All eyes were on Tony Stewart during Friday’s Truck Series race as the three-time Cup Series champion returned to NASCAR after a decade-long hiatus. But before that excitement could really sustain, Stewart’s day was cut short by Jake Garcia, who sent him into the wall on Lap 36. Amid the ‘rich brat’ labels surfacing online for Garcia, he’s now come clean on it.

Jake Garcia’s apology to Tony Stewart

Speaking to Bob Pockrass after the race, Garcia humbly explained his side and revealed how he was unable to control his truck and, as a result, hit Stewart. “It’s so unpredictable off the floor, either get tight or loose,” Garcia said.

Following this, the #98 Truck driver further added on how he “snapped” and hit the #25 Truck while trying to find his way. In doing so, he tagged Stewart and unintentionally pinned him against the wall.

“Depends on what the air is doing around you, it’s hard to tell. I don’t know how close anyone was to my door or what, but I hadn’t gotten loose off that corner all day. And then it just absolutely snapped around. When I chased it up the racetrack, obviously, 25 was there. Apologies to those guys.”

The incident took place on Lap 36 of 100, and it ruined both Tony Stewart and Jake Garcia’s race. In the end, Stewart retired from the race on Lap 39, but Garcia continued, only to face the DNF on Lap 98.

As Garcia hit Stewart and ruined his long-awaited return, fans slammed the ThorSport Racing driver on social media, calling him a “no-talent rich brat.” However, Garcia’s recent admission is unlikely to change the sentiment of the fans.

Besides the ten-year-long wait in NASCAR, Tony Stewart’s Truck Series return was more special. The former Stewart-Haas Racing co-owner’s last race in the Truck Series came back in 2005, which meant he returned after 21 years.

On top of that, Friday’s race was his first Truck Series race at Daytona International Speedway, a track where he triumphed 19 times across all categories in Motorsport, barring Truck. While the NASCAR world is angry with Jake Garcia, it’s not the case with Tony Stewart.

Tony Stewart could be back

NASCAR drivers often let their rage out after crashing out of a race, but it wasn’t the case for Tony Stewart, who shared a calm response after the incident. Speaking to the media, Stewart said:

“The hard thing is I’m not really sure what happened that got us there, but we just ended up on the wrong end of that stick.”

This was unlikely of him, given how fierce he was as a competitor, who returned with Kaulig Racing and RAM as its Free Agent program. He drove the RAM 1500 at Daytona, but did not rule out another return.

But there was a positive outcome that came out of this DNF, as Stewart gave a hint at returning once again to finish things. “So at least they’re building a notebook now. I mean, the rest of the guys are out there still digging. So they’ll build a good notebook for when we come back next time.”

“I didn’t think I was going to be here 10 years after I retired. So I think we have to learn to never say never.”

Chandler Smith of Front Row Motorsports won the Truck race, ahead of Gio Ruggiero of Tricon Garage and Christian Eckes of McAnally-Hilgermann Racing. Jake Garcia’s teammate, Ty Majeski, finished the race in fourth place.