"Just trying to pay my bills on time" - $90M-worth Tony Stewart unsure about NHRA expansion after SHR's demise

NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart talked about his plans after the closure of his NASCAR team, Stewart-Haas Racing, at the end of the 2024 season. Stewart currently owns a racing team that competes in NHRA. However, he is still uncertain about scaling up in the latter.

Apart from being the co-owner of SHR, the three-time Cup Series champion Stewart owns a drag racing team called Tony Stewart Racing, which started fielding entries in NHRA Drag Racing in 2021. The 53-year-old currently competes in the Top Fuel Dragster entry after replacing his wife, Leah Pruett, a Top Fuel driver and co-owner of the team. The other entry is filled by former Funny Car champion, Matt Hagan, in the Funny Car division.

Ahead of the Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals qualifying at Bristol Dragway, Tony Stewart, who is worth $90 million (according to Celebrity Net Worth) seemed unsure when talking about NHRA expansion post-SHR closure. Stewart said (via Autoweek):

"Right now, I’m just trying to make sure I pay my bills on time. Leah (Pruett) has some interesting ideas what she wants to do with the whole program when she gets back. I think it’s a terrible idea, but Matt (Hagan) and I have different ideas, and we like our ideas. So, we’ll see what happens as time goes on."

"It’s kind of fun to really not have a plan right now. The plan literally is Matt does what he does in Funny Car and I’m just filling in for Leah until she’s ready to get back in the car. At that point, we’ll figure out what’s next. I normally am the one that comes up with the bad ideas, but there’s a lot of ideas that are in the air, let’s put it that way," Stewart added.

The Indiana native competed in the Top Fuel category of NHRA last year. He replaced his wife Pruett who decided to focus on starting a family and took a leave from racing. Pruett is planning to return to her Top Fuel ride after the 2025 season.

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Tony Stewart's other business ventures and their current scenario

Tony Stewart's recent announcement about SHR's exit from NASCAR's top-tier division sent shockwaves in the NASCAR community.

Stewart was also the owner of the All-Star Circuit of Champions Series, which he sold to Hendrick Motorsports star Kyle Larson and his brother-in-law Brad Sweet at the end of 2023 after owning the Series for nine years.

Stewart, along with former NASCAR crew chief Ray Evernham, also founded Superstar Racing Experience. However, after a successful run from 2021 to 2023, the stock car racing series was shut down.

The former NASCAR and IndyCar champion also currently owns Eldora Speedway, which he bought from Earl Baltes in 2004. The NASCAR community was recently stirred up by rumors that Stewart is allegedly selling the historic dirt oval. However, Stewart cleared the air about the 0.5-mile dirt track located in Ohio.