Monday, May 20, 2019

Tony Stewart Born In Columbus, Indiana - May 20, 1971

May 20, 1971
Tony Stewart
(Photo; www.tonystewart.com)
Born in Columbus, Indiana, USA.
He is a three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion as a driver, winning titles in 2002, 2005 and 2011. In 2011 Stewart had an ownership interest in the team. He won again as an owner with Kevin Harvick's title in 2014. Throughout his racing career, Stewart has won racing titles in Indy, midget, sprint, and USAC Silver Crown cars. He is the only driver in history to win a championship in both IndyCar and NASCAR. Stewart has raced in a few sports car races, including the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing, under crew chief Mike Bugarewicz. From 1999 to 2008, he drove the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car, under crew chief Greg Zipadelli with The Home Depot as the primary sponsor. While driving for car owner Joe Gibbs, Stewart won two Cup Series championships in 2002 and 2005. 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. Stewart is the only driver to win the Cup Series championship under the old points system and the chase playoff format, and is the only driver to win the title under three different sponsorships; Winston in 2002, Nextel in 2005, and Sprint in 2011.

Prior to the 23rd running of the Brickyard 400, Stewart was inducted into the USAC Hall of Fame in recognition of his sterling United State Auto Club (USAC) career. He was the 1994 USAC National Midget champion; in 1995, Stewart became the first driver ever to claim all three of United States Auto Club National championships in a single season and is one of only six USAC “Triple Crown Champions.” To date, Stewart racing has also won seven USAC Silver Crown Series titles.

Awards and honors
1995, 2002 Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Driver of the Year
2001 National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame inductee
2002 Hoosier Auto Racing Fans Hall of Fame inductee
2002, 2005, 2011 Richard Petty Driver of the Year
2003, 2006, 2012 Best Driver ESPY Award recipient
2008 Legends of The Glen inductee
2008 NASCAR Illustrated Person of the Year Award recipient
2013 Myers Brothers Award recipient

2016 Sonoma Raceway Wall of Fame inductee

3 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Congrats Smoke, You earned it!!

    ReplyDelete