Tony Stewart calls IRL a failure

Although the Indianapolis 500 remains Stewart’s first love, he certainly doesn’t miss the politics of open-wheel racing.

With Champ Car and the Indy Racing League once again talking about reunification to solve their financial struggles, Stewart said he was lucky to race in the IRL before it got to the point where drivers needed to bring sponsors to a team to get a ride.

Stewart wants to see the two series get back together, but only if it results in something that looks like what the IRL was intended to be: A series that gives up-and-coming open-wheel drivers a chance instead of forcing them to buy rides.

“It sounds like the IRL is kind of getting to that stage anyway, and if that’s the case, that’s not what the IRL even was designed for to begin with," Stewart said. “It makes the project (IRL) a failure, almost, to a certain degree.

“And what it does is it makes somebody like me lucky – like hitting the lottery lucky – because if it weren’t for that timing of being there when it started, guys who win USAC championships haven’t got an opportunity to go racing at Indy for a long time now. And I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen again." ThatsRacin