“This is the Super Bowl of drag racing”: Tony Stewart unveils new paint scheme for upcoming NHRA US Nationals on Pat McAfee’s show

Tony Stewart recently rolled out a new paint scheme for the 70th NHRA US Nationals, paying homage to Direct Connections. During his appearance on ESPN's Pat McAfee's show, Stewart revealed the special red, white, and blue livery-themed NHRA Top Fuel and Funny Cars at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park for the 50th anniversary of Direct Connection, the famous Dodge performance parts brand.

This year, Tony Stewart announced that he would be winding down the Stewart-Haas Racing team at the year's end to concentrate on his NHRA team. With his wife, Leah Pruett, expecting the couple's first child, Stewart has stepped in for her in the team's Top Fuel dragster.

At the year's most iconic drag race, the Big Go, the TSR nitro team is set to display a distinctive throwback design. Currently ranked seventh in Top Fuel points, Stewart shared his enthusiasm about the new paint scheme on the show, saying:

"Yeah, this is to celebrate Direct Connection’s 50th anniversary. So we did a throwback scheme, you know it’s US Nationals this weekend, this is the Superbowl for drag racing for NHRA. It’s a home race for us, and obviously Dodge is a great partner of ours. Having them here, being able to debut the paint schemes, and we even got a chance to drop you down in an 11,000 horsepower funny car. I felt alive in there."

Stewart and his teammate Matt Hagan, the current NHRA Mission Drag Racing Funny Car champion, will drive their new 50th anniversary Direct Connection-themed liveried cars. They'll be joined by Ida Zetterström, the FIA Top Fuel World Champion from Sweden. Zetterström is set to make her NHRA U.S. Nationals debut in the JCM/Dodge dragster, coming off a strong semifinal showing at the recent NHRA event in Brainerd, Minnesota.

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Tony Stewart's team is taking legal action against Skip Barber Racing due to a breach of agreement

Following the announcement that the Tony Stewart-owned SRX Series team would cease operations this year, Skip Barber revealed that they had acquired the series. However, SRX's owners have now said that Anthony DeMonte, on behalf of Skip Barber Racing, signed an asset purchase agreement with a stipulation that neither party would announce the deal without mutual consent.

In a statement, the owners of SRX said that despite this agreement, Skip Barber Racing went ahead with a public announcement, prompting SRX to file a lawsuit against them in North Carolina. According to a post by Sports Business Journal on X:

"The owners of @SRXracing say that they were unable to close a transaction to sell the series to Skip Barber Racing, and they are now suing Skip Barber for breach of agreement and looking at other options."

Reports indicate that Barber has not yet completed the financial transfer to fully acquire the series, meaning they technically do not own any part of it yet. It remains to be seen whether, despite the lawsuit, they will proceed to purchase the series which has proven to be quite profitable for Tony Stewart and his team.