| Anthony Wayne Stewart | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Born | May 20, 1971 Columbus, Indiana | ||||||
| Achievements | 1995 USAC Triple Crown Champion 1997 IRL Champion 2002, 2005, 2011 Sprint Cup Series Champion 2005, 2007 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winner 2006 IROC XXX Champion NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXV winner | ||||||
| Awards | 1991 USAC Rookie of the Year 1996 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 1996 IRL Rookie of the Year 1999 Winston Cup Rookie of the Year Inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame | ||||||
| NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career | |||||||
| Car no., team | 14 – Stewart Haas Racing | ||||||
| 2011 position | 1st | ||||||
| Best finish | 1st (2002, 2005, 2011) | ||||||
| First race | 1999 Daytona 500 (Daytona) | ||||||
| First win | 1999 Exide NASCAR Select Batteries 400 (Richmond) | ||||||
| Last win | 2011 Ford 400 (Homestead) | ||||||
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| NASCAR Nationwide Series career | |||||||
| Car no., team | 4 – Kevin Harvick Inc. | ||||||
| 2010 position | 93rd | ||||||
| Best finish | 21st – 1998 | ||||||
| First race | 1996 Goody's Headache Powder 300 (Daytona) | ||||||
| First win | 2005 Hershey's Take 5 300(Daytona) | ||||||
| Last win | 2011 DRIVE4COPD 300 (Daytona) | ||||||
| |||||||
| NASCAR Camping World Truck Series career | |||||||
| Best finish | 61st – 2005 | ||||||
| First race | 1996 Cummins 200 (IRP) | ||||||
| First win | 2002 Virginia Is For Lovers 200(Richmond) | ||||||
| Last win | 2003 Virginia Is For Lovers 200(Richmond) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Statistics current as of November 22, 2011. | |||||||
| Tony Stewart | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | American |
| Born | May 20, 1971 Columbus, Indiana |
| Retired | 2001 |
| IndyCar Series | |
| Years active | 1996–2001 |
| Teams | Team Menard Tri-Star Racing Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Starts | 26 |
| Wins | 3 |
| Poles | 8 |
| Best finish | 1st in 1997 |
Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart (born May 20, 1971) is an American auto racing driver and owner.[1] Throughout his racing career, Stewart has won titles in Indy cars and stock cars as well as midget, sprint and USAC Silver Crown cars, giving him the recognition of "one of the finest racers of his generation."[2]
Stewart currently owns and drives the No. 14 Office Depot/Mobil 1/Burger King Chevrolet Impala in the NASCARSprint Cup Series for his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing under crew chief Darian Grubb. From 1999 until 2008, he drove the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car, under crew chief Greg Zipadelli, with The Home Depot as the primary sponsor. His ten year tenure with the same team, sponsor, and crew chief is a NASCAR record. Stewart is also the only driver to win both the Winston Cup under the old points system and the Nextel Cup under the chase playoff format, winning those championships in 2002 and 2005 respectively. And he is the only Driver to have won a championship in IndyCar and in the Sprint Cup Series. In 2011, Stewart became the first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki to win the Cup Series championship, which ended Jimmie Johnson's streak of consecutive championships at five.
Tony Stewart was born in Columbus, Indiana, on May 20, 1971, and attended Columbus North High School during his youth. He grew up racing go karts and was successful very early, winning a World Karting Associationchampionship in 1987. He moved up to the United Midget Racing Association (UMRA) where he raced TQ (three quarter) midgets until 1991, when he again moved up this time to the United States Auto Club (USAC) series with help from one of his karting sponsors and friend Mark Dismore. Stewart was the USAC Rookie of the Year in 1991, fifth in 1993 after winning the Hut Hundred,[3] and was the National Midget series champion in 1994.[edit]Early life
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In 1995, Stewart became the first driver to win USAC's version of the Triple Crown, earning championships in all three of USAC's major divisions, National Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown. His winning the Hut Hundred and 4-Crown Nationals were the highlights of the year.
