Meet Hall of Famer Tony Stewart’s Wife and NHRA Driver Leah Pruett

Legendary NASCAR racer Tony Stewart‘s name is synonymous with rivalries and intense battles on the track. During his 18-year-long illustrious career, “Smoke” amassed a whopping 49 wins in the Cup Series. However, as if that was not enough, he is now making a name for himself on the drag strips of the NHRA. But as it turns out, it’s not only Tony who has the ‘racing big’ in his family. There is also his wife, Leah Pruett, who is immensely passionate about motorsports.

Let’s delve deeper into the NHRA driver’s life, who seems to be a force to be reckoned with.

Who is Tony Stewart?

One of the most versatile racers in the world of motorsports, Tony Stewart is an energetic driver. He breathed fire from the first year that he entered NASCAR, earning three victories in his rookie year in 1999. Driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, Stewart clinched his first Cup championship in 2002 and another one in a matter of three years. Along with Gene Haas, Stewart founded Stewart-Haas Racing in 2008 and clinched his third Cup Series championship in 2011. Although the team is set to disintegrate after 2024, it has left a trailblazing legacy of 70 Cup wins.

Stewart has also excelled outside of NASCAR; his most talked-about achievement is probably the 2001 Double attempt. Despite failing to cover all 1100 miles of the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in 1999, he got it done two years later and remains the only driver to have achieved this feat. But most importantly for us, Stewart’s off-NASCAR activities merge with his wife Leah Pruett, a star-studded NHRA drag racer.

Who is Tony ‘Smoke‘ Stewart’s wife, Leah Pruett?

Born to father Ron and mother Linda Pruett on May 26, 1988, in Redlands, California, Leah Christine Pruett was inclined toward adventure and thrill from her very childhood.

Activities like wake surfing, off-roading, snowboarding, volleyball, mountain biking, and archery are a few things where she likes to spend the majority of her time. Her father, Ron, was also a racer. And, being a racer’s daughter, Pruett entered the racing scene at the mere age of 8 and won the National Team Champion Racing title within just two years of her debut.

The early years of Leah Pruett: childhood to present

Little did Leah Pruett know that her childhood urge to be into sports would pave the way for an athletic scholarship at California State University. However, drag racing always seemed to be her calling.

Having an unquenchable thirst to dominate the race tracks, Leah amassed a whopping 37 Jr. Dragster trophies by the time she was 16. She then went further and competed at the Top Fuel events starting in 2013. In 2016, she not only joined Don Schumacher Racing but also started to come to people’s notice and let’s just say she has never faded since.

As of now, Pruett has been replaced by Tony in the upcoming NHRA Top Fuel Dragster in 2024 owing to the couple’s wish to start a family.

How did Tony Stewart meet Leah Pruett, and when did they get married? 

Tony Stewart met Leah at a sponsored event in 2019. However, it was not a direct meeting, as they hardly crossed paths with each other. It was the initiative of the legendary drag racer Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, who insisted the former NASCAR driver meet her at an off-road trip in Glamis, and he eventually did.

Following the meet, the duo went on a supposed outing at the NHRA Nationals. It was during the COVID-19 pandemic when Pruett invited Stewart to her in Lake Havasu, and they spent some quality time with each other.

Leah Pruett told Drag Illustrated about how the pandemic brought them closer than they ever thought possible and said, “We got to literally spend four months with each other as a man and a woman. Not race car drivers being on the road and traveling and doing all the crazy stuff that we do. It gave us a chance to really get to know each other before we started adding the racing elements to it.”

As time went by, the bond between Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett deepened, and it reached an extent where both of them could understand what the other was going through without any exchange of words. 

As per AP, Stewart spoke all the merry things about her and said, “She [Pruett] gets me. And I enjoy going to her events and being the one doing the supporting. I mean, if she wanted me to support her at basket-weaving competitions, I probably wouldn’t enjoy it, but I am very happy with this relationship and where my life is right now.”

Seeing how far they’ve come, enjoying each other’s company, the two got engaged in March 2021, something Pruett announced on her Instagram. And just 8 months later, the couple tied the knot.

Shortly after the commencement of his wedding, Tony Stewart tweeted, “I still can’t believe I’ve been married for a full year to this gorgeous, thoughtful, and most of all fun woman. You make every day exciting, and I’m looking forward to all of the adventures ahead. Love you, babe!”

Leah Pruett’s achievements

She is an 11x National Hot Rod Association event winner, with a career-best timing of 3.631 elapsed seconds on November 10, 2018, in Q4 at Pomona, California, and her best speed at 334.15 mph on February 24, 2018, in Q3 at Phoenix. 

She has also secured the 2010 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series championship in the Funny Car class. Not only this, Leeah Pruett once pulled double duty for several years by competing full-time in the NHRA Factory Stock Showdown, winning the 2018 title in her Dodge.

Leah secured the NHRA SAMTech Factory Stock Showdown championship in 2019, DSR’s first series championship in their first year in the class, and is also the only female champion in the short history of the class.

Does Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett have any children?

A question that usually pops into one’s mind after getting to know about Stewart and Pruett’s marriage is: Do they have any children? Well, the answer is no. Or rather, not yet. While the 52-year-old is “freaked out” about the idea, he is also excited about the prospects of becoming a father in the time to come. 

“I freaked out about the whole process, to be honest,” Stewart laughed during an exclusive interview with Autoweek. “I can’t even take care of myself. She has to take care of me.”

“I’m not gonna lie, I’m excited about it.”

Indeed, the couple wholeheartedly jumped on the baby wagon at the cusp of 2024. After Leah Pruett to a career-best third-place finish in the NHRA standings in 2023, the racer decided to take a break. The reason is as grand as it gets – Pruett and Stewart planned to focus on starting a family in 2024.

As Stewart looks forward to becoming a parent alongside Pruett, we wish the couple the best and hope they can overcome their fears to embrace a family. Do you think Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett’s children would take up their parent’s racing legacy?

Will Leah Pruett return to racing after giving birth?

One impediment lies in Pruett’s path to becoming a mother. In 2021, the drag racer was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease found in 15% to 20% of adult women. The disorder prevents her thyroid from producing enough hormones, so Pruett admitted to the Associated Press, “That plays a part in my health, which means I need more time to start a family.” So this unfortunate health debacle also throws into question when Leah Pruett can return to racing.

“Hashimoto’s gives me a lot of challenges throughout the year in racing and it took a lot to get that under control just to race, more or less under control to start a family,” Pruett confessed about the challenges she faced.

However, the 14-time Top Fuel winner is not willing to let go of her passion so easily. “There are no guarantees or promises on when I will be back in the seat, but I have every intention of returning as soon as I can. Everything in my heart says that I will return to driving Top Fuel as soon as I feel ready.”

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