Tony Stewart may be retiring, but he's not quitting

— -- CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Tony Stewart smiled Thursday and reveled in the fact that he wouldn't have to return to another preseason NASCAR media day.

He admitted a little later that he knew he would have to attend as an owner. But that's a big difference:

"I'll be here for it," Stewart said. "But I won't have to be here near as long."

Stewart obviously won't miss some things when he retires from Sprint Cup racing after the 2016 season, and he appears ready for the next phase of his life. But the three-time Sprint Cup champion also is ready for one final Sprint Cup go-around. How can anyone tell? He has gone on a diet.

Let's be clear: He isn't retiring from racing. He isn't sure exactly how many races he'll compete in after 2016, but he leaves open the door for everything from sprint cars to off-road events to even a return to the Rolex 24 At Daytona. It's a no to the Indianapolis 500, but anything else appears a possibility.

That's what makes the Stewart "retirement tour" of 2016 so different than that of Jeff Gordon's last year. Gordon might get in a car for something special, but fans can likely count on one hand the opportunities they might have to see him race.

Stewart, on the other hand, knows his fans will get to see him. They might get to see him at the Chili Bowl next year -- he said he'll leave it up to organizers if they want him operating the tractor to prepare the track or if they want him in his firesuit racing.

"I've got so many things that I'm active in that even when I go back to running some of these other cars, I'm not going to do it full time," Stewart said. "There are other things I'm going to have to do and want to do on top of that. ... It's going to be nice to be able to play when I want to go play."

Stewart just won't wheel a race car Sunday afternoons in the big arenas starting in 2017. He'll come to a dirt track near you.

"He's not done racing," his former teammate Ryan Newman said. "He's just done racing in the Cup Series. I think there's a better chance of watching a better Tony Stewart and a happier Tony Stewart when he gets back to doing what he's always loved.

"I'm not saying he doesn't love Sprint Cup racing, but I know he's always loved short-track racing."

If Stewart is doing anything to show that this year isn't a year in which he will just go through the motions, it's that he has a new diet and training regimen. He will work with the same people who help Kevin Harvick.

"I'm eating better, drinking better, working out -- doing stuff that I'd swear I would never do," he said. "If anybody has any questions of how dedicated we are to having the best year we possibly can have, that's the answer. I totally changed my diet."

Surprisingly, Stewart still needs to find sponsorship for some races in 2016. He lost nine races of Bass Pro Shops sponsorship to Martin Truex Jr.

"Martin has been a great member of the Bass Pro family for a long time," said Stewart, who will have only two or three races of sponsorship by Bass Pro Shops. "That's a really good move for the company."

But Stewart isn't thinking about just adding a sponsor for his final season. He has grown his businesses -- Stewart-Haas Racing (NASCAR), Tony Stewart Racing (sprint cars), Eldora Speedway -- and he knows a valuable partner just doesn't come for a few races and goes home after one year.

"We've got some really good leads but nothing signed yet," Stewart said.  "We're not looking for somebody that wants to come on for one year. We want somebody that wants to be part of the Stewart-Haas Racing family. We have a program that shows a lot of value to potential sponsors."

On his last "full" preseason media day, Stewart showed he won't slow down in trying to make a point when he wants. He used media day to reveal that Brian France last year told him that his opinions aren't always right.

"Sometimes they [at NASCAR] need a little help with making decisions," Stewart said. "Sometimes they don't think it's a good idea.

"Brian France cautioned me on making too many suggestions last year, so I'm going to try to keep my ideas to myself a little bit. But there's some places that welcome our ideas."

Stewart doesn't really need to get into the middle of a NASCAR war of words. He has to improve on that 28th-place finish in points. He will have a new crew chief; he moved Kevin Harivck engineer Mike Bugarewicz to be his crew chief with the plan that he will crew chief Clint Bowyer when Bowyer replaces Stewart in 2017.

"Buga is going to be around for a while," Stewart said. "So hopefully I don't ruin him in his first year."

Stewart's former crew chief, Chad Johnston, said he remains good friends with Stewart after two struggling seasons.

"I think the world of him," Johnston said. "I was a big fan. He was my hero growing up. He's a bigger hero to me now. I love him as a brother. I wish him the best."

Johnston left SHR to crew chief Kyle Larson at Chip Ganassi Racing this year. He didn't want to stick around for another year of frustration at SHR.

"It was my choice," Johnston said. "I felt that I just needed to do something different for the both of us. It was a deal where we were just beating our head against the wall and trying different things to get the same result. They say the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and getting the same result, so I'm not sure what the definition of what we were doing was.

"But for both of us, it will be a good thing. It will be a fresh start. I hope he finishes his career like he deserves to finish it."

How would Stewart deserve to go out? That would be by winning races and feeling he left the sport maybe not at his best but at least not at his worst.

"More than anything this year, I hope he has fun," six-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said. "I want him to have fun so bad, have a good year and a big smile."