When he was not racing IndyCars, he raced stock cars. In 1996, Tony made his NASCAR Busch Series debut, driving for car owner Harry Rainer. In nine races, he had a best finish of 16th place. He had more success in a one-time ride in the Craftsman Truck Series with Mueller Brothers racing, where he finished 10th.
As he had done the previous year, he raced a handful of Busch Series races in 1998. This time, he was racing for Joe Gibbs, NFL Hall of Fame head coach of theWashington Redskins who was having major success with driver Bobby Labonte in Winston Cup. When Stewart was able to finish races, he finished in the top 10, and had a 3rd place finish at Charlotte. Stewart so impressed Gibbs that he was signed to drive the majority of the Busch schedule in 1998 to go along with a full-time IRL schedule. The double duty did not affect his performance in either series. In the IRL, he won twice and finished 3rd in the championship. His season was a disappointment as he finished last in the Indy 500 because of an engine failure.Stewart was poised to improve his Indy Racing League (IRL) standing in 1997 but at times he struggled to finish. He failed to finish the first three races of a ten race schedule, but recovered to come in second at Phoenix. At that year's Indy 500, Stewart's car was good enough to enable him to win his first IRL race, leading 64 laps. However, he trailed off near the end of the race and settled for 5th place. He finally got his first career win at Pikes Peak, where he led all but seven laps of a 200 lap race. He became the leading contender for the series' championship after a bad slump knocked points leader Davey Hamilton out of first place. Despite an average end to his season, finishing 7th, 14th, and 11th, and five DNFs, Stewart did just enough to beat Hamilton for the IRL title. He also raced in a few midget events, finishing thirteenth and eleventh in the 1997 and 1998 USAC national points, and winning the Copper Classic both years. Between his time in USAC and the IRL, Stewart earned the nickname of "Smoke", first for slipping the right rear tire during dirt races and then for blowing his engine often during his '97 championship run.[3]
On the Busch side, he finished in the top-five five times in 22 starts. He came close to winning his first Busch Series race at Rockingham, but was beaten on a last lap pass by Matt Kenseth. Stewart finished a solid 2nd place in 2 (of 31) starts, ahead of six drivers with more starts, and had an average finish that was comparable to some of the series' top 10 finishers. Gibbs had enough confidence in Tony that he was moved into Cup for the 1999 season. With that move, Stewart ended his three year career as a full time IRL driver.
[edit]2000 season
Stewart showed no signs of a sophomore slump in the 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup Series, winning six races at Martinsville, New Hampshire, Michigan, Homestead and two at Dover. However, he fell to sixth place in the standings because of a handful of (Did Not Finish) DNFs and an increase in the number of competitive drivers, among them his teammate Labonte, who won the Cup championship. Tony also began to get some bad press for his on-track incidents. The best known of these came at Watkins Glen, when he and Jeff Gordon tangled and crashed. Stewart made his displeasure toward Gordon known in an obscenity-laden tirade. Stewart won the Turkey Night Grand Prix midget car event at Irwindale, California, which he called, “one of his greatest wins ever."[3]
[edit]2001 season
Stewart's 2001 season got off to a frightening start, as he was involved in a spectacular crash in the Daytona 500 where his car violently flipped over several times toward the middle of the race that also had the final-lap crash that killed Dale Earnhardt. He walked away unscathed, recovered to win three more races at Richmond, Infineon and Bristol, and, as he'd done before, ran near the front most of the season. Statistically, he had a worse season than 2000, but he was the runner-up to Gordon for the Cup championship.
