Smoke Sitting It Out Is a Smart Move

Well, it is as we feared. Tony Stewart will take the rest of 2013 off to recuperate from a broken leg.

Good idea, Smoke. Seriously. No sarcasm at all. He's going to have to walk on that leg for the next 30 years or so, and his hero, AJ Foyt, can't do it all that well on the legs he tore up at Road America way back in the day.

Smoke is not a spring chicken any more. He's in his 40s, driving everything he wants and running an ever-growing empire of racing teams.

It won't be too long before he'll hang it up, at least the full-time aspect of driving. He has said more than once that he doesn't want to be doing this past a certain age, though that age is known only to him and his top lieutenants.

Bringing on Kevin Harvick and, by all reports, Kurt Busch, he's already making moves toward that end. 

Wouldn't put it past him to be a team owner in NASCAR and play in the dirt when the mood strikes. He loves to run on the dirt, in anything he can fit into, and I don't see that changing all that much.

As an aside, he's making NASCAR's job easier by pulling in Harvick and Busch. They'll start with the SHR haulers when stuff goes down! Just kidding, but it is interesting that all three are tough, hard-nosed and not afraid to mix it up on the track and in the pit area.

The moves are, at first blush, designed to being the transition away from Smoke as a full-time driver, at least in the way I look at it. That's smart. He's already got a bunchaton of money, more than he ever thought he'd earn growing up in south central Indiana, and there are things he'd like to do that he can't with an 11-month commitment sitting in the seat and driving his butt off.

If I were to venture a guess--and I usually do--you'll see Jeff Gordon doing this in the near future, especially if he doesn't make the Chase this year.

It's time, boys. You don't have to stay in the car past when you get a bellyful of it.

I'm not saying they'll step completely away from it, but they won't be doing the full 38 races. Gordon has an ownership position at Hendrick, Stewart is half-owner of SHR. They'll be involved, might run a limited schedule and will just do all the stuff they missed out on in their 20s and 30s.

Gordon will spend time with his wife and their growing brood. Stewart will own race tracks, race teams and other stuff, and perhaps go the family route eventually. Maybe.

Whatever it is, you will likely find out that this day was when it all took a step toward becoming reality for Stewart.