Stewart at ease with new role at SHR, in NASCAR

CONCORD, N.C. -- Tony Stewart ^[3] remembers standing on the floor of the Stewart-Haas Racing ^[4] shop in mid-December.

All around him, across the shop floor, were race car chassis. No body, no paint, no decals -- Just skeletons of race cars-to-be.

It's part of a long process for Stewart-Haas Racing ^[5], as the team transitions from Chevrolet to Ford for the 2017 NASCAR season.

"This has been a really, really tough offseason for these guys," Stewart said Wednesday at the Ford Performance Center. "…To think how far these guys have come in such a short amount of time, I mean, I'm really proud (of them). Especially the fab shop -- Those guys really deserve a big pat on the back because it has been a huge undertaking to get so many cars ready in such a short amount of time.

"And when I say they're getting them ready, they didn't throw them together; the same level of quality that they always do. I'm really proud of what they've produced so far."

His team isn't the only one making a huge transition this season; Stewart begins the new year as a freshly retired Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series ^[6] driver, having raced his final season in 2016. This marks the first season in 18 years where Stewart won't be prepping for a season in NASCAR's premier series.

Does he miss it?

"It will be nice to be at the track and not be sore and not be uncomfortable sitting on the pit box," said Stewart, who battled back from a severe back injury at the start of his final season. "I'll actually be able to really focus on what's going on and … move around and listen to each car and what they're fighting during the day and hopefully being able to have some input that can help."

But "Smoke" fans, never fear: Stewart will still be at the race track. The three-time champion NASCAR driver plans on racing nearly 80 late model, sprint cars and three-quarter midget races this season, along with managing his race team, co-owned with Gene Haas. Stewart expects to attend nearly all the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup races in 2017, where he'll be able to offer guidance to the teams of Kevin Harvick ^[8], Kurt Busch ^[9], Danica Patrick ^[10] and Clint Bowyer ^[11], the new driver of the No. 14 ride.

RELATED: Top moments in SHR history ^[12]

Wearing a large smile on Wednesday, Bowyer's high spirits conveyed his excitement about racing the No. 14 car -- and his new team owner.

"To be honest with you, it's been a breath of fresh air," Bowyer said on having Stewart as his car owner. "I didn't know what he was like as an owner, I only knew what he was like as a person hanging out and things like that.

"But man, I'm telling you, at the shop at the Christmas party this year -- he showed up as Santa Claus, by the way, and the outfit fit him perfect -- but Santa Claus interacted and made everyone feel at home. Those are his people and he treated them as his people and it showed me, you could just see how much they embraced that and enjoyed that interaction with him and what it meant to them."

The NASCAR world has known that Bowyer was next in line for the No. 14 crown since the end of Sepember 2015. But that reality seemed to sink in when Bowyer's name glistened above the door of the new No. 14 Ford today -- No more "Smoke."

Tony's OK with that.

"It's not that weird, honestly," Stewart said. " … I'm proud to see his name above the door and proud to see what he can do. The part that's been shocking is going back to my sprint car shop and seeing them put my name on cars this week because they're decaling our cars for the season. I haven't been used to that for a couple years now, so I'm excited about both sides of it."

It's a ground of familiarity for Stewart, whose background is rooted in dirt track racing. But as he hasn't driven a sprint car in two and a half years, the 45-year-old isn't sure what to expect of his results on track this season.

Dare he say he's like a rookie again?

"I know it sounds like I'm a rookie driver, but I kind of feel like one," Stewart said. "(My schedule) depends on how I'm progressing really … I think there's going to be some races that we are going to announce coming up pretty soon that are races that I've been looking forward to going to that I've not had a chance to run before. So there's a bunch of tracks and a bunch of events that I've not raced at before that I'm going to finally get to go to."

RELATED: SHR transition among key story lines to watch for in '17 ^[13]

Where the long-term future holds for Stewart the driver is yet to be seen, as he jokes that he's thrown a curveball in probably every offseason since joining forces with Haas.

But right now, it's about his team.

"I'm going straight to the shop from here," Stewart said. "I'm excited to see how much is done versus the last time I was there. Everybody says we have a long way to go, but we've come a long way. I think I'm going to be very pleasantly surprised when I get there."