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NASCAR’s Tony Stewart will retire from Cup racing after ’16

FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2014, file photo, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart (14) looks out from his garage during a practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit against NASCAR driver Tony Stewart over the death of a driver he ran over during a race will remain in central New York. The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports the judge rejected a request from Stewart's lawyers to have the case transferred from Utica to Rochester. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bergstrom, File)
FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2014, file photo, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart (14) looks out from his garage during a practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit against NASCAR driver Tony Stewart over the death of a driver he ran over during a race will remain in central New York. The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports the judge rejected a request from Stewart's lawyers to have the case transferred from Utica to Rochester. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bergstrom, File) FILE - In this Sept. 13, 2014, file photo, NASCAR driver Tony Stewart (14) looks out from his garage during a practice for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series auto race at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Ill. A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit against NASCAR driver Tony Stewart over the death of a driver he ran over during a race will remain in central New York. The Post-Standard of Syracuse reports the judge rejected a request from Stewart's lawyers to have the case transferred from Utica to Rochester. (AP Photo/Paul J. Bergstrom, File)

By Associated Press 4 min read

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) – Tony Stewart says he will retire from Sprint Cup racing following the 2016 season.

The three-time NASCAR champion announced his decision Wednesday at the Stewart-Haas Racing shop in North Carolina, saying “next year will be my last year in the Sprint Cup Series.” He said it was “100 percent” his choice.

His planned departure is not a surprise. Stewart will be 45 next season, hasn’t won a race in over two years and has been privately working on finding a successor for the No. 14 Chevrolet all year.

“There wasn’t any pressure from anybody,” Stewart said of his decision. “If anything, it was the opposite. I know people were trying to talk me out of it. It’s a scenario where everybody in their career makes the decision that it’s time for a change.”

Stewart, who deeply loves dirt track racing, isn’t getting out of the car for good, though.