If you know me, you know that I am a HUGE Tony Stewart fan, so needless to say, today's news really has me excited! Tony Stewart just announced that he will race in the NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 4th! God Bless America!!!
Tony grew up about 45 minutes away in Columbus, Indiana, so the Brickyard is a track that really means a lot to him, and he has been very successful there! During Smoke's Cup Series career, he scored two wins at the Brickyard 400, first in 2005 and again in 2007 (who can forget him climbing the fence?!). Prior to becoming a NASCAR driver, Tony drove in the IndyCar Series, and in all, he has made five Indy 500 starts. He started on the front row in two of those Indy 500s. Tony also completed "double duty" twice, first in 1999 and again in 2001, where he raced in both the Indy 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte in the same day. His best results were in 2001 when he completed all 1,100 miles, finishing 6th in the Indy 500 and 3rd in the Coke 600. He remains the only driver to complete all 1,100 laps in one day.
As for the Xfinity Series, Tony hasn't raced in that series since 2013, but he has 11 career wins. This will be the first time that Xfinity runs the oval/road course hybrid course at Indy, and something tells me that Smoke will do just fine! In Tony's Cup career, he scored 8 road course wins and 14 top 5s in 34 starts. His 49th and final Cup Series win came at Sonoma in June of 2016.
His car number, crew, and sponsor will be announced closer to the race. Go, Smoke, go!!!!!