NASCAR '14 Cover Athlete is Tony Stewart

[Steve_OS]

The fans have selected Tony Stewart for the cover athlete of NASCAR '14, which arrives early in 2014 for Xbox 360 and PS3 for $49.99.

Read the full press release below.

NASCAR Fans Select Tony Stewart As Cover Driver For NASCAR® '14

700,000+ Votes Determine Winner Of The Second-Annual 'Drive For The Cover' Contest

Tony Stewart fans have spoken, and they’ve made it clear that they cannot wait to see the driver of the No. 14 Bass Pro Shops / Mobil 1 Chevrolet back on the track, even if it is on the cover of a video game. NASCAR announced today that fans worldwide have cast more than 700,000 votes in the "Drive for the Cover" campaign, ultimately selecting three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Stewart to appear on the cover of NASCAR ’14. Stewart has appeared on the cover of the officially licensed NASCAR game twice before, but this is the first time he was selected by fans.

"Being selected by the fans to be on the cover of NASCAR '14 is a huge honor," said Stewart, co-owner and driver for Stewart-Haas Racing. "It’s been a long couple months, but the passion of my fans has been one of the driving factors in helping my rehab and ability to prepare for returning to my race car in February."

It was clear early on that Stewart was going to be hard to defeat. During the five-week contest, conducted entirely on Facebook, Stewart dominated each round of the competition. Stewart’s closest opposition came in the final round against another fan favorite, four-time champion Jeff Gordon. Stewart accumulated nearly one-fifth of all the votes cast during the "Drive for the Cover" campaign.

"In the midst of a racing season cut short by injury, the number of fans who voted for Tony speaks volumes about the excitement surrounding his return," said Blake Davidson, NASCAR vice president of licensing and consumer products. "For a campaign that was heavily driven by social media, the more than 700,000 votes cast in the 'Drive for the Cover’ campaign is a testament to the social media prowess of our industry and fans."

NASCAR ’14 is scheduled for release in early 2014 on the PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® games and entertainment system from Microsoft, for the suggested retail price of $49.99. Stay tuned for the official release date and a first look at the game soon.

[Aggies7]

Happy that Tony won just wish we could get some features announced.

[Feldman011teen]

new cover athlete, same game

[dochalladay32]

I hope he's in a cast on the cover. Keep up the realism.

[Segagendude]

I think a more appropriate title would be "cover driver", not "athlete".

[RumbleCard]

So this isn't going to be a next gen title?

[Yrogergj24]

Why'd they photoshop him so much , he's not that thin

[superjames1992]

Where's the broken leg?