NASCARs Tony Stewart
NASCAR's Tony Stewart – From Boy to Superstar
Tony Stewart was born in Columbus, Indiana on May 20th 1971. This 5’ft 9” fan of Michael Jordan has always had a competitive streak in him ever since catching the racing bug at age 7 with the encouragement from his father. Nelson Stewart made sure his son had a thirst for the first position in every race. Although there was not a lot of pressure put on young Tony, his father molded into him the importance of being the best race car driver possible and that stayed true to him throughout his racing career.
Of course, Nelson Stewart was the driving force behind this dynamic personality. Stewart’s father played car owner and car chief in young Stewart’s budding years. Stewart acknowledges that all his passion for racing came from his father’s influence. He credits his father for fueling his intense need to win. Until this day, Stewart’s father makes it a point to sit in for his races when he has the time.
In Stewart’s own words, he was always looking for the biggest trophy to win ever since he was eight. Stewart started out with go-karts when he was 7. He won his first championship in 1980 at the Columbus Fairgrounds. It was a 4-cycle rookie junior class championship that was closely followed by two more go-karting competitions only this time around Stewart was competing on a national level. He won the 1983 International Karting Federation Grand National championship and the 1987 World Karting Association National championship.
Once Stewart turned 18 in 1989, he started
to show an interest in racing high-horsepower, open wheel machines. His talent
quickly proved to be overwhelming when he won Rookie of the Year in 1991 in the
USAC ranks after he raced Three-Quarter Midgets.
This “American Chopper” fan went on to win his first USAC championship in 1994 which was a preview of bigger and better things Stewart would eventually achieve. In 1995, USAC history was made when Stewart won the Triple Crown – The National Midget, Sprint and Silver Crown respectively. No one has ever been able to do that prior to Stewart’s achievement. These winnings then lead to Stewart garnering a ride in the freshman years of the Indy Car series. Stewart managed to wrestle out the Rookie of the Year from them in 1996 which then proved to be the starting point for him as he went on to win the series championship the following year.
Stewart broke one of his own records in 2001 when he completed driving 1,100 miles in one car. He drove a Target/Home Depot Indy car for Chip Ganassi at Indy which proved to have worked for him compared to his 1999 finish on the lead lap in sixth before he went to Concord for the Coca-Cola 600. He came in the third place in that 600 miler.
He started the 2007 racing season with a second win at the Chili Bowl Nationals midget car feature. He then went on too compete in the Daytona Speedweeks Budweiser Shootout which earned him his third win.
The avid outdoor’s man went on after that to build a high career in racing. One that is filled with as much enthusiasm and zeal as it was when he was still the young 8 year old Indiana boy winning his first championship. Stewart now also dedicates time to the charity he started up in 2003. The main aim of the Tony Stewart Foundation is to raise funds for critically ill children and for the families of injured race car drivers.
It is clear that Tony Stewart’s success can be attributed to the support given to him by his father, Nelson Stewart. Thanks to his father’s encouragement in his youth, we can expect to see more from this talented speed devil.
For the largest selection of Nascar Merchandise along with up to the minute News, NASCARsupershop.comoffers this and more. We carry everything NASCAR including Racing Jackets and Nascar Banners all at the best prices everyday! I'm not only the owner of NASCARsupershop.com I'm also the senior editor, website developer and a HUGE fan of NASCAR!
