Editing Tony Stewart (section)

=====2015 season=====
[[File:5 Hour Energy Tony Stewart in the -14 Mobil 1 Chevy (19705057788).jpg|thumb|right|Stewart racing at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in 2015]]
Stewart did not do as well in the [[2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series|2015 season]] as hoped, as he failed to score a win for the second year in a row and missed the Chase. He even failed to finish higher than 6th-place for the first time in his career, only scoring 3 top-10 finishes the entire season.<ref name="2015rewind">{{cite web|url=https://www.frontstretch.com/2015/12/30/2015-driver-review-tony-stewart/|title=2015 NASCAR Rewind: Tony Stewart|first=Jeff|last=Wolfe|work=frontstretch.com|date=December 30, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref> Despite these results, Stewart refused to put the blame on his crew chief, in spite of criticism from fans, saying that "I still really like working with Chad Johnston, I don't feel like he's what's holding us back... I'm holding him and the team back versus vice versa".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/2015/07/14/tony-stewart-nascar-sprint-cup-brickyard-chad-johnston-stewart-haas-racing/30164465/|title=Tony Stewart struggles through 'disheartening' 2015 season|work=indystar.com|first=Jeff|last=Gluck|date=July 14, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref> He showed signs of a comeback after qualifying runs of 4th at [[2015 Brickyard 400|Indianapolis]], 5th at [[2015 Windows 10 400|Pocono]], 3rd at [[2015 Cheez-It 355 at The Glen|Watkins Glen]], and 5th at [[2015 Pure Michigan 400|Michigan]].

In his last start of the season-opener [[Daytona 500]], Stewart was involved in an accident on lap 41 with [[Matt Kenseth]] that collected [[Ryan Blaney]] and [[Michael Waltrip]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nascar.nbcsports.com/2015/02/22/stewart-kenseth-blaney-in-first-wreck-of-daytona-500/|title=Stewart, Kenseth, Blaney in first wreck of Daytona 500|first=Jerry|last=Bonkowski|date=February 22, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2022|work=[[NBC Sports]]}}</ref> Stewart pitted with significant front-right damage, and later took responsibility for the accident, saying that "when it got three-wide that particular lap, it got away from me".<ref name="daytonaESPN">{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/12364562/tony-stewart-daytona-500-drought-extends-0-17-due-early-accident|title=Tony Stewart 0-for-17 at Daytona 500|via=[[ESPN]]|agency=Associated Press|first=Bob|last=Pockrass|date=February 23, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref> He ended up retiring on lap 72.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?SubSeriesID=1&YearID=44&RaceID=6752&StatType=Race+Results|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150223085853/http://www.mrn.com/Race-Series/NASCAR-Sprint-Cup/Statistics/Season-Stats/Statistics.aspx?SubSeriesID=1&YearID=44&RaceID=6752&StatType=Race+Results|archive-date=February 23, 2015|work=mrn.com|access-date=April 28, 2022|title=2/22/15 - Daytona Int'l Speedway - Daytona 500}}</ref>

At the next race, the [[2015 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500|QuikTrip 500]], Stewart did not set a time in qualifying due to a technical irregularity surrounding the amount of camber the car was running.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.speedwaydigest.com/index.php/news/sprint-cup-series-news/22374-nscs-joey-logano-earns-folds-of-honor-quiktrip-500-pole?rCH=2|title=NSCS: Joey Logano Earns Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 Pole|first=Brett|last=Winningham|date=February 27, 2015|work=speedwaydigest.com|access-date=April 28, 2022}}</ref> Stewart had a relatively clean first part of the race, however in the second half of the race with 21 laps to go, was involved in a large accident alongside [[Clint Bowyer]], [[Greg Biffle]], [[Ricky Stenhouse Jr.]], [[Regan Smith (racing driver)|Regan Smith]] and [[Joe Nemechek]], resulting in a red flag.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://beyondtheflag.com/2015/03/01/folds-honor-quiktrip-500-finishing-order/|title=Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500: finishing order|date=March 1, 2015|first=Amanda|last=Vincent|work=beyondtheflag.com|access-date=April 28, 2015|archive-date=April 5, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405155125/https://beyondtheflag.com/2015/03/01/folds-honor-quiktrip-500-finishing-order/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Tony would finish 30th.

After qualifying 12th for the [[2015 Kobalt 400|Kobalt 400]], Stewart's fortunes did not improve as he finished 33rd, due to a pass-through penalty issued for a tire rolling out from his pit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://heavy.com/sports/2015/03/nascar-las-vegas-2015-kobalt-400-results-highlights-live-race-updates-winner-vines-sprint-cup/|title=NASCAR Las Vegas 2015: Kobalt 400 Results & Highlights|date=March 8, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2015|work=heavy.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2o2izC8ydI&t=4270s|work=[[NASCAR]]|via=YouTube|author=[[NASCAR]]|date=March 9, 2015|title=NASCAR Sprint Cup Series - Full Race - Kobalt 400 at Vegas|access-date=April 28, 2015|quote=Tony Stewart had a tire get away from his pit and roll out into the grass}}</ref>

At the [[2015 CampingWorld.com 500]] Stewart qualified 17th, however on lap 288, he crashed, grinding alongside the front-stretch barrier, resulting in a caution.<ref name="2015cw">{{cite web|url=https://www.azcentral.com/story/sports/motor/2015/03/15/pir-quarterly-report/24824099/|title=NASCAR CampingWorld.com 500 quarterly lap summary from PIR|first=Mark|last=Faller|date=March 15, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2022|work=azcentral.com}}</ref> Stewart's teammate Harvick would eventually win.<ref name=2015cw/>

At the next race, the [[2015 Auto Club 400|Auto Club 400]], Stewart had a clean race until 36 laps till the end. He was racing [[Aric Almirola]] hard, and [[Martin Truex Jr.]] cut in front of Tony, creating a hole in Stewart's bodywork which required him to pit for repairs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2015/3/22/8275751/2015-nascar-fontana-tony-stewart-martin-truex-jr|title=Tony Stewart confronts Martin Truex Jr., posts season-best finish|first=Jordan|last=Bianchi|date=March 22, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2022|work=sbnation.com}}</ref> Following the incident, Stewart confronted Truex post-race, however Stewart still felt he had reason to be happy bar the incident, saying "We are getting to where we were sniffing the edge of the top 10 anyway all day," and that "this [race] is a big gain for us".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2015/03/22/tony-stewart-martin-truex-jr-aric-almirola-auto-club-400-fontana/25199943/|work=[[USA Today]]|first=Mike|last=Hembree|date=March 22, 2015|access-date=April 28, 2015|title=Stewart, Truex find positives despite on-track skirmish}}</ref>

In August, Stewart lent his private plane to the family of IndyCar driver [[Justin Wilson (racing driver)|Justin Wilson]] so they could fly out to Long Pond, PA after Wilson was severely injured during a late-race crash; Wilson died several hours later.

On September 27, 2015, Bob Pockrass reported that Stewart announced plans to retire from racing after the 2016 season. Stewart formally announced on September 30, 2015, confirming this and announcing that [[Clint Bowyer]] would replace him in the No. 14 in 2017.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/cup/story/_/id/13758751/tony-stewart-plans-retire-2016-season|title=Tony Stewart planning retirement after one more season|last=Pockrass|first=Bob|work=ESPN|date=September 27, 2015|access-date=September 27, 2015}}</ref>