News Director 
Story By: DREW BROWN / TRACKHOUSE RACING – NASHVILLE, TN – Trackhouse Entertainment Group founder Justin Marks announced today his organization will sponsor Shane Stewart in the 60th annual Knoxville Nationals in Iowa on Aug 11-14.
The 45-year-old Stewart of Bixby Oklahoma will come out of retirement to seek his first victory in sprint car racing’s premier event that includes 100 drivers competing for a $1 million purse.
“To say that I am excited to get back behind the wheel of a sprint car is an understatement,” said Stewart. “I didn’t think it would happen this year due to my commitment and duties of running Port City Raceway.”
Stewart is the 2015 winner of the Kings Royal and owns 36 World of Outlaw victories in 790 starts.
He finished 16th in the World of Outlaws sprint car series point standings in 2020 starting 32 of the 54 races driving the majority of the season with the No. 71 team owned by Bernie Stuebgen.
Stewart won for the team at Williams Grove Speedway in the track’s prestigious Summer Nationals, and then at Kansas City’s Lakeside Speedway in October, in the first of two races in which he was substituting for David Gravel for Jason Johnson Racing.
At the end of the 2020 season, Stewart announced his retirement from active competition, purchasing his home track, Port City Raceway in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
“Bernie and Betsy (Stuebgen) have been so good to me and my family over the years I couldn’t think of a better team to go run the Nationals with,” Stewart said. “To have my good friend Justin Marks supporting the effort with his Trackhouse brand makes this even more exciting for me to get back behind the wheel!”
Bernie Stuebgen said he is as happy as Stewart with the reunion.
“Very excited to get to Knoxville this year with Shane coming back to take controls of the No. 71 and to work with the guys from Trackhouse makes it that much better,” he said.
Marks said he wanted to give Stewart one more chance at the Knoxville Nationals.
“Shane wants to win the most prestigious race in sprint car racing and I want to help him,” said Marks whose Trackhouse Racing teams fields the No. 99 Chevrolet for Daniel Suarez in the NASCAR Cup Series.
“I love nothing better than giving deserving drivers a chance and I think anyone who follows this sport knows Shane can win this race.”
Trackhouse Racing, a division of Trackhouse Entertainment Group, was founded in 2020 by Marks, who established the company’s headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee. In October of 2020, Trackhouse announced it would field the No. 99 in the NASCAR Cup Series with Suárez. In January of 2021, Trackhouse announced Armando Christian Perez (a.k.a. Pitbull) as a co-owner and transcendent ambassador.
Marks announced in June that Trackhouse Entertainment Group had purchased Chip Ganassi Racing’s NASCAR operation. The transfer of all of Ganassi’s NASCAR assets to Trackhouse Racing will be completed immediately following the final NASCAR Cup Series race on Nov. 7, 2021.
Marks also owned a World of Outlaws team, Larson Marks Racing with Kyle Larson before relinquishing his stake to Larson in 2018. Stewart also drove for the team.
