The damaged truck of NASCAR Truck Series driver Tony Stewart after crashing during the Fresh from Florida 250 at Daytona International Speedway. Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Tony Stewart's return to NASCAR comes to an early end

By Samuel Stubbs | Last updated Feb 14, 2026 12:53 AM ET

Another big star is out of Friday's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway early.

Late in Stage 2 of the Fresh From Florida 250, ThorSport Racing driver Jake Garcia got loose on the exit of turn 4 and came up into Tony Stewart, who making his first NASCAR start since 2016 in a RAM truck for Kaulig Racing.

While Stewart was able to bring the track back to pit road, his No. 25 team determined that it could no longer be competitive, and he dropped out of the race. Stewart will finish 36th of 37 drivers.

Tony Stewart not the first star out

Cleetus McFarland also saw his race at Daytona end early after he got loose on the exit of turn 4 and made heavy contact with the inside wall, totaling his No. 4 Niece Motorsports Chevrolet.

Wrong place, wrong time for Tony Stewart. pic.twitter.com/Uy8hTwsfaf
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 14, 2026

While McFarland was running inside the top-10 at the time of his incident, Stewart was at the tail end of the top-20 after purposely staying out of the lead draft in Stage 1.

Friday's race was the first for the 54-year-old Stewart since the 2016 Cup Series finale at Homestead. Stewart retired from full-time NASCAR competition at the end of 2016.

Samuel Stubbs

Hailing from the same neck of the woods as NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin, Samuel has been covering NASCAR for Yardbarker since February 2024. He has been a member of the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA) since October of 2024. When he’s not writing about racing, Samuel covers Arkansas Razorback basketball for Yardbarker

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