Tony Stewart

Three Cup Series championships. Forty-nine victories. Six hundred eighteen starts. Tony Stewart was Smoke, the fiery competitor from Columbus, Indiana whose talent was matched only by his intensity, and whose versatility across multiple forms of racing established him as one of the greatest all-around drivers in American motorsports history. Stewart won titles in 2002, 2005, and 2011, each championship reflecting a different phase of his career. The 2002 and 2005 titles came at Joe Gibbs Racing, where his raw talent was channeled into sustained excellence. The 2011 championship was perhaps the most remarkable -- Stewart won five of the final 10 races as an owner-driver at Stewart-Haas Racing, overcoming a 15-win onslaught from Carl Edwards to claim the title in a dramatic season-finale tiebreaker. His 15 career poles undersell his qualifying prowess; Stewart was more interested in race trim than qualifying trim, preferring to build a car that could win on Sunday rather than dazzle on Saturday. That pragmatic approach produced results that speak for themselves. Stewart's racing resume extends beyond NASCAR to include an IRL championship, USAC championships, and countless sprint car victories on dirt tracks across America. He raced anything with an engine and beat the best in every discipline he entered. Inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2020, Tony Stewart's legacy is that of a complete racer -- a driver whose competitive fire burned so hot that three championships and 49 Cup victories barely seemed to satisfy the hunger that drove him every time he climbed behind the wheel.

Written by Richard R. Glover, NASCAR Reference