Tony Stewart is more than just a NASCAR driver; he’s an accomplished racer with multiple trophies to his name in different disciplines of motorsports, including USAC, open-wheel racing in IndyCar, and, of course, his exploits in the stock car racing scene. However, his new adventure competing in the premier division of NHRA drag racing isn’t turning out like he’d hoped it would.

After early jitters and a lot of adjusting, he’s managed to get himself up to speed with Top Fuel racing. But despite the winless run so far this season, his primary objective of winning races isn’t going to change. With the help of his wife, Leah Pruett, and Matt Hagan, he is looking to etch his name in history in yet another racing series.

Tony Stewart feels optimistic about his NHRA run under Leah Pruett’s mentorship

Stewart wasn’t planning to compete in the Top Fuel division, as Leah Pruett used to lead the charge of TSR driving the Dodge dragster. However, Pruett’s decision to start a family meant that Stewart would have to take charge of the team. At 53, he became a rookie and took on the daunting task of going toe-to-toe with the best drag racers in the country.

Drag racing is a whole different ball game, and so far, it’s proved to be a tough nut for Stewart to crack. But despite the early bumps, he remains optimistic about his chances of getting back to winning ways. When asked about his plan for NHRA racing, he confidently stated, “Oh, I wanna win. It doesn’t matter what car I’m in.” Stewart said this via 1075 the fan radio on YouTube.

Moreover, with his wife Leah Pruett supervising his runs, he’s got the right coaching he needs in his rookie year. “She knows my mindset of I don’t want to be 98% good at it. I want to 100%, so when we make a run, if there’s anything that she can pick apart and sees that I don’t do it 100% right, she absolutely knows that I want her to tell me. She does a great job sitting me down saying, this is where you can gain a little more, and this is what you’re doing. You might try this, and she’s been an excellent coach,” he added.

The work both Leah and Tony Stewart are putting in this season has seen them progress. This was evident from the team’s run at Sonoma Nationals.

Stewart was within touching distance of his first Top Fuel victory

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The Top Fuel season has been a huge learning curve for Smoke this season. There were events where he wouldn’t even make it past the first rounds, but he looked focused this week while competing at Sonoma Raceway. This was the first time it felt like he was in his element, trading blows with the sole purpose of a win.

However, former world champion Antron Brown was just too hot to handle for Stewart in the final round. Despite his TSR Dodge dragster getting a good launch, Brown beat him to the finish line by mere milliseconds. This was a missed opportunity for Tony Stewart to record a memorable win, but it resulted in the 77th NHRA career win for Brown.

Despite clinching the victory, Brown had nothing but praise for his competitor, even predicting that Stewart will rack up multiple wins at the NHRA level. “I know how good of a driver he is. He understands the science, so as soon as he showed up, I knew what he could do. I did tell him to come on over, but there are a lot of sharks in the water here. His time is coming, and it won’t be one-win. It will be a lot of them.”

Now we’ve seen Stewart being successful in anything that runs on four wheels and a motor, and it’s only a matter of time before he gets his first NHRA Top Fuel win.