Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart born May 20th, 1971 is a famous American auto racing driver who has won championships in sprint cars, Indy cars, and stock cars. He currently drives the #20 Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by Joe Gibbs Racing, and the #33 Old Spice Chevy in Busch Series.
Born in Columbus, Indiana, Stewart grew up racing go karts and achieved success at an early age, winning the World Karting Championship in 1987. He raced three-quarter midgets till 1991 and moved up to United States Auto Club (USAC) series and won his first USAC Rookie of the Year in 1991. He won his fifth Rookie of the Year in 1993 after winning the Hut Hundred. He also won the National Midget series championship in 1994.
The following year in 1995, Stewart became the first driver to win USAC's version of the Triple Crown, winning all three USAC's major divisions championships National Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown. He also won the Hut Hundred and 4-Crown Nationals.
In 1996, Tony made his NASCAR Busch Series debut, driving for Harry Rainer. In nine races his only best finish was in 16th place. He finished 10th in Craftsman Truck Series. He also raced in a few midget events, finishing 13th and 11th in the 1997 and 1998 USAC national points. He won Copper Classic both years and also won the IRL title.
Stewart also has the credit of racing for Joe Gibbs, NFL Hall of Fame head coach of the Washington Redskins in Busch Series. Gibbs was very much impressed by his finishes in top ten and signed him to drive the Busch schedule in 1998 along with a full-time IRL schedule.
The double schedules did not affect his performance in either series. In the IRL, he won twice and finished 3rd in the championship. On the Busch side, he finished in the top-five five times in 22 starts. He came extremely close to winning his first Busch Series race at Rockingham, but was beaten on a last lap pass by Matt Kenseth. He also finished a solid 2nd place in 2 of 31 starts.
Impressed by Stewart’s consistent performances, Gibbs moved him into Cup for the 1999 season. In the Winston/Nextel Cup series Stewart won 2 championships and has 29 wins to his name. 2005 was one of Stewart's most successful years in the Nextel Cup. He won five races, including the Allstate 400 at The Brickyard.
Stewart is still actively racing in the Nextel cup and with his tremendous talent and experience will surely be winning some more championships in the years to come.
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