Read CNN’s Fast Facts about the life of race car driver and race track owner Tony Stewart, and learn more about the three-time Sprint Cup Series champion.
Birth place: Columbus, Indiana
Birth name: Anthony Wayne Stewart
Father: Nelson Stewart
Mother: Pam Stewart (now Boas)
Other Facts
Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion (2002,2005,2011).
Owns Eldora Speedway, a dirt race track near New Weston, Ohio.
Owner of Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) and co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR).
Earned the nickname “Smoke” because that’s what other drivers saw coming from his tires as he steered through turns on asphalt tracks. He is also referred to as the “Rushville Rocket,” “Tony the Tiger,” “The Columbus Comet” and “Big Orange.”
Timeline
1979 -Stewart wins his first competitive race in a go-kart in Westport, Indiana.
1980 – Wins his first championship at age eight in a go-kart.
1991 – Stewart is named United States Auto Club (USAC) Rookie of the Year.
1995 – Stewart is the first driver to win the Midget, the Sprint and the Silver Crown all in one season.
1996 – Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year.
1997 – Indy Racing League Champion.
February 14,1999 – Sprint Cup debut at the Daytona 500.
1999 – National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR)Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year (now called the Sprint Cup Series).
November 2000 – Forms Tony Stewart Racing.
March 2001 – During a race at the Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, Stewart bumps Jeff Gordon’s car on a pit road. He is fined $10,000 and placed on probation through August 2001.
