“Leah Was the Last Person..”- Tony Stewart Shatters Myths of Wife Forcing Him Further Away From NASCAR

So, does Tony Stewart love the NHRA more than NASCAR? Well, that’s something only Stewart can answer. However, according to the recent interviews attended by the Stewart-Haas Racing owner, it seems that the NHRA does have a special place in Stewart’s heart. And why not? After all, his better half is an NHRA Top Fuel dragster!

However, there is something about Stewart’s involvement with the NHRA that he is not happy about. In a February 2022 interview with the Skinny Racing podcast, Stewart busted the myth surrounding his wife’s involvement in forcing his participation in drag racing. While explaining how he decided to enter the NHRA arena, the 2011 Cup Series champion said,

“Everybody thinks Leah pushed me into doing this or asked me to do this. Leah was the last person to get on board with this. I made the decision after going to the races with her. I had so much fun with everything that we’ve done with NASCAR, everything we’ve done with open-wheel racing. This just was a spark that I needed.”

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In all fairness, Tony Stewart indeed has the habit of dabbling with different racing formats. Moreover, he has the skills to reach the top in all of his endeavors. May it be NASCAR, Sprint cars, or Drag racing.

Tony Stewart on why Drag Racing amazed him

Tony Stewart loves NASCAR. But there is something about drag racing that makes it 10 times better for viewers, according to him. While talking about how his curiosity led him to the NHRA, Stewart said that he always wondered about how things worked in drag racing. He shared,

“When I started dating her (Leah Pruett), I really became passionate about it (drag racing). And the more questions I asked every answer that I got sparked three more questions. And then here we are. Now, we’ve got teams in the shop. And everything that I learn, and every time I learn something, I realize how much I don’t know. The more I learn the more I realize what I don’t know.”

Citing his curiosity and his lack of knowledge as the main reason for stepping into the NHRA, Stewart said that he loved a challenge. He revealed, “So, I am excited about it. I have kind of made a career and a life of doing things that people said I couldn’t do. And I’ve thrived and I love the challenge of trying to prove people wrong.”

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Stewart’s excitement and love for the NHRA community evince that no one ‘pushed’ him into the NHRA arena. Moreover, his association with drag racing can help in drawing more eyeballs to this particular format of racing.