Tony Stewart
Name: Anthony Wayne Stewart
Nationality: American
Date of Birth: May 20, 1971 Columbus Indiana
Resides: Columbus Indiana and Mooresville, North Carolina
Series: NASCAR Sprint Cup
Car: No.14 Office Depot/ Mobil 1 Chevrolet Impala
Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart’s track record speaks for itself. With an IndyCar title and two NASCAR crowns to his name; the 39 year old is something of a legend in American racing. After over a decade at the top of the sport, he can still be seen competing in the grassroots categories which laid the foundations for his professional career. Stewart has extended his passion for the sport even further in recent years by becoming a team owner of his own NASCAR and USAC teams. Known as ‘Smoke’ by his fans, Stewart is certainly the busiest man in motor racing.
Big Moment
Tony’s first major international success was an IndyCar title in 1997, an impressive feat in what was only his second season in the category. However, it was NASCAR Cup titles in 2002 and 2005 which would establish his legacy. Stewart remains the only driver to hold NASCAR titles under the old points system and the new ‘Chase for the Cup’ formats. His 2005 title makes him the last driver to win a NASCAR crown since Jimmie Johnson’s supremacy began in 2006.
TV Show
Tony Stewart first appeared on Mobil 1 the Grid in March 2011 when we traveled to his Stewart Haas Racing HQ in Kannapolis. With a new NASCAR season upon him, Stewart was full of optimism as well as fresh determination to tackle the might of Hendrick Motorsport’s Jimmie Johnson. The show’s cameras were also granted behind-the-scenes access to Stewart Haas Racing’s facility to learn exactly what is required to run a race winning NASCAR team.
Quote
The NASCAR Sprint Cup has a grueling schedule which would be enough to satisfy most racers’ need for speed. With this in mind, we wondered what Tony might do for relaxation. The response is rather surprising!
I like it, I mean I really enjoy it. I what keeps me going. I mean our NASCAR schedule is very grueling, it's 38 weekends over a course of basically 42 or 43 weeks of the year, so we don’t have much time off. You know I still love the simplicity of racing, when you get to the NASCAR level and Indy Car racing and F1 racing, it's very complicated. It’s very technology driven but it's nice to go to a dirt track and where people are just not using telemetry and not using computers to tell them what to do on the race car. It's just often what the crew chief’s knowledge is, what the driver’s knowledge is and how the driver adapts to the changing track conditions. So that’s what I enjoy, it keeps me refreshed. A lot of guys, when they have time off, they relax and go on vacations. That is my vacation, that’s what I look forward to is going and driving race cars and having a chance to do something that’s a little bit different than what I do every weekend.
Detail
2010 Finished 7th in NASCAR Sprint Cup standings
2009 Wins the NASCAR Sprint All-Star race, his first victory as an owner/driver
2008 Establishes Stewart Haas Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup team
2005 Nextel Cup Series Champion
2002 Nextel Cup Series Champion
1997 IRL Champion
1996 USAC Triple Crown Champion
1991 USAC Rookie of the Year
