Tony Stewart bluntly rules out a return to NASCAR
Tony Stewart, the NASCAR and IndyCar legend, recently revealed that he won’t return to NASCAR as an owner. He made the comments after his maiden win as an NHRA Top Fuel driver, replacing his wife Leah for the season.
Stewart secured his first career NHRA Top Fuel victory at the 2025 NHRA 4-Wide Nationals held at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. His winning run of 3.870 seconds at 317.42 mph secured a win against competitors like Antron Brown, Justin Ashley and Jasmine Salinas in the final four. His team was running the 11,000 horsepower Dodge//SRT dragster and dominated the early rounds on hole shots before winning the title. His crew chiefs, Neal Strausbaugh and Mike Domagala, were instrumental in achieving this win. NHRA posted a video of the legend winning his first Top Fuel win.
He said after his victory:
"Throughout my career, anytime I attempted something new, there was a group of people who said, 'He'll fail at this,'" Stewart said in an NHRA interview. "I love the naysayers. They fuel the fire and passion to do something people say I can't do."
Bob Pockrass asked the legendary figure about his plans to return to the NASCAR Cup Series as a team owner despite his team working on starting a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series program:
"I told them I’ll do anything I can to help them," said Stewart. "Obviously, right now [the plans] are just a truck program [for Dodge]. ... We'll do everything we can to help. But I am not going to own a team in NASCAR ever again."
Tony Stewart, known as “Smoke”, is a four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, securing two titles as a driver (2002 and 2005), once as an owner-driver (2011), and once as an owner (2014). The 1999 Rookie of the Year competed in the Cup Series from 1999 to 2016, winning 49 Cup Series races (ranking him 15th on the all-time list). He raced for Joe Gibbs Racing from 1999 to 2008 and then went on to drive for his own team, Stewart-Haas Racing, from the 2009 season onwards. His team ceased operations at the end of the 2024 season, freeing him to focus on his team in NHRA, Tony Stewart Racing.
Tony Stewart addresses racing alongside his wife Leah Pruett
Tony Stewart has addressed the possibility of racing against his wife, Leah Pruett, in the NHRA Top Fuel division. Pruett, a 12-time NHRA Top Fuel winner, took a break from drag racing last year to start a family, with Stewart stepping in for her in the 2024 season. They welcomed their son, Dominic James, in November 2024, and are now discussing how to balance their drag racing commitments as new parents.
"We have started those conversations of what does life look like in the next couple of years for her getting back in the car. One of the main variables in her equation is what does that look like for me behind the wheel of a car? We are trying to figure that out." he said.
He humorously explained that if Pruett wins, it's great for her, but if he wins, he might end up on the couch. He also noted that everyone would be calling him to say he got beaten by his wife if she were to win.