April 17, 2026 — Pomona, CA

I haven’t been able to find a definitive answer as to who the best race car driver who ever lived is, but Tony Stewart has to be in the running. Tony finds success in whatever race car you put him in!

The progression of his career up until 2022 seemed logical, and that one class of racing built skills that he could use in the next class that he ultimately moved in to. Go Karts in his early years gave him a feel for the track, up close and personal - sitting low to the ground, you are feeling the track and how your car is reacting to different conditions. Now, take that knowledge, add a roll cage and a big wing on top, some dirt under your tires, and he is learning a whole new set of skills as his car reacts much differently in Midget/Sprint Car Racing! Feeling how the vehicle slides into the turns, how to steer with throttle and brake - all super valuable skills and experience.

Take all of that learning, add in a super expensive, high tech, data driven Indy Car, and all of those experiences get supercharged as you are cornering and accelerating in both road and oval tracks. Take the experience you get of how to draft and overtake other vehicles in corners and creating space and apply it to American muscle cars, and enter the world of stock car racing. He competed in both the Busch and Cup level series in NASCAR for 17 years, and is where I became a fan. He had a no non-sense approach to racing, to communicating on and off the track, and that really resonated with fans.

In 2021, he started Tony Stewart Racing and his team competed in the NHRA Mission Foods Series Top Fuel class. Named Leah Pruett as the driver for his team, and in 2022 filled in for her as driver while she took time away from the sport to start a family with Tony! Since then, he has earned three Wally’s and the latest is a “diamond” version, as NHRA is celebrating it’s 75th year!

This year, Tony is driving for Elite Motorsports, as Leah is back in the drivers seat for TSR. This is a huge win for the team, and Tony credits his wife with 95% of his success in NHRA in a post race interview:

"This is three Top Fuel wins now for me, and the one person I've nevermentioned in the media and in the interviews is my wide Leah [Pruett]. And if it wasn't for her and everything that she and Matt [Hagan] (Funny Car driver) taught me. Leah has probably been 95% of it, people don't realize how integral of a part she's been in my career in drag racing. I've had a 1000 questions and every time there's an answer, it leads to three more questions. Everything that I've done in the sport has been because of her. And to be a part of NHRA's 75th Anniversary, to win with Matt Hagan in the 1000th Funny Car race is huge. This is Leah's home track. All of this just feels extra special to me," continued Stewart who won alongside his Tony Stewart Racing Funny Car driven by Matt Hagan. "Leah's story of telling me that when she was a kid, she'd sneak out of school just to come to the drag races on Fridayhere at Pomona. When she won here, just to be here for an event and a track that's so special means everything. Now I'm here sitting holding a‘Wally’ trophy, in NHRA's 75th Anniversary, just super special. It’s awesome."