Tony Stewart
FILE - NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson, left, and Indycar driver Scott Dixon, right, talk during practice for the Indianapolis 500 IndyCar auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, in this May 16, 2019, file photo. Jimmie Johnson makes his debut on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course this weekend in his third start in the IndyCar Series. He’s a four-time winner on the oval, but Johnson has only driven the road course in a test with Chip Ganassi Racing. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy, File)
Johnson returns to Indianapolis for road course debut

By Jenna Fryer May. 13, 2021 02:02 PM EDT

FILE - Tony Stewart celebrates his International Race of Champions (IROC) championship in victory lane at Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton, Ga., in this Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006, file photo. Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), disclosed the format it will use Thursday, May 6, 2021, to The Associated Press when the all-star series launches this summer at Stafford Motor Speedway in Connecticut on June 12 for the first of six Saturday night short-track races across the country. Stewart and co-founder Ray Evernham modeled the series after the popular but defunct International Race of Champions that pitted drivers from multiple formulas in identically prepared cars at various tracks for 30 years. (AP Photo/Gene Blythe, File)
SRX format to reward driver skills, smarts on short tracks

By Jenna Fryer May. 06, 2021 09:16 AM EDT

Driver Kyle Larson (5) pushes Christopher Bell (20) after a wreck during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race, Monday, March 29, 2021, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Logano takes the checkered flag in a haze of Bristol dirt

By Jenna Fryer Mar. 29, 2021 07:36 PM EDT

Damaged vendor tents sit in a flooded area near Bristol Motor Speedway as races for both the Truck Series and NASCAR Cup Series auto race was postponed due to inclement weather, Sunday, March 28, 2021, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
Rain swamps Bristol dirt track; NASCAR to try again Monday

By Jenna Fryer Mar. 28, 2021 03:19 PM EDT

Driver Stewart Friesen (52) leads Tyler Ankrum (26) during prerace laps as they compete in a heat race for a NASCAR Truck Series race on Saturday, March 27, 2021, in Bristol, Tenn. (AP Photo/Wade Payne)
What a Mess: NASCAR worried about first Bristol dirt race

By Jenna Fryer Mar. 27, 2021 05:10 PM EDT

FILE - Bristol Motor Speedway has transformed the half-mile concrete track into a dirt track, in Bristol Tenn., in this Friday, Feb. 19, 2021, file photo. Bristol, once one of the toughest tickets in sports, trucked 23,000 cubic yards of dirt into its famed bullring to transform the facility and host NASCAR's first Cup race on dirt in 70 years on Sunday, March 28. (David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier via AP, File)
NASCAR to play in the dirt for the first time since 1970

By Jenna Fryer Mar. 25, 2021 06:20 PM EDT

Race leader Noah Gragson (9) limps along the track after having made contact with David Starr with two laps to go in a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race, Saturday, Feb. 27, 2021, in Homestead, Fla. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
Column: Love him or hate him, Gragson has NASCAR talking

By Jenna Fryer Mar. 22, 2021 06:56 PM EDT

NASCAR's Stewart engaged to drag racer Pruett

Mar. 19, 2021 06:48 PM EDT
LAKE HAVASU CITY, Ariz. (AP) — NASCAR Hall of Fame driver Tony Stewart is engaged to Leah Pruett, the drag racer he began dating at the start of the pandemic. ...

AJ Allmendinger climbs out of his car in Victory Lane after winning a NASCAR Xfinity Series auto race at Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., Saturday, Oct. 10, 2020. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)
Allmendinger back at Daytona in 1st Cup race since 2018

By Jenna Fryer Feb. 20, 2021 04:41 PM EST

Racers crash during the last lap in the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Among the driver involved were Kyle Busch (18); Brad Keselowski (2), who was in second before the crash; Joey Logano (22), who was leading; and Bubba Wallace (23). (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Column: Wrecking isn't racing, makes for messy Daytona 500

By Jenna Fryer Feb. 15, 2021 06:09 PM EST

AP Sportlight

By The Associated Press Feb. 14, 2021 10:00 AM EST
Feb. 15 1932 — Eddie Eagen, as a member of the four-man U.S. bobsled team, wins a gold medal at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New...