For the second time he ran "The Double" on Memorial Day Weekend, in spite of a 17 minute rain delay at Indianapolis. He finished 6th in the Indianapolis 500 and 3rd in the Coca-Cola 600, running all 1,100 miles (1,800 km) of the two races.[4]
The 2001 season was not without controversy. Jeff Gordon pulled a "bump and run" on Stewart to gain a better finishing position in a race in Bristol, and it resulted in Stewart retaliating in a post-race incident by spinning Gordon out on pit road. Stewart was fined and placed on probation by NASCAR. He got into further trouble at Daytona, when he confronted a Winston Cup official after ignoring a black flag. At the same race, he also got into an incident with a reporter, kicking away a tape recorder. He confronted the same NASCAR official at the race in Talladega after he refused to wear a mandated head-and-neck restraint. Stewart was not allowed to practice until he wore one and only managed to practice after his crew chief, Greg Zipadelli intervened. His fines and probation periods resulting from these incidents have earned Stewart a reputation of having a hot-temper, and he became NASCAR's "bad boy".
[edit]2002 season
Tony started 2002 even more inauspiciously than in the previous season, as his Daytona 500 lasted just two laps due to a blown engine. He went on to win twice early in the season at Atlanta and Richmond but was only seventh in the points standings at the halfway point of the season. The second half of his season was plagued by an altercation with a photographer after the Brickyard 400. NASCAR put Stewart on probation for the rest of the season. He went on to win the very next week at Watkins Glen, and went on a hot streak in the final races, finishing consistently in the top five. At the end of the year, Stewart held off a charging Mark Martin to win his first Winston Cup championship.
[edit]2003 season
As defending champion, Stewart managed to have a relatively incident-free 2003. Driving a Chevrolet instead of his previous Pontiac (Gibbs switched manufacturers), Stewart actually had his worst Cup season (until the 2006 season), but it was still good enough for seventh in the points. He only won twice that season at Pocono and Charlotte but led more laps than he had the previous year and was highly competitive in the final races of the year.
[edit]2004 season
The 2004 season was highlighted by first victory coming at Chicagoland as well as his second victory at Watkins Glen. Stewart qualified fourth for the first everChase for the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup. However an incident at the first race of The Chase at Loudon dashed hopes of a second series title.
In November, Stewart became the owner of one of the most legendary short tracks in America, Eldora Speedway. Located in New Weston, Ohio, Eldora is a half-mile dirt track known to many as "Auto Racing's Showcase Since 1954." Stewart began racing there in 1991 and continues racing in special events alongside other Nextel Cup drivers and dirt track legends.
In 2004, Stewart teamed with Englishman Andy Wallace and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a Boss Motorsports Chevrolet to take fourth in the 24 Hours of Daytona sports car race. The result does not show the trio's performance, however: They had dominated the race until the last two hours, when the suspension cracked. With 15 minutes left in the race, and with Stewart at the wheel, one of the rear wheels came off, finally ending their run. In addition to placing fourth overall, the trio placed third in the Daytona Prototype class.
[edit]2005 season
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| Tony Stewart's 2005 Allstate 400 at the Brickyard winning car on display at theIndianapolis Motor Speedway museum. |
On August 16 Stewart was fined $5,000 for hitting the car of Brian Vickers, after the completion of the Busch Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International. Stewart was driving a Busch series car owned by Kevin Harvick Incorporated at the time. Stewart also was placed on probation until December 31.2005 was one of Stewart's most successful years in the Nextel Cup. He won five races, at Infineon, Daytona, New Hampshire, Watkins Glen and the Allstate 400 at his hometown track, a race that Stewart said he would give up his championship to win, and took with it the No. 1 seed heading into NASCAR's Chase for the Nextel Cup 10-race playoff.
Following his second win of the season, Stewart began climbing the fence separating the fans from the race track after each victory, borrowing IndyCar Series driver Hélio Castroneves' trademark move.[5] After winning the 2009 All-Star race Tony was quoted as saying "I'm too damn fat to be climbing fences," and recently purchased $17,000 worth of exercise equipment to remedy the problem. It also led to sponsor Home Depot cashing in on Stewart's success with some promotions reminiscent of Stewart's Eldora Speedway drivers. After his second full climb of the fence in Loudon, N.H., they ran a discount on ladders and fencing at the stores with a campaign named, "Hey Tony, we've got ladders", where anyone who presented the advertisement in national newspapers in their stores earned the discount. After his victory in Indianapolis, Home Depot presented fans who presented the advertisement of his Allstate 400 win with a discount on purchasing bricks. He mentioned in a press release from his sponsor, "I plan to keep winning races and helping to drive down the cost of home improvement for The Home Depot customers."
