TONY STEWART

The upcoming NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas in Texas will feature two former Formula One world champions, an IndyCar driver and a sports car star who has a win in the 24 Hours of Le Mans on his resume.

Tony Stewart ended up in the NHRA winner's circle to start 2023 — as a team owner. Stewart red-lighted in the second round of eliminations in the Top Alcohol class Saturday, but the three-time NASCAR champion finished drag racing's season opener with Matt Hagan, one of his drivers at Tony Stewart Racing, winning the Funny Car finale at the Gatornationals on Sunday. Hagan covered the 1,000-foot strip in 3.926 seconds, just enough to drive around JR Todd and leave Stewart hugging and high-fiving his team at Gainesville Raceway.

Jenson Button will make his NASCAR debut later this month at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.

Tony Stewart usually lets guys with families hit the runway first following NASCAR races. “I’m getting to the airport first and getting out of there," Stewart said. The 51-year-old Stewart is embarking on his first season as a full-time NHRA driver, and he's all in.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart will return to full-time competition this season — as an NHRA drag racer.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart will return to full-time competition this season — as an NHRA drag racer. Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, will run a Top Alcohol Dragster for McPhillips Racing for the full 2023 NHRA season. Stewart, who turns 52 in May, will be sponsored by longtime partner Mobil 1.

Kyle Larson will attempt to race the Indianapolis 500 in 2024 with McLaren Racing in a joint effort with NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick.

Tony Stewart's all-star summer racing series is moving to ESPN and a new night as the network plans to use SRX to revitalize its “Thursday Night Thunder.” ESPN said Monday it signed a multi-year agreement with Superstar Racing Experience that begins in July. SRX will air on six consecutive summer nights as “Thursday Night Thunder," which was ESPN's branding for motorsports programming that started in the 1980s.

Kyle Larson found his way into NASCAR’s headlines for yet another week.

NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart will make his drag racing debut this weekend at the NHRA Nevada Nationals at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Stewart will compete for McPhillips Racing in a Top Alcohol dragster — the equivalent of NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series.

Tony Stewart has a beef with NASCAR in response to the penalties levied on one of his drivers and crew chiefs this week after controversy at the Charlotte Roval.

With his team still appealing $200,000 in fines and allegations from NASCAR that Stewart-Haas Racing manipulated the finish of NASCAR's most recent playoff race, co-owner Tony Stewart opted to not discuss that Wednesday. “I’m not going to talk about it," Stewart said. NASCAR said Tuesday that a review of data and team communications showed that Stewart-Haas manipulated the results of the playoff elimination race at Charlotte.

Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson tells The Associated Press that he is retiring from full-time racing and will turn his focus toward spending time with family.

Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson is retiring from full-time racing and will turn his focus toward spending time with family. Johnson took two weeks from the IndyCar finale — with a weekend spent in England with Ganassi teammates Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti at the Goodwood Festival of Speed — before finalizing his decision to scale back.

Kyle Busch will move to Richard Childress Racing next season, ending a 15-year career with Joe Gibbs Racing because the team could not come to terms with NASCAR’s only active multiple Cup champion.

NASCAR has a record seven different countries represented in Sunday's race at Watkins Glen International, and the headliner is 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Raikkonen.

Scott Dixon passed Mario Andretti for second on IndyCar’s all-time win list with a victory Sunday in the messy Music City Grand Prix.

Chase Elliott left Pocono Raceway as a third-place finisher and learned when he landed home in Georgia that he had been declared the race winner.

Tyler Reddick raced to his first NASCAR Cup Series victory Sunday, continuing the season-long trend of first-time winners on road courses.

Bubba Wallace says the pointed criticism he made toward members of his crew last weekend were a result of his passion to win and shouldn’t harm his relationship with them.

The arrest of white nationalists in North Idaho gained national attention. But it has deeper significance for residents who say the region has a history of attracting — and fighting — extremists.

Tony Stewart's exhibition Superstar Racing Experience has signed Camping World as its title sponsor for its second season. Camping World also was the title sponsor for the inaugural SRX season, and Tuesday's announcement includes a commitment from Camping World to sponsor the No. 1 car that former Indianapolis 500 winner Ryan Hunter-Reay will drive. SRX this season will feature Stewart, who founded the series with fellow NASCAR Hall of Famer Ray Evernham and captured the series' first championship.

Jimmie Johnson posted the fastest four-lap average of any Indianapolis 500 rookie and qualified for Sunday' pole shootout.

The rain held off long enough for a full round of Indianapolis 500 qualifying on a soupy day that saw blistering speeds.

Marco Andretti eased into semi-retirement after the 2020 season and now races only the Indianapolis 500 for his family-owned team.