Bubba Wallace makes a pit stop during the second of two qualifying auto races for the NASCAR Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Wallace finished in second place. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Hall of Famer Jordan set for biggest leap yet into NASCAR

By Dan Gelston Feb. 12, 2021 04:56 PM EST

Austin Dillon (3) takes the checkered flag to win the second NASCAR Daytona 500 duel qualifying auto race Friday, Feb. 12, 2021, at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara)
Drivers competing in the 2021 Daytona 500

By The Associated Press Feb. 12, 2021 01:38 PM EST

FILE - In this Feb. 18, 2001, file photo, Dale Earnhardt waves to fans during race introduction before the start of the Daytona 500 auto race at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. Earnhardt, the greatest stock car star of his era, was killed in a crash on the last turn of the last lap of the race that day as he tried to protect Michael Waltrip's victory (AP Photo/Russell Williams, File)
AP Was There: Earnhardt killed in 2001 Daytona 500 crash

By The Associated Press Feb. 11, 2021 04:31 PM EST

AP-Sportlight-Week Ahead

By The Associated Press Feb. 11, 2021 02:34 PM EST
Feb. 13 1923 — The New York Renaissance, the first all-black pro basketball team, is organized. Rens become one of the dominant basketball...

Cody Ware gets ready for a NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race practice session at Daytona International Speedway, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021, in Daytona Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/John Raoux)
Who are you? Tiny NASCAR teams have slim chance at Daytona

By Mark Long Feb. 10, 2021 04:28 PM EST

FILE - Derrike Cope looks over pit road before a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Darlington Raceway in Darlington, S.C., in this Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018, file photo. Cope is best known for winning the 1990 Daytona 500. At 62, Cope is back to give the Daytona 500 another try. ( AP Photo/Terry Renna, File)
Age-old question: Can 62-year-old Cope win again at Daytona?

By Dan Gelston Feb. 09, 2021 01:46 PM EST

FILE - NASCAR driver Tony Stewart takes a ride on Jeff Gordon's race car in the pit during the Nextel Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway in Rossburg, Ohio, in this Wednesday, June 6, 2007, file photo. Tony Stewart wants to set the record straight about two misconstrued recent business decisions. Fans have been critical of Stewart since the Truck Series was dropped from Eldora Speedway and because he didn't sign Kyle Larson to his NASCAR team. Stewart is adamant that he tried to sign Larson but couldn't get partner approval on the driver suspended for using a racial slur. And he insists he dropped NASCAR after he felt slighted that Bristol Motor Speedway was given a Cup race on dirt. (Teesha McClam/Dayton Daily News via AP, File)
Column: Stewart balances personal bliss, professional angst

By Jenna Fryer Jan. 18, 2021 03:47 PM EST

FILE - In this July 18, 2020 file photo, Tony Kanaan, of Brazil, puts on his helmet before the start of the IndyCar Series auto race at Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. Kanaan has another shot at a proper IndyCar farewell tour as the co-driver with Jimmie Johnson the next two years at Chip Ganassi Racing. The seven-time NASCAR champion signed on for the road and street course events, and Ganassi announced Monday, Nov. 23, that Kanaan will complete the season in the No. 48 Honda. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Kanaan to pair with Johnson to drive oval races for Ganassi

By Jenna Fryer Nov. 23, 2020 09:48 AM EST

Jimmie Johnson (48) pulls up next to Chase Elliott (9) in Turn 4 following Elliott's season championship victory in the NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Phoenix Raceway, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2020, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ralph Freso)
Column: NASCAR closes stabilized, and energized by Elliott

By Jenna Fryer Nov. 09, 2020 01:45 PM EST