Tony Stewart For Love of the Game

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In: NASCAR Cup Series News

“For Love Of The Game” is a novel turned motion picture that was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Michael Shaara and actually published posthumously in 1991 after the writer’s son discovered the manuscript. The fictional tale tells the story of baseball great Billy Chapel, who’s nearing the end of his career and is in the midst of pitching a perfect game while contemplating a career-ending decision after learning of his impending trade to a different team. 

Having already decided that the 2016 season will be his last as a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver, Tony Stewart is in no such quandary. For more than 35 years, it’s the love of his game that has fueled Stewart. And one of the venues at which that affection has been most palpable is Phoenix International Raceway, site of Sunday’s Race for Heroes 500k.

In his signature No. 14 Mobil 1/Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet SS for Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), Stewart is set to make his 27th career Sprint Cup start at Phoenix, a track where the driver and owner has been racing for more than 20 years.

Phoenix has often served as a bright spot for Stewart, who made his first start at the “Jewel in the Desert” in the 1993 edition of the famed Copper World Classic. A mere 21 years old at the time, Stewart was competing in the season-opening USAC Silver Crown race, an event for which he qualified second to former IndyCar veteran Davey Hamilton. After leading 31 of the 50 laps, Stewart eventually finished second to Mike Bliss, who later went on to win the 2003 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series championship.

Six years later, Stewart returned to Phoenix yet again with rookie status but, this time, in the elite Sprint Cup Series. While the rookie label was applicable to Stewart in NASCAR’s premiere division, it was anything but when it pertained to Stewart’s history at Phoenix. Prior to 1999, Stewart had raced USAC Midget and Silver Crown cars, Supermodifieds and Indy cars on the relatively flat, mile oval carved into the hillside of the Estrella Mountains.

Stewart knew every inch of the track and, after starting 11th in the 43-car field, he took the lead for the first time on lap 87. He would go on to lead three times for a race-high 154 laps en route to the win, his second of three Sprint Cup victories that rookie season.

In the 16 years since winning in his first Sprint Cup start at Phoenix, Stewart has put together a record that, in addition to the win, includes eight top-five finishes, 12 top-10s, 555 laps led and an average finish of 13.5. And he’s done it all while being the model of consistency, completing all but 44 of an available 8,193 laps for a completion rate of 99.5 percent.

Now, as he stares down the twilight of his Hall of Fame-destined career, Stewart is focused on one thing – going out on top. In the penultimate race of the 2015 season, Stewart wants to rise like a Phoenix at Phoenix International Raceway.

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