by Paula S. Thompson

Created on: May 23, 2009

Indiana native Tony Stewart is often referred to as an "old school" race car driver - he excels with any type of car he drives, and he is an entrepreneur in the truest form of the word: "one who undertakes an enterprise," be it his own NASCAR race team, any of his three race tracks, his USAC and World of Outlaws teams, or his charitable undertakings.

Stewart's success started early, winning the World Karting Association championship in 1987 at age 16. He raced TQ midgets until 1991, moving up to the USAC series that year and taking USAC Rookie of the Year. After winning the midget series championship in 1994, Stewart took the USAC "Triple Crown" in 195 - winning series championships in USAC's top three divisions: midget, sprint, and Silver Crown. He is to date the only driver to do this.

In 1996, Stewart ran in both the Indy Racing League (IRL) and the NASCAR Busch Series. While his Busch season was disappointing (nine starts with a top finish of 16th), his IRL career was taking off, starting on the pole for the Indianapolis 500, and winning Rookie of the Year for both the 500 and the IRL series. Stewart won his first IRL race in 1997, along with a nail-biting run that led him to his IRL championship.

1997 also started Stewart's relationship with Joe Gibbs, NFL Hall of Fame coach for the Washington Redskins. Gibbs was looking for a driver he could develop as a teammate to then-driver Bobby Labonte. After a few races in 1997, Gibbs signed Stewart to a 22-race Busch schedule for 1998, in addition tot he full-time IRL season Stewart was already committed to. His performance in those 22 races in 1998 led Gibbs to move Stewart to the Winston Cup Series in 1999, beginning a ten-year relationship with Home Depot and the #20 car, and ending his IRL career.

In his ten years with Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart amassed 33 wins, ten poles, 212 top-tens (in 363 races started), and two championships (2002 and 2005). Two highlight wins were at Stewart's beloved Indianapolis Motor Speedway, winning the AllState 400 at the Brickyard in for 2005 and 2007. Stewart was Rookie of the Year in 1999, winning three races, and attempted "Double Duty" - running the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte, NC in the same day; he completed 1,090 miles of a possible 1,100 miles. He ran "Double Duty" for a second time in 2001, and was successful, finishing 6th at Indy and 3rd at Charlotte, completing all 1,100 miles.

In July of 2008, Stewart was granted release from the final year of his contract with Joe Gibbs Racing, opening the door to start his own team. He purchased half of Haas CNC Racing, renaming it Stewart-Haas Racing, and would run the #14 Chevrolet, teaming with Ryan Newman in the #39, in 2009. The new team's first victory came at the Sprint All-Star Challenge, the $1,000,000 Saturday night non-points race where anything goes - Stewart's style of racing. It was his first win in the Challenge (formerly the Winston).

His other team, Tony Stewart Racing, fields cars in USAC and the World of Outlaws, both national sprint car series. Stewart also owns or co-owns three race tracks - the famed Eldora Speedway in Ohio, Paducah International Raceway in Kentucky, and Macon Speedway in Illinois.

The Tony Stewart Foundation was founded in 2003, to help care for chronically ill children, drivers injured in motorsports, and to protect various animal species. Stewart also hosts the "Prelude to the Dream" charity race at Eldora Speedway, with some of NASCAR's top drivers participating in a dirt-track shootout. Proceeds go to Kyle and Patti Petty's Victory Junction Gang Camp.

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