This week Tony Stewart opened up about his exit as a NASCAR team owner. Kenny Wallace found his comments interesting. Wallace is quite a character in NASCAR and when he speaks, it is almost always worth listening to.

The Hermanator is an old-school guy. While he doesn’t race in NASCAR anymore, he is still racing in his JEGS Dirt car. He is still winning races, too.

So, what does Kenny Wallace think about Tony Stewart leaving NASCAR? Well, he sees a lot of truth in what Smoke told Kevin Harvick this week.

“Tony Stewart said, basically in a nutshell, now I’m paraphrasing … Once again, I know NASCAR is watching I’m not a dummy,” Wallace said, coffee in hand. “He said, ‘NASCAR’s headed in the wrong direction and I don’t want to be a part of it and now seemed like a good time to get out.’ There you go. Some of you might say mic drop, some of you might go, boom! But I’m going to say it one more time, Herman is going to repeat himself, Tony said, it’s so difficult to get sponsors nowadays.

“All these different firesuits and uniforms and hiring your own wrapping company now. The days of being able to just get one sponsor are over, it’s exhausting. Then he said, you know what, seemed to be a good time to get out, but now, here’s the third one, he said, ‘Now that I see what’s going on with 23XI and Front Row Motorsports,’ he goes, ‘I don’t like the direction NASCAR is headed.’ Woah. … Tony Stewart said, ‘I don’t like the way NASCAR is headed.’ So he said, ‘Now is the time to get out, it made even more sense.’ Earlier this summer he said, you know what, I want to get out, just seems like the right timing.”

Things are too difficult for Tony Stewart, other owners

Listening to Tony Stewart talk to Kevin Harvick, there were many reasons why he backed out of Stewart-Haas Racing. At the end of this season, the team won’t exist anymore. Financial and personal issues are obvious, but a lot is changing in the sport.

Sponsorships are not the same. Marketing is not the same. The cars are different. Then you have the 23XI and Front Row lawsuit. You could argue that the lawsuit seeks to fix certain aspects of the sport that are being complained about.

That isn’t how everyone sees it, though.

But a lot of these sponsors don’t like what’s going on with this 23XI and Front Row,” Kenny Wallace continued. “I don’t know why right now, I’ll admit I’m not that smart, but big sponsors, they don’t like this lawsuit going on between Michael Jordan and Front Row against NASCAR. They don’t like it.”

It might be the times are changing and for some, that’s too much. The fact that sponsors don’t like this lawsuit might speak to the uncertainty it brings versus the merits of the suit itself. Is Kenny Wallace right on Tony Stewart and NASCAR?