NASCAR legend Tony Stewart has issued a brutally honest verdict on what it takes to be successful in the sport.

Stewart is well qualified to speak on the topic having been a three-time Cup Series champion during his career, and the 55-year-old also enjoyed title success as a team owner before moving away from the sport at the end of 2024.

However, Smoke will be back on a NASCAR track this month for the first time since 2016, set to run in the Truck Series race at Daytona for Kaulig Racing as part of Ram's innovative free agent program.

Ram is set to run five trucks in the series this season, with Daytona being their debut race.

Tony Stewart reveals how Ram can be successful in NASCAR

Manufacturers joining the sport is always exciting, and all eyes will be on Ram to see how they perform, particularly with Stewart in one of their trucks for their debut.

However, long-term success and an eventual return to the Cup Series is Stellantis' [owner of Ram and Dodge] aim, but what do they need to achieve that? Stewart has had his say.

“Hit the powerball first thing,” Stewart told Oval Insider and other media. “I mean it's literally cubic dollars. That’s what it takes to be successful in NASCAR.

"It's not hard to get in, but it's hard to be successful in it, especially when you have OEMs that have already been a part of it.

“Their programs are fine-tuned. Anybody that comes in at this point is going to be at a disadvantage right now, so to be successful, at the end of the day, it's going to take a huge investment. It's going to take a huge support system and a lot of manpower to get the program in place.

"To get it in a state where it's competitive when it first hits the racetrack is going to be a monumental task. Then once it's competitive, you've got to figure out what are those variables you have to change to make it a championship-winning program. So there's just a lot of variables when it comes to putting together NASCAR programs, and especially at the highest level."

NASCAR has changed

Stewart continued: “It has changed so much in the last 20, 30 years, and who knows where the limit of that is.

“I'm sure 60 years ago when you look back at the sport, they would have looked back 30 years ago and said, ‘Wow, we never saw that coming’. So imagine another 20, 30 years down the road what the landscape of NASCAR looks like and what the sport looks like.

“It’s crazy to see how it's changed, how technology’s changed the sport. It's just amazing to see in the auto industry how things evolve and change with technology.

“But, to come in at the ground level and with a blank slate and try to build a program, it’s going to take a lot of time, a lot of investment, and a lot of really really strong people to guide the ship and to get it going in the right direction out of the box.

“So it’s a monumental task, it’s like climbing Mount Everest wearing a swimsuit. It’s not going to be easy.”