Tony Stewart has finally broken his silence and responded to the offer from team owner Roger Penske to supply him with car and crew if he wished to make a competitive performance in next year's
Indianapolis 500 race.
"As much as I would like to do it, we just don't have the time to do it," Stewart said on Wednesday - although he also kept his options open for a possible return to the Indy 500 at a later date.
Penske had made his offer to Stewart at the weekend during his victory speech as the winning car owner in this year's Sprint Cup championship, at the post-season
NASCAR celebration banquet in Las Vegas.
"How about doing the double at Indy this year? Are you available?" he'd asked Stewart, referring to the idea that Stewart could do the Indy 500 back-to-back with NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 race later in the same day. The last driver to do both races on the same day was Robby Gordon in 2004; Gordon will compete next month in the Dakar Rally.
“If he wants to do the double, I'd put him in it,” Penske told the media afterwards, confirming it had been a serious offer to Stewart and not just a quip at a banter-filled event. "He and I have talked about it. I guess I gave him an official [offer] tonight!"
Stewart - 1997 Indy Racing League champion as well as a three-time
NASCAR Sprint Cup champion - initially kept silent about the offer, but on Wednesday he finally responded while addressing the International Motorsports Industry Show being held in Indianapolis.
"It was a very humbling comment and offer that he made, for sure," Stewart told the crowd. "I'm very humbled by the fact that he offered it to us. It's a great opportunity, but it's very hard when you're running three Cup teams right now."
As well as his own car, Stewart-Haas Racing fields Ryan Newman as a driver and next year the line-up will be swelled by the addition of former
IndyCar star Danica Patrick running her first full-time Cup season.
"The obligations that we have making sure that we're doing the right things, we have a lot of people that depend on us," he said. "It's kind of like being at Thanksgiving dinner. My plate is finally full. I don't know if I can add anymore to what I have right now."