On November 20, Stewart won his second NASCAR Nextel Cup Championship, joining Jeff Gordon as the only active, full-time drivers at the time to have won multiple championships. Jimmie Johnson afterward did so from 2006–2010. He also is one of the youngest drivers to win multiple championships and the only driver to have won championships under both the Chase and non-Chase formats. During the 2005 season, Stewart won a total of $13,578,168, including $6,173,633 for winning the championship, the largest season total in NASCAR history. Stewart also went through training to become a deputy sheriff in Alabama.[6]
[edit]2006 season
Stewart's 2006 season was very much up and down. He had competitive cars and scored early wins at Daytona and Martinsville. However he also had strings of bad luck. He also suffered a shoulder injury due to two heavy crashes in both the Busch and Cup races at Charlotte during the Memorial Day Weekend races (Stewart's Busch car hit the Turn 4 wall so hard it even knocked the rear end off the car). During the Dover race, he was substituted by Ricky Rudd, and in later weeks had to drive in pain.
Additionally he has once again been involved in several on track controversies.
Following a rough Bud Shootout on February 12, Stewart expressed concern to the media about the possibility of aggressive driving resulting in the serious injury or death of a driver. It came during a week in which the racing world remembered the fifth anniversary of the death of legend Dale Earnhardt, who died on the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500. Just a few days after Stewart's comments to the media, during the 48th running of the Daytona 500, he was involved in a number of incidents with Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Matt Kenseth, who he chased halfway across the track to run into the grass. "He has no room to complain," Stewart said of his brush with Kenseth. "He started it, and I finished it".
On May 20 during NASCAR's All Star Race, Stewart and Kenseth wrecked again. Each driver claimed it was the other one's fault with Stewart saying, "if (Kenseth) thinks it's my fault and I (caused the wreck) he's screwed up in his head." Following the wreck, several media outlets proclaimed the new Stewart-Kenseth rivalry as must-see TV.[7] The so-called rivalry was short-lived as Kenseth and Stewart participated as friends in a joint promotional tour for DeWalt and The Home Depot;[8]Kenseth also appeared in September at Stewart's Eldora Speedway in the NEXTEL PRELUDE with NASCAR drivers, as well as the ARCA Truck Series event there.
On July 23, Stewart once again was at the center of a media storm. On lap 31 of the Pennsylvania 500, Stewart was accidentally squeezed against the wall by fellow driver Clint Bowyer. Stewart responded by waving his hand in anger, then purposely hitting Bowyer's car. This contact sent Bowyer spinning down the front stretch where he collided with Carl Edwards. Stewart was promptly held one lap by NASCAR for rough driving. He did however pass leader Ryan Newman to get back on the lead lap and eventually rallied to finish 7th and get back in the top 10 in the point standings. After initially refusing to take responsibility for the incident he apologized the next day.[9]
Tony Stewart missed the cut to qualify for the 2006 Chase for the Nextel Cup by 16 points.[10] He finished poorly at Richmond after wrecking his primary car in practice, and was displaced in the top ten by Kasey Kahne. As a result, he finished the 2006 season 11th in points, his worst thus far in his career, as he had completed each of his seven previous seasons in the top ten in points. Commenting on not being in the 2006 Chase, he says: “It lets us have the ability to take chances and try things ... that we've been wanting to try but just haven't had the luxury to do it. If we were in the Chase we wouldn't have that ability”.[11] Stewart won three races in the 2006 Chase (Kansas, Atlanta, and Texas).
