Tony Stewart

After leading 44 laps, his race ended before the halfway point due to a malfunctioning pop-off valve, which dropped him to 8th in the final point standings.

When Stewart was not racing IndyCars, he raced stock cars, which he had signed to do beforehand.

Anthony Wayne Stewart (born May 20, 1971), nicknamed "Smoke", is an American semi-retired professional stock car racing driver, current NASCAR team co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing, and current co-owner of the Superstar Racing Experience.

Tony Stewart got his first competitive go kart in Westport, Indiana in 1979.

In 1980, he won his first championship.

He grew up racing go karts and was successful very early, winning a World Karting Association championship in 1987.

He moved up to the United Midget Racing Association (UMRA) where he raced TQ (three quarter) midgets until 1991 when he again moved up this time to the United States Auto Club (USAC) series with the help of one of his karting sponsors and friend Mark Dismore.

Stewart was the USAC Rookie of the Year in 1991, USAC National Midget Series Champion in 1994 and 1995, and USAC Silver Crown Series champion in 1995.

In 1995, Stewart became the first driver to win USAC's version of the Triple Crown, earning championships in all three of USAC's major divisions, National Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown.

His winning the Hut Hundred and 4 Crown Nationals were the highlights of the year.

With the advent of the Indy Racing League (IRL), which intended to provide opportunities for grassroots racers, Stewart found his way into Indy car racing; after unsuccessful negotiations with A. J. Foyt Racing, he signed early in 1996 for Team Menard as a last-minute addition for the abridged three-race initial season.

In his Indy car debut at Walt Disney World Speedway, Stewart led 37 laps and finished a close second to fellow rookie Buzz Calkins.

He also led laps at Phoenix in the early stages before a myriad of pit stop woes and mechanical issues led to his early exit from the race.

For his Indianapolis 500 debut, he initially qualified on the outside of the front row, but the disqualification of Arie Luyendyk's time and the death of his teammate Scott Brayton a week later propelled Stewart to the pole position.

In 1996, he made his NASCAR Busch Series debut, driving for car owner Harry Rainer.

Stewart was poised to improve his IRL standing in the 1996-97 season but at times he struggled to finish.

He failed to finish the first three races of a ten-race schedule, but recovered to come in second at Phoenix.

At that year's Indy 500, Stewart's car was good enough to enable him to win his first IRL race, leading 64 laps.

However, he trailed off near the end of the race and settled for 5th place.

He finally got his first career win at Pikes Peak, where he led all but seven laps of a 200 lap race.

He became the leading contender for the series championship after a bad slump knocked points leader Davey Hamilton out of first place.

He also raced in several midget events, finishing thirteenth and eleventh in the 1997 and 1998 USAC national points, and winning the Copper Classic both years.

Between his time in USAC and the IRL, Stewart earned the nickname of "Smoke", first for slipping the right rear tire during dirt races and then for blowing his engine often during his 1997 championship run.

As he had done the previous year, he raced a handful of Busch Series races in 1998.

From 1999 to 2008, he drove the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car, under crew chief Greg Zipadelli with The Home Depot as the primary sponsor.

He is a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, winning two as a driver (2002, 2005), one as owner/driver (2011), and one as an owner (2014).

Throughout his racing career, Stewart has won racing titles in Indy, midget, sprint, and USAC Silver Crown cars.

He is the only driver in history to win a championship in both IndyCar and NASCAR.

Stewart became known for his hot temper and for his sarcasm with the media.

While driving for car owner Joe Gibbs, Stewart won two Cup Series championships in 2002 and 2005.

Stewart is the only driver to win the Cup Series championship under the old points system and the chase playoff format, and is the only driver to win the title under three different sponsorships (Winston in 2002, Nextel in 2005, and Sprint in 2011).

He is also the first driver in the Cup Series to win the championship by a tiebreaker.

Stewart had more success in a one-time ride in the Craftsman Truck Series with Mueller Brothers racing, where he finished 10th.

In 2011, Stewart became the first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki to win the Cup Series championship.

Despite an average end to his season, finishing 7th, 14th, and 11th, and five DNFs, Stewart did just enough to beat Hamilton for the IRL title.

He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series (now known as the NASCAR Cup Series) during the 2016 season, driving the No. 14 Chevrolet SS for his team, Stewart-Haas Racing, under crew chief Mike Bugarewicz.

In nine races, he had a best finish of 16th place.

On May 22, 2019, Stewart was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, and on January 31, 2020, was inducted alongside the 11th Hall of Fame class.

On November 21, 2021, he married NHRA Top Fuel Drag Racer Leah Pruett.

He will replace Pruett in Top Fuel for the 2024 season as Preutt steps aside to start a family with Stewart.