Last weekend’s Can-Am World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte marked the conclusion of a tumultuous season for Shane Stewart and CJB Motorsports.
CONCORD, N.C. — Last weekend’s Can-Am World Finals at The Dirt Track at Charlotte marked the conclusion of a tumultuous year for Shane Stewart and CJB Motorsports.
It also marked the true beginning of Stewart’s time as a free agent ahead of the 2020 World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series season.
Stewart is seeking a new ride for the second-straight offseason, after being released from Kyle Larson Racing’s No. 2 at the end of 2018 to make way for Carson Macedo, who earned Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year honors this year.
The problem is, Outlaw rides are few and far between in the current World of Outlaws landscape, meaning that Stewart has work to do in terms of finding a home for next year.
“I honestly don’t even know what I’m doing for next year yet,” Stewart told Sprint Car & Midget during the World Finals. “I’ve got a few things in the works. It’s just a slow process. It’s one of those things, where I’m just trying to track down some sponsorship, and that takes time. Nothing happens in the blink of an eye and as quick as you want it to happen to try and get yourself ready to make next year work out.
“We’ll see how the winter months go,” Stewart added. “I’m going back to New Zealand and Australia for a few weeks and looking forward to that. I’ve got a new baby; that’s exciting. So I’ve got a few positives in my life and hopefully I can land on my feet somewhere.”
Stewart’s 2019 Outlaw campaign was a far cry from previous years, to say the least.
A single victory, 13 top-five and just 34 top-10 finishes in 72 races left Stewart a disappointing ninth in the series standings, his lowest season finish since becoming a full-time Outlaw in 2015.
Despite the fact that his win was a $25,000 score at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway during the inaugural Music City Outlaw Nationals, the overall statistics led Stewart to a matter-of-fact summation of how his year went on the whole.
“It’s been a bad year,” Stewart said. “The crazy thing about it, though, is that there were so many things that happened to us throughout our season that it really isn’t anybody’s fault. I don’t know if you call it bad luck or misfortune, or however you want to explain it, but the worst thing is that from the car owner down, there was a lot of money invested and a lot of expectations to do well … and everybody wants to run well. Nobody ever wants to have the type of year that we had. And of course, when you don’t run well, things change.
“I’m obviously not going to be in the No. 5 car next year, which isn’t good, because as a lot of people know … there’s not very many good rides anymore on the Outlaw tour.”
The present good news for Stewart is that he and wife Jenn welcomed a son, Lane Michael, into the family on Sunday morning prior to the World of Outlaws banquet.
In addition, Stewart will be heading south of the equator to race for Brian and Annette Theobald of United Truck Parks in sprint car competition Down Under.
That gives him some time to keep his skills sharp while he pieces together what’s next.
One thing is for sure, however, and that’s that Stewart’s racing fire is still burning brightly.
“I’m a race car driver, right? I want to retire on my own terms,” Stewart noted. “I don’t want it to happen like this. I still have a lot of passion and honestly, like I said before, you can’t really pinpoint all the crazy stuff that’s happened to us this year. To not have speed day in and day out, it gets really frustrating for everybody. I know I can still drive a race car, and hopefully I can get into another car and prove to the naysayers out there that think that I’m done that I’m not. We’ll see how it all shakes out.
“I feel like I’ve still got four or five good years left in me, and I don’t want to end on this kind of note in this situation,” he continued. “So hopefully I can get myself back with a team that’s out on the road. I want to be out on the Outlaw tour. We just have to see.”