"We're still not the fastest car": Tony Stewart lays it bare after major NHRA statement
Tony Stewart recently admitted that he and his team aren't "the fastest on the NHRA Top Fuel grid, even after his historic first win. The three-time NASCAR Cup champion gave his fans a behind-the-scenes view of his NHRA weekend in Las Vegas on the 100th episode of Kenny Conversation with Kenny Wallace.
The win marked a monumental milestone in Stewart’s motorsports career, making him the first driver to win in USAC, IndyCar, NASCAR, and now NHRA. But the win came after a complex journey of adaptation and learning that began in the swamps of Florida. Stewart began his 2024 NHRA Top Fuel campaign with a frustrating outing in Bradenton, where he and the Rayce Rudeen Foundation team aborted 11 of their 14 test runs.
But from that low point, the program began to piece itself together after they returned from a clutch program in Brownsburg, Indiana. The problems persisted at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, where his car shook the tires violently and struggled to make clean passes. Stewart revealed in Kenny Conversation:
"Our car was way better when we came back to Gainesville with the package they brought. Took that same package to the next race at Phoenix—it went down all but one run. So, (I) feel like we are gaining on it and feel like we're on a path, that's a good path. Go to Pomona, make it to the finals, and we weren't the fastest car. And we're still not the fastest car. We made it to the finals 'cause our car went down the racetrack from A to B." (10:57 onwards)
This consistency proved pivotal in Las Vegas and laid the foundation for the win. The track was greasy, and the temperatures uncooperative, making it harder for teams to put down 11,000 horsepower on marginal surfaces. Stewart revealed how such conditions forced them to rethink their approach entirely and decrease their speed to add stability to the Dodge SRT dragster:
"For Top Fuel cars to back them off and have to back the power and to back the clutch settings off, it's way harder to back them off...When it's hot and slick, it's really challenging to get 11,000 horsepower to hook up on a track like that."
Even then, the #14 Top Fuel car methodically advanced through the rounds. In his Round 1 run, Stewart posted a 3.777-second pass at 331.61 mph, launching what would become a championship-caliber day.
After qualifying fifth, Tony Stewart finished the finals in a 3.870-second pass at 317.42 mph to finish ahead of Anton Brown. He currently stands second in the TOP FUEL points standings, 16 points behind Shawn Langdon with 316 points.
"I think the camera's on me": Tony Stewart learns a new trick from wife Leah Pruett
There was still uncertainty at the finish line for the veteran racer. Four-wide racing creates confusion, especially at a place like Las Vegas, where the shutoff area runs uphill and the sensory overload is real.
Tony Stewart, who has relied on his wife and fellow drag racer Leah Pruett for support and technical knowledge, shared a subtle trick she taught him about figuring out who won when there’s no instant confirmation.
"Leah taught me a little pro hack, and a tip. She goes,"If you don't know whether you won or not there's always a camera at the top end on a scaffold at the top end of the racetrack." (4:32 onwards)
While he still waited for the official confirmation from the Safety Safari crew, Stewart admitted that the feeling was real as soon as he saw the camera tracking his car. Tony Stewart celebrated his first NHRA win with his wife, Pruett, his son, Dominic, and his father, Nelson Stewart, all of whom were present in victory lane.