"Big sponsors don’t like this" - Kenny Wallace makes his stance clear on Tony Stewart’s SHR exit remarks amid 23XI lawsuit against NASCAR

Veteran driver Kenny Wallace recently discussed Tony Stewart's comments on Stewart-Haas Racing's departure from the NASCAR series after this season. The 61-year-old reiterated Stewart's remarks on the ongoing lawsuit of the two Cup Series teams against NASCAR and the underlying fight for sponsorship.

Soon-to-be-defunct SHR co-owner Stewart, in an interview with Kevin Harvick opened up on the aspects that might have influenced his decision to exit from NASCAR's premier division. The 53-year-old Stewart believes that a team like SHR is heavily dependent on sponsorship and it has become competitive to warrant one these days. Moreover, he addressed how the antitrust lawsuit against NASCAR has affected the sport's future.

Reflecting on what the NASCAR Hall of Famer Stewart spoke about, Wallace in a recent YouTube video shared his stance on "big" sponsors' dislike of the legal battle of 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports against NASCAR. Wallace said:

"I don't have anything to gain it's just free speech and it doesn't harm anybody but a lot of these sponsors don't like what's going on with this 23XI and Front Row now. I just, I don't really know why right now... but big sponsors don't like this lawsuit going on between Michael Jordan and Front row against NASCAR, they don't like it." [9:30]

NBA icon Michael Jordan's 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsport filed the antitrust lawsuit based on alleged monopolistic practices of NASCAR's sanctioning body. They were the only two Cup teams to not comply with NASCAR's newly proposed charter deal.

Furthermore, NASCAR recently filed an opposing motion to a preliminary injunction filed by the two Cup Series teams that grants them the right to retain charters and deemed it "meritless', thus, making the situation difficult for the teams and their sponsors.

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"Right time for me to get out,": Tony Stewart's comments on Stewart-Haas Racing's departure

Three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart expressed his disapproval of the direction in which NASCAR is headed and claimed that the sport has undergone significant change in recent years.

Speaking with his former SHR teammate Kevin Harvick, the Indiana native Stewart said:

"It [NASCAR] is not what it used to be. This is a time where things are drastically changing in the sport, you look at what is going on 23XI and Front Row Motorsports, right now with their battle with NASCAR and the direction the things are going. Its not a direction that I want to be a part of." [20:09]

"This is the right time, this was never a part of a masterplan, as this year has gone on, this has become very clear that this the right time for me to get out of the sport. There's things that I see that I definitely don't like," Stewart added on an episode of Harvick's Happy Hour podcast.

As of now, the NASCAR legend Stewart has shifted to drag racing, replacing his wife, Leah Pruett, in the NHRA Top Fuel Category.

Meanwhile, Gene Haas, also the co-owner of SHR, has retained one Cup Series entry and two Xfinity Series entries in the stock-car division, under the banner of Haas Factory Team.