Tony Stewart, Joe Gibbs headline NASCAR Hall of Fame inductions

It was truly a night to remember for Joe Gibbs racing.

Tony Stewart was one of five people who were inducted into the 11th class of NASCAR's Hall of Fame on Friday. Pro Football Hall of Famer Joe Gibbs, Stewart's former team owner, and Bobby Labonte, Stewart's first NASCAR teammate, were also part of the induction.

The connections to Stewart didn't stop with those two. Waddell Wilson, an engine builder and crew chief, served as Stewart's team manager of the driver's first NASCAR stint, and Buddy Baker, a broadcaster who had a 33-year racing career, also had early ties to Stewart's career. 

"I'm one of just 55 people to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame," Stewart said. "And, considering that NASCAR has been around for more than 70 years, that's kind of nuts. It truly is an elite group, and it's incredibly humbling to be a part of it."

Nicknamed "Smoke," and known for his blue-collar style and personality -- earning him the moniker "People's Champion" -- Stewart, 49, is a three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, with his titles in 2002 and 2005 happening while he drove for Joe Gibbs Racing. In 2009, the driver took half ownership of a racing team of his own, Stewart-Haas Racing, where he won two titles as an owner. The 2011 title made him the fist first owner-driver since Alan Kulwicki to win a Cup Series championship, and it also notably ended what was a five-year championship streak for Jimmie Johnson. That year's series is also known for having to decide a winner through a tiebreaker. Stewart edged Carl Edwards on account of having more wins on the season, 5-1. He won his second title as an owner in 2014. 

At the time that he announced his retirement in 2016, Stewart not only had NASCAR titles as an owner and driver, he also had titles in Indy, midget, sprint, and USAC Silver Crown cars to his name. He's the only driver in history to have won titles in IndyCar and NASCAR.

Championships aren't the only things that mark his career. In a 2014 sprint car race at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in Canandaigua, N.Y., Stewart hit and killed 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. after the young driver got out of his car in frustration following a wreck he felt was Stewart's doing. One month after the incident, a jury decided to not indict Stewart on charges of manslaughter in the second degree and criminally negligent homicide. Stewart settled a wrongful death civil suit with Ward's family in April 2018. 

Gibbs, the Hall of Fame football coach that led the Redskins to three Super Bowl titles, has five NASCAR Cup Series titles, two NASCAR Xfinity Series titles and three NASCAR Daytona 500 titles as an owner of his own racing team. Names who have won on the track under the former coach include Stewart, Labonte -- who got Gibbs his first championship -- Joey Logano, Kyle Busch and Daniel Suárez. Labonte is the second driver in his family to get inducted into the Hall of Fame with his brother, Terry, arriving in the 2016 class.