1997 Tony Stewart Race Used Used Menards Racing Indy 500 Steering Wheel
Sparco steering wheel used by Tony Stewart while racing in his second Indy 500 start, driving for Team Menard, in 1997.
At that year’s Indy 500, Stewart’s car was good enough to enable him to potentially win his first IRL race, leading 64 laps. However, he trailed off near the end of the race and settled for 5th place. He finally got his first career win at Pikes Peak, where he led all but seven laps of a 200 lap race. He became the leading contender for the IRL Series Championship after a bad slump knocked points leader Davey Hamilton out of first place. Stewart would do just enough to beat Hamilton for the 1997 IRL title.
Between his time in USAC and the IRL, Stewart earned the nickname of “Smoke”, first for slipping the right rear tire during dirt races and then for blowing his engine often during his 1997 Championship run. Note: the top part of the steering wheel had the electronics removed by the team.
The steering wheel comes with a Certificate Of Authenticity.