The season wasn't totally unkind to Stewart, however. He was a participant in the 30th season of IROC and won 2 of the 4 races (Texas, and the Daytona road course) on his way to capturing the series championship. He won a million dollars for the effort, but made an offer to return his prize money if IROC would hold one of its events at his Eldora Speedway. This offer was not entertained as IROC folded in 2007. In addition, Stewart's three wins in the Chase races gave him five total for the season, tying him with Jimmie Johnson and Kevin Harvick for second most in Nextel Cup behind Kasey Kahne's six.
[edit]2007 season
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On lap 152 of the Daytona 500, the rear of Stewart's car slid up the track, and when he tried to cut down the track, he smacked the front of Kurt Busch's car knocking both of them out of the race. Tony and the Busch brothers (Kurt and Kyle) were the three leaders for the majority of the race.His 2007 racing season started out with Stewart winning his second Chili Bowl Nationals midget car feature. Tony started off the Daytona Speedweeks with a win in the 2007 Budweiser Shootout. It was his third win in the race. [12]He also won his qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
On March 22, 2007, it was released that Stewart would be on the cover of the official NASCAR video game published by Electronic Arts, "NASCAR 08". This would be the third time this honor was given to Stewart (2001, 2004, 2008).
In his first Car of Tomorrow race with the Impala SS, Stewart was dominant at Bristol, leading 257 of 504 laps (green-white-checker finish), before he experienced a fuel pump problem. At the third Car of Tomorrow race atPhoenix, Stewart lead a race high 154 laps, but a late race caution moved Stewart to second, where he finished behind Jeff Gordon. In the following week, Stewart implied the cautions were "bogus" and that NASCAR is rigged like professional wrestling.[13]
On June 4, 2007, Stewart and Kurt Busch had an incident on pit road in the Autism Speaks 400 at Dover. Busch passed Stewart on the inside. Busch then slid up, which caused contact, sending him into the wall, knocking out Busch, but with Stewart staying in the race. Under the caution, Stewart was on pit road in his pit box when Kurt Busch pulled alongside to express his feelings over the incident. One of Stewart's crewmen had to jump out of the way of Kurt's car to avoid being hit.
At the All-Star Challenge at Charlotte, he finished 5th behind Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson, Mark Martin, and Jeff Burton. At the Coca-Cola 600, Stewart finished sixth, after having to come in to pit for fuel.
On July 15, 2007, Stewart led a race high 108 laps and recorded his 30th career NEXTEL Cup win at the USG Sheetrock 400 at Joliet.
On July 29, 2007, after leading a race high 66 of 160 laps, Stewart won the "Allstate 400 at the Brickyard" race at Indianapolis, just 45 minutes from where he grew up. During the victory lane interview, Stewart was penalized 25 points and fined $25,000 for violating NASCAR's policy on the use of obscene language during interviews during the race.
On August 12, 2007, he won the Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen after Jeff Gordon spun his car around after wheel hopping in turn 1 with two laps to go.
[edit]2008 season
Stewart began the 2008 season starting 6th for the 50th running of the Daytona 500, and was only able to come up with a 3rd place finish after being passed on the last lap by Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch.
On lap 109 of the UAW-Dodge 400, Stewart cut a tire and slammed into the turn 3 wall. Stewart came out of the car under his own power, but was helped to the ambulance where he was taken to the infield care center. Stewart had complained about a sore foot from a wreck which occurred the day before in the Nationwide Series race at Las Vegas. Stewart was later announced okay and ripped on Goodyear for not bringing quality tires. The next week at the Kobalt Tools 500, Stewart commented that "Goodyear doesn't give a fuck about tire quality."
With 3 laps to go in the 2008 Coca-Cola 600, Stewart cut a tire and saved it from contact with the wall. However, Stewart had to give up the lead to future race winner Kasey Kahne in order to take pits.