Ferrari stormed to the front of the grid for the inaugural Miami Grand Prix as Formula One championship leader Charles Leclerc and teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. locked up the front row in Saturday qualifying.

Most Americans know Haas as the worst team in Formula One.

Joey Logano has had his share of conflict during a career that began with his appointment as “Sliced Bread” upon arrival.

Ross Chastain bumped and banged his way around the final overtime lap at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday for first career Cup win and upstart NASCAR team Trackhouse Racing’s first trip to victory lane.

Three-time Funny Car season champion Matt Hagan gave Tony Stewart Racing its first NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series victory Sunday, racing to his first career win at the historic Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. In the final round, Hagan powered his Dodge Charger Hellcat SRT to a run of 3.910-seconds at 330.96 mph to beat Blake Alexander for his 40th career victory and first in three races this year with Tony Stewart Racing.

Chase Briscoe jumped out of his car and was obviously emotional, kneeling by his No. 14 for a few seconds before a couple voice cracks during his postrace television interview. The 27-year-old Briscoe took his lumps last season as a NASCAR Cup Series rookie. “It's unbelievable — I was crying the whole last lap,” Briscoe said.

Chase Elliott, Bill Elliott, Danica Patrick, Tony Stewart and now ... Dave and Ryan Blaney! More NASCAR drivers join SRX Series.

Tony Stewart's Hidden Hollow Ranch property in Columbus is the most expensive to go on the market in the state's history, say real estate records.

Dale Earnhardt Jr., one of the most popular race car drivers in history, has been inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame, joining his late father.

NASCAR champion Kyle Larson is the first driver to get a good look at the site of the season-opening exhibition all-star Busch Light Clash.

Before he headed onto the track for the biggest race of his career, Kyle Larson heard Mario Andretti praise him as one of the most well-rounded drivers in all of motorsports.

A conversation on driver code and on-track etiquette is raging in NASCAR, and with it comes debate about the expectations of non-playoff drivers.

NASCAR has ordered a cease fire in the feud between Chase Elliott and Kevin Harvick, warning of severe consequences if the two drivers continue to tangle on the track.

Tony Stewart is entering NHRA drag racing next season with a two-car team that will feature his fiancée Leah Pruett in Top Fuel and Matt Hagan in Funny Car.

Kevin Harvick has never been knocked out of the playoffs in the second round since NASCAR introduced the format in 2014.

Northern Idaho has a long and deep streak of antigovernment activism that is confounding attempts to battle a COVID-19 outbreak.

IndyCar and Nashville scored big with the debut of the Music City Grand Prix.

Chase Elliott is going for a threepeat at Watkins Glen International.

Jimmie Johnson returns to IndyCar on Sunday to tackle the street course in Nashville.

IndyCar is ready for its debut race through Nashville's city streets.

Helio Castroneves might skip trying to scale the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge the way he climbs fences when he wins at other race tracks.

With darkness closing in, Aric Almirola sprung to life late Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and pulled off a surprise for Stewart-Haas Racing’s first victory of the year.

Chase Elliott won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Road America on Sunday to continue his uncanny success on road courses and wrap up a playoff spot.

Kyle Larson went to victory lane for the fourth consecutive week after a dominating run in the first Cup race at Nashville Superspeedway.

Ray Evernham and Tony Stewart took great care in extending invites to the made-for-TV league they had co-created. Never did they expect the reigning Indianapolis 500 winner to be in the field for the inaugural race. Helio Castroneves has no full-time job this season so joining SRX was a no-brainer.

Helio Castroneves is trying to get back into the IndyCar Series fulltime.

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Somewhere under the thick red haze floating over Bristol Motor Speedway, Joey Logano took the checkered flag for NASCAR's first Cup Series race at a dirt track in 50 years. The Logano victory closed a weekend of uncertainty and even some hysteria as NASCAR launched this drive through the dirt. “It’s only my fourth dirt race ever, so I had a lot of fun trying to figure it out," Logano said. It was impossible to handicap this first dirt race because the teams had no idea how to prepare and the drivers had wildly varying experience. "In dirt racing you don’t have a windshield in front of you, so you can pull a tearoff.

NASCAR canceled all Sunday activity because even if Bristol's converted dirt track could eventually be readied for night racing, the entire facility was a swampy mess. The first Cup Series race on dirt since 1970 was rescheduled for 4 p.m. Monday; trucks were set to run at noon. He openly fretted that a bad show at Bristol would damage the future of NASCAR dirt racing — and NASCAR itself seemed to admit it was a valid concern. Stewart, who has insisted Eldora can successfully host the Cup Series, declined to comment Sunday when reached by The Associated Press. “People need to understand this is not how dirt racing is and I think they need to try and appreciate how hard this is to pull off.

