to get people watching again."