In the Best Buy 400 Stewart was involved in another crash with Elliott Sadler in which Sadler was turned by David Gilliland and Sadler's no. 19 collected Stewart and 11 other cars including Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Denny Hamlin. Stewart said, "I take 100 percent responsibility – it's my fault for being anywhere close to Elliott. If I'm within half a lap of him, I expect that to happen. It's my fault – I'm the one that hit him. When I hit him it caused all the guys behind us to wreck, so it's my fault."
On July 5, during the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona, Tony began feeling ill and turned the car over to former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate J. J. Yeley, who finished 20th after getting involved in two wrecks in the last 5 laps. [14] Stewart earned his first & only win of the season in the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega on October 5. On the final lap Stewart was passed by Regan Smith. NASCAR declared that Smith had made an illegal pass and awarded the victory to Stewart.[15]
[edit]Stewart Haas Racing (2009–present)
[edit]2009 season
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On August 15, 2008, fellow Indiana native Ryan Newman signed a multi-year contract to drive the second car for Stewart-Haas Racing, originally to be designated No. 4 but changed to his USAC No. 39, with sponsorship from the U.S. Army(relocating from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing).On July 8, 2008, it was reported that Stewart was released from the last year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing, primarily because JGR had switched from Chevrolet to Toyota. Stewart was vocal about his loyalty to Chevrolet (which sponsors his USAC Midget, Sprint Car, and Silver Crown teams), and would move to Haas CNC Racing to drive a Haas Chevrolet, with sponsorship from Office Depot (relocating from the No. 99 Roush Fenway team) and Old Spice. Stewart took half ownership of the team which was re-named Stewart-Haas Racing, and Stewart became the highest paid NASCAR driver. Stewart's car at Haas has the number 14 as homage to his hero A.J. Foyt. To date, he is the most successful driver for Joe Gibbs Racing with 33 wins and two championships (2002 and 2005).
As the most recent series champion not among the Top 35 in owners' points, Stewart was first in line for past champions' provisionals for the first five races of 2009. He completed those races without needing to use the provisional, ending up well inside the Top 10 in points. Stewart won his first race as a driver/owner in the non-championship NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race XXV, winning more than $1,000,000, his first win in the event in 10 attempts. He followed that victory with his first points race win as a driver/owner at Pocono in the Pocono 500 on June 7, 2009, the first owner-driver in the Cup series to win a race since Ricky Rudd in 1998.[16] Stewart also won the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona after a controversial finish involving a wreck with Kyle Busch, his former teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing. Stewart's season overall was his best showing since his rookie year, with another win coming at Watkins Glen International.
Stewart qualified for the 2009 Chase for the Sprint Cup as he finished the first 26 races as points leader. He fell to second in points following reseeding when Mark Martin, who won more races than Stewart, moved ahead of him. On October 5, 2009, Stewart won the Price Chopper 400 and moved to fourth in the standings, ending the season in sixth place.
[edit]2010 season
On April 16, 2010, Stewart won the pole position in NASCAR's top series for the first time in five years, turning a lap of 191.327 mph at Texas Motor Speedway.[17]Tony Stewart started his 400th Sprint Cup race from the pole. The last time that Stewart had won the pole was 155 races ago at Martinsville Speedway in October 2005. On May 9, it was reported that Stewart would lose Old Spice as a sponsor after 11 years with them.[18]
Stewart won two races in 2010, the Emory Healthcare 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 5 and the Pepsi Max 400 at Auto Club Speedway on October 10.
On October 12, Mobil 1 announced a sponsorship deal with Stewart-Haas Racing to sponsor Stewart's car, starting in 2011. It would be the primary sponsor for 11 races, while Office Depot would be the primary sponsor for the rest of the season. Mobil 1 would also sponsor Tony in the Budweiser Shootout and the All-Star Race.
