Stewart returns to victory circle at Sonoma — as owner

Stewart was standing in the reflected glory of Kevin Harvick, winner of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350 and part of the Stewart-Haas Racing team that Stewart partially owns.

The recently retired driver, who earned the last of his 49 career NASCAR victories at Sonoma in 2016, felt as satisfied as if had piloted Harvick’s car himself.

Six U.S. Olympic athletes — skiers Resi Stiegler and Torin Yater-Wallace, snowboarders Hailey Langland and Alex Deibold, and speed skaters Mitch Whitmore and Joey Manta — were at Sonoma Raceway, getting a taste of NASCAR racing.

“It’s a thrill to be here,” said U.S Ski and Snowboard Association CEO Tiger Shaw, who also attended the race and last week hosted Toyota drivers Erik Jones, Daniel Suarez and Martin Truex Jr. at a winter sports training facility in Park City, Utah.

Jones, Suarez and Truex got a first-hand look at how the Olympians train in the off-season, taking their turns on trampolines, ski and skate simulators, and a trip down the bobsled run, among other activities.

Sunday, the skiers and skaters got a tour of the garage and pit areas and a fast lap or two around the Sonoma Raceway road course.