AdBristol also made a bold change this year by converting its facility into a dirt race as part of radical changes to the 2021 schedule. NASCAR needed a major shakeup and the dirt race joined an influx of road courses and new venues for the most adventurous schedule in sport history. So when NASCAR broadcast partner Fox pushed for a dirt race on the Cup schedule, Speedway Motorsports said Bristol would be the guinea pig. “That's probably the most uncomfortable I've ever been in a race car,” said Kevin Harvick, running his first Truck Series race since 2015. The first NASCAR Cup Series points-paying sanctioned race in the inaugural 1949 season was on dirt at Charlotte (Old) Speedway.

Christopher Bell celebrates at the finish line after winning the NASCAR Cup Series road course auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 21, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)HOMESTEAD, Fla. – NASCAR’s postseason landscape has been altered after just two Cup Series races. “The number of unique winners is really going to change how many cars get in on points, right? Although Bell drives for powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing, he was a rookie for that top team and in his second full season in the Cup series. The Cup Series opened on a superspeedway, then raced on a road course, and now heads to an intermediate track. Whether that’s different markets, different racetracks, it has to be different from year to year.

Allmendinger will run his first Cup race since the 2018 season finale in Kaulig's first Cup race not at a superspeedway. The longshot Daytona 500 win earned McDowell his first playoff berth and FRM now is positioned to build a once unthinkable cushion. This road course race was added to NASCAR's schedule in December because COVID-19 restrictions would not allow a stop at Fontana, California. AdThe Daytona road course was wedged into the open slot, creating two weekends of very different racing that very much suits Furniture Row. Dillon missed the Cup race in August because he'd received a positive COVID-19 test.

“I guess someone got into Dale because Dale got into me and then we went up,” Schrader said. We’ve lost Dale Earnhardt,” Helton said. The death of Earnhardt left NASCAR reeling in the wake of a 2000 season in which three of its young stars were killed in separate accidents. All three died of the same type of head injuries that apparently killed Earnhardt. “The only reason I won this race is Dale Earnhardt,” Waltrip said.

The car will be driven by Bubba Wallace and will be a Toyota in an alliance with Joe Gibbs Racing. (Toyota Racing via AP)CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Michael Jordan expects to field a winning team when 23XI Racing begins NASCAR competition next season. The first move toward victory lane came Friday in a partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing and Toyota. “My main goal for 23XI Racing is to be competitive for a championship as soon as possible,” said Jordan. “Our partnership with Toyota and Joe Gibbs Racing gives us the equipment, resources and expertise to do it.”JGR is the flagship Toyota team and considered one of NASCAR's top organizations.

Briscoe idolized fellow Indiana native Tony Stewart and dreamed of one day driving Stewart's car. and I'd say ‘Man, the dream is to drive the 14,’" Briscoe said in an interview with The Associated Press. Much like Stewart, Briscoe is considered a blue-collar racer who lacks the family wealth needed to clear the path for an aspiring young driver. He had to earn everything on the track, yet nearly every year Briscoe's season plans were 11th hour deals. It’s why he’s ready for the NASCAR Cup Series and why we are so honored to support him.”

FILE - In this June 26, 2006, file photo, Tony Stewart poses with the trophy after winning the Crown Royal IROC auto race in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Paul Kizzle, File)CHARLOTTE, N.C. Remember the old IROC Series, where the best drivers from various disciplines raced each other in equally prepared cars? It ran for 30 seasons before Tony Stewart won its final championship and the series quietly went away. We envision a hybrid of all different series we dont see it looking like a crazy dunebuggyish type car, Evernham told the AP. Evernham believes drivers will arrive and draw for both their car and crew chief which Evernham hopes comes from a pool of noted industry veterans.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. Denny Hamlin found the magic at Homestead-Miami Speedway, once again. Hamlin went to the lead for the final time with 30 laps left and held off Chase Elliott for his record-tying NASCAR Cup Series victory at Homestead. At Homestead, he led 137 of 267 laps on the 1 1/2-mile track in Joe Gibbs Racing's No. Most of those fans were gone when Hamlin drove under the checkered flag at 10:46 p.m., ending the marathon day. Austin Dillon had a day hell never forget, though his seventh-place finish wasnt even close to the most significant development.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. Chase Briscoe lost much of his team and got a win for them. Its just a testament to our team, Briscoe said. With 15 laps to go, it was basically down to a two-car race: Gragson was leading, about 2 1/2 seconds ahead of Briscoe. Gragson never had control of the race again, and Briscoe wound up in victory lane. That was a team win, for sure, Briscoe said.

No charges for NASCAR star Tony Stewart in deadly crash A grand jury says there is no reason to believe Tony Stewart committed a crime. The NASCAR star will not face charges for his role in the death of Kevin Ward Jr. Don Dahler reports.