Tony Stewart

Anthony Wayne "Tony" Stewart was born May 20, 1971 in Columbus, IN. He grew up racing go karts and won 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 help from 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 1996, Stewart made his NASCAR Busch Series debut, driving for car owner Harry Rainer. Since his debut, Stewart has become three-time Sprint Cup champion. As of 2014 Stewart owns and drives the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops/Mobil 1 Chevrolet SS, Stewart-Haas Racing under crew chief Chad Johnston. From 1999 until 2008, he drove the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing car. His ten-year tenure with the same team, sponsor, and crew chief is a NASCAR record. Stewart is also the only driver to win both the Winston Cup under the old points system and the Nextel Cup under the chase playoff format, winning those championships in 2002 and 2005.

In 2011, Stewart became the first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki to win the Cup Series championship, which ended Jimmie Johnson's streak of 5 consecutive championships. He is the only driver to win the NASCAR championship under three different sponsorship titles (Winston in 2002, Nextel in 2005, and Sprint in 2011) as well as being the only driver in history to win a championship in both IndyCar and NASCAR. He is also the first driver in Cup to win the championship by a tie breaker.