“I started going to some of Leah Pruett’s races”: NASCAR legend Tony Stewart discusses his entry in the Drag Racing world

Tony Stewart, a multi-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, is now a drag racer. Drag racing is different from stock car racing, and on that note, the veteran racer recently revealed how he got into the world of dragsters in the first place.

It all started when Stewart began dating Leah Pruett during COVID. Pruett was driving the Mopar Dodge SRT dragster for Tony Stewart Racing at the time. With all major racing leagues shut down due to the pandemic, Stewart decided to go watch his then-girlfriend race.

And that’s when he discovered his love for drag racing. Speaking of the same during an interview with FloRacing, Stewart said,

“When Leah and I started dating during COVID it was kind of a unique deal because all forms of motorsports had shut down. I started running my sprint car...and Leah went to a bunch of our races and learned a lot there and then when NHRA started up, I started going to some of her races. I've been to some before but had never really been engrossed with the race team.” (2:24)

Stewart took over his wife’s Top Fuel dragster last March following the announcement of her temporary hiatus from work due to pregnancy. Pruett is now more inclined toward her duties as a new mother while her husband is in his second straight year in the NHRA.

“Drag racing is like all from a fantasy island it is totally different than anything that I've done,” explained Tony Stewart. “You can imagine driving races that run for three and a half hours and now I'm running races that last three and a half seconds. So it's drastically different.” (3:03)

Stewart is currently competing in the Pro Superstar Shootout, scheduled for February 6-8 at Bradenton Motorsports Park. After night two, Stewart finished eighth in the Top Fuel division and made Saturday’s event.

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Tony Stewart reflects on his NASCAR past and says what he misses the most

Besides his array of accolades as a NASCAR driver, Tony Stewart has had quite some success as a team owner. The now-defunct Stewart-Haas Racing used to be one of the leading teams in the Cup Series with 70 wins and two championships.

However, Stewart-Haas Racing sold most of its charters to its fellow race teams and shut down at the end of the 2024 season. But Stewart still misses a crucial aspect of his team and that’s the people he used to work with.

“I mean, the biggest part I miss is the people,” said Stewart (via Newsweek). “The people are the part I miss. It's like anything else. Technology comes in and evolves and it changes and it's just not what it used to be when I ran it."

Following the team’s closure, Gene Haas, Stewart’s partner at SHR, retained its fourth charter and formed the brand new Haas Factory Team that will compete in the Cup and the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025 and beyond. As per reports, the Haas Factory Team will field one full-time entry in the Cup Series and two at the Xfinity level.