NASCAR: Stewart goes on 'fun' final ride

Tony Stewart's final Sprint Cup race ended two laps down, but that's not what Smoke will remember.

As Stewart rolled off pit road before the green flag, he was greeted by a large line of crew members from the other 39 teams, a scene reminiscent of the reception Dale Earnhardt Sr. saw when he won his Daytona 500 in 1998.

"It was the best part of my day," Stewart said. "It was cool because I saw a couple guys come out, and I thought, oh, that was pretty cool, and then I looked down and we're the last car still and it's just a solid line of guys down though there. It brought back a lot of memories of when they did that with Dale [Earnhardt] Sr. when he won the Daytona 500. It was truly humbling and [I'm] honored to see those guys come out there like that."

Stewart's No. 14 Chevy was sent to the front of the field for a ceremonial pace lap before lining up 11th. But he was unable to mount a charge and finished 22nd. After taking a moment to compose himself before getting out of the car for the last time, Stewart said it was still a fun ride.

"This is one of my favorite tracks anyway," he said. "I pray that they don't ever repave this place, because we're all sliding around all day having a good time, and that's what makes this place fun is cause you actually gotta drive. The drivers make a difference here.

"I'm still gonna be an owner of Stewart-Haas Racing. I'm still gonna be at the Cup races. I'm still gonna own Eldora Speedway, Artic Cat All Star Circuit of Champions, Donny Schatz's World of Outlaws team, I'm still gonna be doing 90 percent of the things that I've been doing – just when I'm at a Cup track at a I'm not going to be driving a car.

Stewart spent the weekend partaking in one of motorsport's greatest traditions: trading helmets.

So it was a special moment when he went to congratulate 2016 champion Jimmie Johnson in Victory Lane and came out with a memento.

"What a cool day," he said, "that your last race in this series is a historic moment like this where a guy gets his seventh championship and joins a very, very, very elite group, so pretty cool."