Actors, singers are not the only celebrities in the star sky. In today’s text we are going to talk about a NASCAR star Tony Stewart.
We will dig deeper into his net worth, biography and career, so keep on reading if this celebrity is one of your favorite ones.
Early Years
Anthony Wayne Stewart was born on May 20th 1971 in Columbus in Indiana. He is an American but his descent is unknown. His parent’s names are Nelson Stewart and Pam Boas. When he was still in high school. His parents divorced and he grew up with his sister. They stayed in Columbus.
When he was younger, he went to the Columbus North High School and finished it in 1989. There aren’t many information about his early days and childhood, because he was and still is a very private person.
Career Path
They call him ‘Smoke’ (smoke in Spanish) because it was fuming in its beginnings when running on the ovals of the US Midwest by nailing the left rear wheel in the grooves that form to throw a curtain of earth (smoke) at its persecutors, although some of his enemies say that it is because he thundered many engines when he started in the Indy Racing League, which the numbers do not support.
The case is that the man named Tony Stewart retires this year after an 18-year career in NASCAR and another three in the Indy Racing League ovals (predecessor of Indy Car), and eight more in the aforementioned land ovals, generally not greater than 402 meters (1/4 mile).
Tony started in karting, hence his ability to run on tracks not only in ovals, which has made him one of the big winners every time NASCAR ventures into something that does not require just turning left. But being a native of Indiana, his mind went to the ovals and started in the dirt always with the idea of one day running the Indy 500.
By 1995 he was the best pilot in ovals and was the first to win the 3 crown of the USAC (in the three major divisions: Midgets, Sprint Cars and Silver Crown). That gave him the pass to debut in the Indy Racing League in 1996 and also meant some opportunities to run stock cars in the NASCAR national series, combining both programs with his frequent appearances on the ground ovals, to which he has remained loyal, and even owns a couple of series and some famous tracks like the one in Eldora, Ohio, where he invites his NASCAR teammates on important dates.
After rookie of the year in his first season in the IRL, Tony was crowned in 1997 with consistency and good luck on his side, and was third in his defense of the crown the following year, but the team of Joe Gibbs ran in NASCAR and offered him a full-time seat for the premier series in 1999 and Tony left the cars to go to full-time stocks. And he answered being the rookie of the year in the series.
For 2002 the first of its titles would come using the orange Pontiac # 20 with sponsorship of Home Depot, although for 2003 already it was running a Chevrolet because the equipment changed of mark. And in 2005 he won the second title, now with the new format of the Chase for the Cup, which qualified 12 drivers for the final 10 dates and won the most points, in this case the Chevy # 20 of Tony.
It was always controversial. Apart from the titles there were many clashes with other pilots on the track, with fines for inappropriate behavior such as crashing in revenge for a blow or throwing the helmet to another pilot to break the windshield after a crash he considered intentional; at the same time, he is an arduous defender of the safety of his teammates in the series of ground ovals, fighting for changes in the cars to avoid strong injuries in the crashes; and what can be said of his foundation that supports children with health problems and animals in danger of extinction, while on the track he rightly and fiercely strikes against his rivals, and there were many injuries he suffered in your contacts; or his role as a principal critic of Goodyear, when there was a series of puncture incidents, demanding tires of better quality.
When Gibbs switched to Toyota in 2008, Tony asked to be excused from his contract until the end of 2009 because he wanted to race with Chevrolet, his sponsor in other series, and reached an agreement with Gene Haas to become co-owner and driver of his team. With which he runs for Chevrolet from 2009 using the # 14 in tribute to AJ Foyt the legend of Indy Car, who no longer has a team in NASCAR.
Thus, in 2011 he became the first driver-owner since 1992 to win a title when he got his third to be tied in points with Carl Edwards and beat him in the tiebreaker, to have more victories in the year, 5. And incidentally Tony won the Cup with a third global sponsorship in the series (2002 Winston, 2005 Nextel, and 2011 Sprint).
His team grew to have the # 4 cars in which Kevin Harvick won the title in 2014, # 10 of Danica Patrick, and # 41 of the 2004 champion, Kurt Busch, an alignment that places him among the big NASCAR squads. That has allowed him to think about retirement with confidence now that he has completed 600 races in the main series of stocks and is 45 years old and a life ahead.
Perhaps the most memorable thing about Tony is his passion for motorsport, either on dirt tracks of 320 meters or asphalt over sumps of more than 4 kilometers, in 20 minute races or in the 24 Hours of Daytona, which remained two times a few minutes of winning. His heart has always been in motorsport and his passion for engines exudes throughout his body, something is a favorite of the fans who see him deliver in depth on each track, each turn.
Tony’s net worth is estimated at around 70$ million. Besides being into racing, he is also an owner of the All Star Circuit of Champions and also owns a motorsport owner. He gathered a lot of money from his businesses, but he also spent a lot of money throughout the years.
Tony is endorsed by Coca-Cola, Toyota and Subway. All of these endorsements have brought him a big amount of money, and he definitely likes spending it wisely. He even took the number 20 spot on the list of drivers who have managed to get highest merchandise sales.
He still enjoys unique and rare cars, and he owns the Chevrolet Impala, which he likes to race at times. He is also a member of the Prelude to Dream that gathers drivers from different sports. Tony also established the Tony Stewart Foundation, to help raise money for the ill children and drivers who were severely injured during racing.
Personal life
Retired from NASCAR for a year, while still serving as owner of Stewart-Haas Racing with Gene Haas, Tony Stewart has not turned his back on racing. On the contrary, it is still common in sprint cars and midgets throughout the US geography (even the undersigned could see it in action during the Little 500, on the eve of the Indianapolis 500) and this Christmas is again in the candlestick for news of a very different kind.
Those who follow to a greater or lesser extent will know that Stewart never cut his ties with the short ovals during his long career in NASCAR and it brought more than a headache. For example, he was seriously injured in an accident during the 2013 season. But his most serious accident occurred in August 2014, when he ran over one of his rear wheels and under a yellow flag to another driver (Kevin Ward Jr.) when he got to rebuke him after leaving. The death of Ward Jr. resulted in a long judicial soap opera that is still open.
A judge allowed Ward Jr.’s family (who at the autopsy test positive for marijuana) to go ahead with the process and a popular jury to determine if Tony Stewart could be found guilty of manslaughter, which Stewart has appealed by sticking to Disclaimer clauses signed by any participant before an engine event.
That is to say, a decision on these clauses could have repercussions on all American motorsport. It is necessary to emphasize that even though Tony Stewart has tried to reach a compensatory agreement with the Ward family, it has been closing in a band, convinced that they should take him to court, in a trial scheduled for May.
And it is precisely May a date marked in red for Tony Stewart, because it seems that he has a proposal on the table to return to the 500 Miles of Indianapolis, returning to the Indy Car where he took his first big steps in motorsport and a test that does not run since 2001.
That was glimpsed in an interview with the podcast Dinner with Racers, which has already led to jokes about his weight and if it would enter a single-seater … Who could run? Penske or Ganassi would undoubtedly raise it, but it is worth remembering that Stewart sponsored the car that Sam Schmidt put for Jay Howard last season.
Quick summary
Full name: Anthony W. Stewart
Date of birth: May 20th 1971
Birthplace: Columbus (USA, Indiana)
Age: 48
Profession: NASCAR racer
Height: 1.75 m
Weight: 82 kg
Net Worth: 70$ million