[edit]2011 season
In 2011, Stewart returned in the No. 14 Office Depot Chevrolet. Following a crash intentionally caused by Stewart on Brian Vickers at Infineon Raceway in June 2011, Vickers intentionally wrecked Stewart as payback. In an interview when asked about the crashes, Stewart said, "It was payback, but, you know, I dumped him first, and I dumped him because he was blocking..."[19] Stewart and his teammate, Ryan Newman, started the Lenox Industrial Tools 301 first and second, and they finished it where they started as Newman won that race. Entering the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup portion of the schedule winless, Stewart won the opening race of the Chase at the Chicagoland Speedway and jumped up seven spots in the points, securing second place and extending his streak of consecutive years with a win to 13. Stewart made it two for two in the Chase after Clint Bowyer ran out of fuel in the closing laps of the Sylvania 300 at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Stewart took the win and the points lead after New Hampshire. At Talladega, Stewart struggled to lead a lap, and eventually did so; with assistance from Ryan Newman, Paul Menard, and Joey Logano, he led an additional 29 laps and captured the two-point bonus for leading the most laps. On October 30, at Martinsville Speedway, Stewart won the Tums Fast Relief 500, leading three times for 14 laps and moving into championship contention in second place in the points standings.
The next week, Stewart led 173 laps en route to winning the AAA Texas 500 at Texas Motor Speedway, bringing him to within three points of championship points leader Carl Edwards with two races to go in the 2011 season. On November 20, 2011, Stewart won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship by winning thefinal race at Homestead-Miami Speedway while Edwards finished second.[20] Stewart and Edwards were tied on total points, but Stewart claimed the tiebreaker by having five race wins to Edwards's one.[21]
[edit]Other racing series
Stewart frequently makes appearances on dirt tracks, appearing regularly at an ARCA race on dirt and at many prominent midget car events, USAC's Turkey Night Grand Prix, and the indoor Chili Bowl Midget Nationals.
Along with Matt Kenseth, he has appeared at Madison International Speedway, a non-NASCAR half-mile track located in Wisconsin on Highway 138 between the cities of Oregon, WI and Stoughton, WI.
Tony also races on rare occasions in the World of Outlaws Series and on July 27, 2011, Stewart won his first ever World of Outlaws race at Ohsweken Speedway.
On September 21, 2011, Stewart and fellow drivers Jamie McMurray and Austin Dillon attended the grand opening of Bass Pro Shops in East Peoria, Illinois. The store ended up bringing in as many as six thousand people that night, but not without saying thanks to the drivers, who signed autographs for fans.
[edit]"Smoke" nickname
Tony Stewart told NASCAR.com of his nickname: "I wasn't very good about not slipping the right-rear tire, initially. So it started as 'Smoker,' then it got shortened to 'Smoke.' Then when I got in the Indy Racing League it was 'Smoke' because one of the guys on the crew who was my roommate, and knew the nickname, carried it over to the IndyCar team. But then when I started blowing engines, 'Smoke' really stuck. I've had it ever since."
During his NASCAR career, Tony Stewart once was told by No. 20 team owner Joe Gibbs that he could no longer compete in races outside of his Sprint Cup obligations. Stewart worked around this by entering a USAC National Midget race under the pseudonym "Smokey Jones" with the crowd at the track none the wiser. After winning the feature, "Smokey Jones" got out of his car and revealed himself to the crowd as Tony Stewart. He also once entered himself in a race, driving the infamous "Munchkin" midget chassis, as "Mikey Fedorcak Jr." after buying the Munchkin from Mike Fedorcak during a card game. In 2010 he raced several Modified races under the name Smoke Johnson.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
[edit]Joe Gibbs Racing (1999–2008)
[edit]1999 season
Stewart started his Winston Cup career in 1999 with a bang, as he qualified his No. 20 Home Depot Pontiac in second place in his first Cup race, the Daytona 500. He showed courage in one of the Gatorade Twin 125 races, when involved in a great battle with Dale Earnhardt for the win. The Intimidator came out on top, but Stewart had nonetheless impressed quite a few people with his performance. In the 500, Stewart ran near the front until problems with the car relegated him to a 28th place finish.
