August 29 2014: Tony Stewart (l) and Brett Frood address the media at his press conference during … [+]
Tony Stewart isn’t content with simply passing on his knowledge and experience to others. These days his ‘new money’ comes from a variety of sources beyond race winnings. In addition to becoming co-owner to a NASC
Obviously, money needs to be spent to keep all those operations running, but the more he can earn the easier the task will be. Stewart is always in search of new revenue streams. Recently he signed on for a new one: the world of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs. It allows someone to purchase something where the ownership consisting of digital data is stored on an electronic ledger known as blockchain.
Not everyone understands just what NFTs are, or how they can generate income; and that includes the old school racer.
STAFFORD SPRINGS, CONNECTICUT – JUNE 12: (L-R) Ray Evernham, Bobby Labonte, Hello Castroneves, Paul … [+]
“Leah was the one that really introduced it to me,” Stewart said. “I said, ‘what are you talking about?’ And when she tried to explain it at first, I’m like, this doesn’t make any sense. And she goes, no, it really does. And, and the longer that she talked to me about it, the more I picked it up.
“We were at a NASCAR hall of fame event, and she was talking to the marketing people with NASCAR, and they were all talking about it as a group. And I felt like they might as well have been speaking Spanish at the start of that conversation. I was like the third wheel off to the side, I was listening to everything that they were saying, but I really wasn’t engaged in the conversation because I just didn’t understand it like they did, but to listen to their conversation and understand how it could get fans engaged and, and what it would mean to fans and what it meant to the sport it really got my attention. And then when Leah and I talked about it more, I guess I was a little more engaged because I started picking up elements of it. That made sense to me.”
Orange Comet who counts among its investors NFL great Kurt Warner and Grammy awards winners Gloria and Emilio Estefan, will produce and manage the NFTs for Stewart.
The Tony Stewart collection will be a bit different as not only can people purchase digital tokens, but those tokens will have a real-world physical component as well. For example, 30 of the first “Champion Series” NFTs sold will come with an autographed firesuit, a VIP experience at a racetrack and a virtual meeting with Stewart. One of the first 30 owners will also get ownership of one of Stewart’s racecars.
HOMESTEAD, FL – NOVEMBER 20: Crew members celebrate with Tony Stewart, driver of the #14 Office … [+]
“Look, it’s an honor; I mean, there’s nothing short of that from our perspective,” said Orange Comet co-founder and CEO Dave Broome. “This is a unique opportunity for us at Orange Comet, it’s a unique opportunity for the fans.
“I think Tony’s passion is what drives it, no pun intended, for us and our passion as well. You know, we knew, and we had a goal together that this is at the end of the day about ultimately engaging fans in a brand-new way. And to do that, you need to emotionally connect them to something.
“Our goal from the beginning was to celebrate this man’s ridiculously iconic career.”
For Stewart, NFTs harken back to his childhood days when he traded baseball cards. Unlike baseball cards however, NFTs won’t wear out, or get lost in a shoebox in the attic.
“I think what Orange Comet’s able to do,” Stewart said. “The technology involved in it and what the final product is absolutely turned me back into the five year old or eight year old when I saw baseball cards the first time and, and saw that my friends had ’em and saw how much they wanted this one and this guy wanted that one and they traded.
“This is just that new version that I feel like when fans understand it and understand what the possibilities and capabilities are of trading and this and that back and forth. I think it is just going to blow people’s minds.”
Tony Stewart has come a long way since that redeye flight all those years ago. He returned to that machine shop on that Monday in February of 1993 and told the owner that he would leave the next month and go racing fulltime. Once he embarked on that journey, Stewart never really looked back, nor did he ever think that he would find the success he’s found and continues to find.
“I think every element was something that as opportunities came along, I was surprised and shocked that we were in those scenarios and had these opportunities,” he said. “I never thought years ago, when I was in high school, I thought if I could ever make a living drive in a racecar and I didn’t have to work a quote unquote, real job, that it’d be perfect.
ROSSBURG, OH – JULY 18: Tony Stewart, owner of Eldora Speedway, looks at the track before practice … [+]
“When it came to buying Eldora Speedway and when it came the opportunity to be a partner with Gene Haas and be an owner in the Cup series and our World of Outlaws team, being a series owner, being an NHRA owner now getting married, all of these individually, you know, obviously you dream of getting married at some point, but all the business aspects of it. I definitely didn’t dream of that.”
Stewart admits he couldn’t have found all his success, much less manage it, by himself. He’s surrounded himself with good people like brothers Brett and Jared Frood who manage all the business activities that make up the Tony Stewart brand.
“I’m the one that up with 98% of the bad ideas that come across the table,” Stewart said laughing. “But occasionally I’ll even trip him and his brother up and come up with a fairly decent idea once in a while. But we do it as a group.”
Perhaps Stewart’s crowning achievement in life is his marriage to Leah. The couple was married in 2021. Stewart waited to marry until later in life than many, he was 50 when he said, “I do.”
“I absolutely love our relationship,” he said. “She brings a lot of stability into my life. I mean, our life is very chaotic. Mine was chaotic by itself. Hers was chaotic by itself, but Leah has been able to bring an aspect of calmness and, and stability in my life that even Brett and Jared can’t offer.
Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett were married in 2021 (Photo by Mike Comer/Getty Images)
“There’s a lot of days I come home, and I’m frustrated about something, and Leah has the ability to talk me off the ledge, so to speak. And a lot of times it’s when you have multiple entities that are having problems at the same time it’s hard to shut down at the end of the day. It’s hard to sleep through the night. It’s hard to start the day and know which challenge do you tackle first on that day and she’s been a huge asset in that.
“The best part is we get to go race with each other and do what we love doing. And I couldn’t be happier.”
With this latest venture into the world of NFTs, Stewart has learned that he’s gained not just a wife, and a racer, but a new business partner.
“You know, all the business stuff that we’ve entered into was never part of a master plan and (I) never dreamed of all that, just dreamed of the marriage,” he said. “She was the last one to come into play and she’s definitely been worth the wait for sure.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregengle/2022/08/23/nascar-legend-tony-stewarts-new-money-part-2-worth-the-wait/