Dale Earnhardt has his rock and now Tony Stewart has his block of granite at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. A winner of five races in three different motorsports series at NHMS during his legendary career, Tony Stewart will now forever be honored for his achievements on the 1.058-mile oval. Speedway officials unveiled the 7,400-pound engraved granite block for this weekend's Bad Boy Off Road 300, Stewart's final race as a full-time driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
Fans will be able to the see the granite block, as it is positioned under the Main Grandstands in a manicured flowerbed next to the suite elevators parallel to the Granite Stripe start/finish line.
"We really wanted to do something to honor one of our greatest champions here at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and one of the greatest drivers to ever get behind the wheel of any race car," said David McGrath, executive vice president and general manager of the speedway. "We have our fan favorite Earnhardt Rock outside the tunnel in Turn 2 and now we have our Stewart granite block, a fitting tribute to his many successes during a storied racing career here in New Hampshire."
The granite features Stewart's No. 14 in the top-left corner with his name underneath. The middle of the engraving is a likeness of Stewart's car the last time he won here in 2011. The bottom-right of the stone features the New Hampshire Motor Speedway logo with the year of each of his wins at NHMS - 1998 (IndyCar), 2000 (Cup Series), 2005 (Cup Series), 2008 (XFINITY Series) and 2011 (Cup Series).
Here are some more details about the block:
- From: Concord, N.H.
- Made by: Swenson Granite Works
- Weight: 7,400
- Measurements: 5ft x 3ft x 3ft
- Quarry time: 10 hours
- Cut time: 8 hours to saw bottom
- Chisel time: 18 total hours to shape, hand chisel, and engrave
- Total time to produce: 40 hours
To see Tony Stewart in the Bad Boy Off Road 300, his final race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, purchase tickets to this weekend's Bad Boy Off Road 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series event, please stop by our ticket office, visit the speedway website at www.nhms.com, or call our ticket hotline at (603) 783-4931.