Stewart spent most of his rookie season wowing people, as his car was often in the top 5. He won a pair of pole positions at short tracks, and set a series record for victories by a rookie with three, Richmond, Phoenix and Homestead. (Stewart's record would hold until 2002, when Jimmie Johnson duplicated the feat by winning three times; Carl Edwards won four times in his first full Cup season but was not regarded as a rookie by NASCAR standards.) He finished his first year an unprecedented 4th in points, the highest points finish by a rookie in the modern era (which held until 2006 when his then-teammate Denny Hamlin finished 3rd), and only bested by James Hylton, who finished 2nd as a first-timer in 1966. Not surprisingly, he ran away with the Winston Cup Rookie of the Year award.
Stewart also attempted to race 1,100 miles (1,800 km) on Memorial Day weekend, as he competed in both the Indy 500 during the day and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, N.C., at night. He finished in the top 10 at both races; ninth in the 1999 Indy 500 and fourth at Lowe's Motor Speedway. However, he only completed 1,090 miles (1,750 km) of the scheduled 1,100.
[edit]IRL statistics
| Year | Races | Wins | Poles | Top 5 | Top 10 | DNF | Finish | Start | Winnings | Season Rank | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 3/3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 12.3 | 4.0 | $349,303 | 8th | Team Menard |
| 1997 | 10/10 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 8.8 | 3.4 | $1,090,450 | 1st | Team Menard |
| 1998 | 11/11 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 11.1 | 4.5 | $1,002,850 | 3rd | Team Menard |
| 1999 | 1/10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9.0 | 24.0 | $186,670 | 33rd | Tri-Star Racing |
| 2001 | 1/13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | $218,850 | 39th | Chip Ganassi Racing |
| Totals | 26 | 3 | 8 | 10 | 15 | 11 | 10.1 | 4.8 | $2,848,123 | ||
[edit]NASCAR statistics
| Year | Races | Wins | Poles | Top 5 | Top 10 | DNF | Avg. Finish | Avg. Start | Winnings | Season Rank | Team(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 34/34 | 3 | 2 | 12 | 21 | 1 | 10.3 | 12.6 | $2,613,976 | 4th | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2000 | 34/34 | 6 | 2 | 12 | 23 | 5 | 12.4 | 16.7 | $3,175,270 | 6th | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2001 | 36/36 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 22 | 4 | 12.6 | 17.0 | $3,543,043 | 2nd | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2002 | 36/36 | 3 | 2 | 15 | 21 | 6 | 12.6 | 13.2 | $4,695,154 | 1st | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2003 | 36/36 | 2 | 1 | 12 | 18 | 5 | 14.6 | 13.9 | $5,227,503 | 7th | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2004 | 36/36 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 19 | 2 | 12.9 | 15.3 | $6,221,710 | 6th | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2005 | 36/36 | 5 | 3 | 17 | 25 | 1 | 9.9 | 12.0 | $6,987,535 | 1st | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2006 | 36/36 | 5 | 0 | 15 | 19 | 4 | 13.8 | 16.7 | $7,285,281 | 11th | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2007 | 36/36 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 23 | 4 | 13.1 | 17.6 | $6,396,751 | 6th | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2008 | 36/36 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 16 | 3 | 14.9 | 17.1 | $6,066,407 | 9th | Joe Gibbs Racing |
| 2009 | 36/36 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 23 | 1 | 12.3 | 10.4 | $6,828,250 | 6th | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 2010 | 36/36 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 13.9 | 13.2 | $5,664,250 | 7th | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| 2011 | 36/36 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 19 | 1 | 12.6 | 18.0 | $6,000,580 | 1st | Stewart-Haas Racing |
| Totals | 462 | 44 | 13 | 160 | 264 | 38 | 12.6 | 15.0 | $70,407,006 | ||
Data as of Sunday, November 20, 2011[22]
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