The 1995 Midget and Sprint cars Tony Stewart drove to win the USAC Triple Crown. Stewart was the first driver to win USAC’s three national championships (Silver Crown, Sprint and Midget series) in the same year. (From csyork65 on Flickr)Tony Stewart will head ‘Down Under’ for the holidays to compete at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway in Sydney, Australia.
Stewart, a two-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion and a former IndyCar Series champion, will pilot a car fielded by Australian Speedway legend Garry Rush in four of the biggest events on the Australian speedway calendar.
“After starting his own NASCAR team at the beginning of the year Tony has had a very long year and his main focus is to come to Australia to unwind while enjoying some time away from the pressure of racing at the top level,” said Rush, one of the directors of Sydney Speedway Pty Ltd, the promoters of Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway.
“However, he is a true racer at heart and has jumped at the opportunity we have provided him to race at Tyrepower Parramatta Raceway while combining it with some holiday activities both around Sydney and other parts of Australia.”
Stewart will join four-time World of Outlaws Champion Donny Schatz and All Star Series Champion Tim Shaffer on Dec. 26 for the Valvoline Australian Sprintcar Grand Prix and Dec. 29 for the Hogs Breath Sprintcar International.
On Jan. 2-3, the trio will be joined by fellow American Jason Johnson and Australia’s best to battle for the $50,000 to win Scott Darley race presented by Coca-Cola.
Stewart is no stranger to Australia. During the formative years of his career, he competed at the Parramatta venue in a limited campaign.
The 38-year-old has 37 wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, including four in 2009, his first year as owner/driver for Stewart-Haas Racing. He has gathered an impressive resume on the oval track during the past 20 years, racking up numerous championships including a trifecta of USAC Championships (Midget, Sprint Car and Silver Crown) in 1995. Stewart won the IndyCar Series championship in 1997.
Many USA based drivers head "down under" including some of the World of Outlaws stars.
ReplyDeleteBoth Sprint and Midget racing is big, very big. in Australia. Crowds upwards of fifty thousand are common at some of the dirt short tacks events.
As a sidenote this race at Parramatta City Raceway commands a ticket price of a tick under 33 dolars US, note untowardly high but in general higher than many US short track races.
This is why he's my favorite driver- he wants to race all the time! I hope he wins!!! :)
ReplyDeleteGreat blog!