Tony Stewart makes NASCAR racing career announcement

Tony Stewart may be 53 years old at this point, but that doesn't mean he's ready for retirement.

After Stewart-Haas Racing folded last season following 15 years of operation, the three-time Cup Series champion decided to focus on other aspects of his life and career.

However, Stewart appears ready to return to NASCAR. And he expressed as much during a recent appearance on SiriusXM Radio:

"I'm definitely planning on coming back to NASCAR races," Stewart said. "As a member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, I get a hard card. I don't know if NASCAR has the ability to revoke that or not but until they do revoke it, I'm going to take advantage of having a hard card and I definitely want to come back and see everybody."

"I miss a lot of things about NASCAR and most of all the people," the racing legend admitted. "The people are what I enjoyed about it and the relationships I had there. Definitely looking forward to coming back and seeing everybody."

Stewart certainly had his criticisms of NASCAR during his time as an owner and even claimed that he wasn't a fan of the direction the sport was headed in the past. But he clearly has the itch to return to the track.

After capturing his first NHRA win last weekend, Stewart said it brought back memories of his 2009 NASCAR All-Star win.

"I was so excited just to have won that race for myself until the team got up there," Stewart told reporters Tuesday. " … It brought me back to a moment back in 2009 when we started Stewart-Haas Racing, and I remember winning the All-Star Race at Charlotte and getting to victory lane."