Tony Stewart’s wife Leah Pruett recalls how she fell in love with racing: “I wanted to be a part of this mechanical ballet”

Tony Stewart's wife Leah Pruett has uncovered what made her fall in love with racing. Born to land speed racer Ron Pruett, Leah was exposed to the world of motorsports since her childhood and ventured into the Jr. Drag Racing League at 8 years of age.

Pruett is an NHRA driver who currently runs for Tony Stewart Racing. She has bagged 11 wins, and collected the NHRA SAMTech Factory Stock Showdown championship in 2019, among other achievements.

The 2023 season saw her running her 27th consecutive season in the NHRA. However, the 36-year-old has stepped aside from racing for the time being, as she and Tony Stewart are looking forward to starting a family.

During Pruett's budding days, her father owned an automotive repair shop where she got hands-on experience working with the cars. This sowed the seed of her unwavering affection toward racing as a whole.

At 12 years of age, she hit the tracks with her father to see the dragsters and Funny cars topping 300 mph of speed, and how the crew worked with the engine, clutch system, blowers, etc.

Though Tony Stewart's wife wasn't aware of the terminologies when she was 12, the very sight of the high-octane cars getting worked on by the crew allured her to pursue her dream in motorsports. While speaking with 'Mobil 1 The Grid' on X, Pruett highlighted how the passion for racing birthed within her.

"By the time I was 12, I was at a national event just like this, watching the big show, funny cars and dragsters ripping 300 miles an hour. The crew's completely tearing down the engine, the blowers, the clutch. At that age, I didn't know what these things were but I knew I wanted to be a part of this mechanical ballet. So I really focused all of my education, my career, my opportunities toward getting myself in a racecar," Pruett said (0.11).

Leah Pruett reveals driving isn't her only desire as she re-evaluated her passion in motorsports amid family planning with Tony Stewart

On March 18, 2021, three-time Cup Series champion Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett announced their engagement on their social media handles. A few months later in November, the duo completed the vows and married. After becoming couples, Pruett stinted in the NHRA until the end of the 2023 season.

Before stepping aside due to family planning, the 36-year-old collected two wins last year- at the Norwalk Raceway Park and Texas Motorplex. Amid her resting time from drag racing, Pruett talked about re-evaluating her passion and outlined that her love for racing goes way beyond than just pressing hard on the gas and coming home with a win.

Rather, Tony Stewart's wife expressed her interest in activities like crew chiefing, planning, playing with technology, etc., to put her car among the championship contenders.

"If my passion had always been just in driving then I'd be out of luck, but it's not. I love what I get to do in the crew chief lounge with my team. I love continuing to understand our technology, what is making our car run not only as quick as it can be but in championship contention," she said (0.48).

Amid Pruett's absence from NHRA, Tony Stewart is the replacement driver for this season.