Tony Stewart Foundation to close at the end of this year

Columbus race car driver Tony Stewart is stepping back from some of his ventures.

According to an announcement this week, the Tony Stewart Foundation will close down at the end of this year. The foundation thanked its partners and supporters and urged them to keep up the fight.

The Tony Stewart Foundation was founded in 2003 and has donated $7 million in funds with 57 grant partners. It supports organizations serving critically ill or physically disabled children, at-risk or endangered animals and injured racing drivers.

This comes after the Stewart-Haas Racing team announced in May that it would be closing down its NASCAR teams at the end of this racing season. The team fielded a four-car Cup Series team and a two-car Xfinity Series team.

The team was founded by Gene Haas in 2002 as Haas CNC Racing. Stewart joined the team as co-owner and driver prior to the 2009 season and the name was changed to Stewart-Haas Racing. Stewart won the team’s first Cup Series race in 2009 and its first championship in 2011. Kevin Harvick added its second title in 2014.

Stewart-Haas Racing announced in August that it would start layoffs the day after the NASCAR Cup Series Championship wraps up in November affecting just over 320 employees.

Story courtesy of Network Indiana and TTWN Media Networks