Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Motorsport
Motorsport
Sport

Tony Stewart to drive wife Leah's NHRA Top Fuel dragster in 2024

Stewart, a three-time champion of the NASCAR Cup Series, competed in the Top Alcohol dragster division for McPhillips Racing over the past year. He ended 2023 as the championship runner-up, losing out to Julie Nataas.

The 52-year-old is a busy man, fielding a Top Fuel dragster for his wife Leah Pruett and Funny Car driver Matt Hagan. He also runs a Sprint Car team and is the co-owner of Stewart-Haas Racing in  NASCAR where he fields two full-time Xfinity cars and a four-car Cup team.

Stewart's wife Leah will sit out the 2024 season as she and Stewart focus on starting a family. He will take her place in the Top Fuel dragster, saying in a release from the team: "I am very proud of my wife. To make a decision like this has got to be extremely hard. I don’t think from a male’s perspective that we can fully grasp it. To be a competitive, professional race car driver and have to make the decision to take yourself out of the seat to start a family is not a position most males would want to be put in. We had discussed starting a family and this was her decision. In those discussions, we came to the conclusion that the timing was up to her. I was very supportive as to whether she wanted to do it now or years from now. I’m very humbled that Leah and [crew chief Neal Strausbaugh] felt I was the driver to fill in for her. I feel honored that I can do that for my wife and this team.”

Speaking on the decision to step out of the driver's seat, Pruett said: "Drag racing has been an important part of my life for over three quarters of my life. 27 years of racing in the NHRA has molded who I am and I am extremely grateful for the life it has given me. Through a long series of thought processes and a decision that did not happen overnight, I feel that stepping out of the seat right now is what’s best for myself and Tony to start a family.”

Along with being a three-time champion of the NASCAR Cup Series, Stewart's career as a driver includes titles in IndyCar, USAC, IROC, and the SRX Series he founded. Could he add NHRA to that list in 2024?

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.