Tony Stewart ‘represents’ pregnant wife Leah Pruett at his team dinner with an adorable deed
NASCAR legend and NHRA driver Tony Stewart stepped up at a team dinner and showed his support for wife Leah Pruett, who is pregnant with the couple's first child.
12-time Top Fuel National race winner Pruett announced she would be taking a break from racing in December last year to focus on starting a family. She had a career-best finish in 2023 after ending the season third in points. In the meantime, Tony stepped in to race for their team in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Top Fuel division.
The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion used a cutout of Pruett during a Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) team meeting.
"Even when @LeahPruett_TF isn’t at the team dinner, she’s still here," the team wrote.
TSR has a Top Fuel dragster for Stewart and a Funny Car for Matt Hagan.
Stewart is currently ranked 10th in the NHRA standings ahead of the season finale at Pomona Dragstrip on Sunday, November 17. He finished as a runner-up at Sonoma and has not yet decided on whether to continue racing in Leah’s place for the start of the 2025 season.
NHRA's new rules now allow points earned by a substitute driver to count for the primary driver if they are pregnant.
"Ultimately going to be Leah's decision" - Tony Stewart on replacing Leah Pruett in 2025
Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett got married three years ago in November and are expecting their first child this month.
Stewart attended his last race in the NASCAR Cup Series as a team owner last weekend at Phoenix. Stewart Haas Racing has closed operations and the 53-year-old is ready to race in NHRA as a replacement driver for wife Pruett.
"We're still trying to figure that out, but it's ultimately going to be Leah's decision. The reason I'm driving the car this year is because I'm just the replacement driver. I've told everyone, I'll drive the car until she's ready to come back. It is ultimately her race car and her race team, and when she wants to get back in that car, it's going to be sitting there for her," Tony Stewart said (via FOX Sports).
"Obviously, you know, not having Leah in the car and adding a driver that's a little heavier in the race car, we knew that would be a factor to some degree, just not sure how big of a factor that was going to be," he added.
Stewart made his NHRA drag racing (Nevada Nationals) debut in 2022 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. He will speak at the 5th Annual Race Industry Week from December 2–5, 2024.