‘Smoke’, champion across five racing disciplines, and championship-winning team owner – there are scores of titles with which we can address Tony Stewart. But one label was missing in the racing legend’s life until today – ‘father.’ Last year, Stewart and 12-time Top Fuel event winner Leah Pruett embarked on a precious familial journey – one that has reached its climax.

Stewart took over the Top Fuel dragster that Pruett drove to a career-best third-place finish in the NHRA standings last year. Not only has he adapted well to the speed machine, but he has also taken it into the penultimate rounds of the 2024 season. Staying true to his life-long versatile achievements, Tony Stewart balanced both his homely and track duties.

Another medal of honor for Tony Stewart

The In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at the Pomona Dragstrip, California, witnessed some unique events throughout the day. Firstly, the action had to be delayed due to a plane crash at the facility, which the NHRA helped the Pomona Police Department to tend to. Then, when the actual action on the track began, a few thrilling moments came alive. Despite Justin Ashley’s 46-point advantage over Anton Brown for the championship, the latter defeated Ashley in a great race, 3.69 to 3.70. However, the most sumptuous takeaway from this drag race was definitely Tony Stewart’s achievement, both on and off-track.

In the early morning hours of Sunday, the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was in a Phoenix hospital. Leah Pruett, 36, delivered the couple’s first baby son, 8-pound 3-ounce Dominic James. After a bout of ecstatic happiness and celebration, Tony Stewart resumed his racing duties. He flew back to the Pomona racetrack in Southern California by 8 AM local time for a face-off with Billy Torrence. Stewart locked himself into a Top 10 finish with a 3.74 victory over Torrence. Following his double achievement, he highlighted what mattered to him the most – as he wrote ‘DAD’ on his Top Fuel vehicle.

For the second-round Top Fuel pairings, Tony Stewart faced an old foe, Gary Pritchett. The duo have dueled throughout the season in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, where Stewart won three of four meets. This event, too, did not favor Pritchett as Stewart defeated him, 3.71 to 3.76, to reach the semifinals for the sixth time this season. Now the ‘dad’ will face Doug Kalitta for the semi-finals, while getting ready for his homely duties, too. He joked about the difficulty a few weeks ago: “I’m trying to find every and any way I can to get out of having to change diapers. But my wife is a very strong-willed woman, and she has assured me that I am not, under any circumstances, getting out of these responsibilities as a father and a parent. And I don’t blame her. It’s part of it.”

Indeed, Leah Pruett has the upper hand in this happy family. And she ardently rooted for the dual sides of Stewart’s pursuits.

Approval from the better half

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When Tony Stewart announced his 2024 NHRA plans in Indianapolis last year, he amply clarified how his wife factors into the equation. “My goal is to not suck, to not get fired by my wife and to not kill myself driving this thing.” Leah Pruett‘s decision took the pedestal in this situation, and understandably so. Suffering from Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, an autoimmune disorder, she was not even sure if she could get pregnant. So choosing to forego her love for racing to become a parent was a tremendous decision. Yet Pruett handled it gracefully with her fierce personality and determination. “Time is not on anyone’s side and time is not gender neutral. But when it comes to being a female and a female racer, time is particularly not on your side,” she said.

However, Pruett has fulfilled her motherhood wish, now that little Dominic is in our midst. At the same time, she fervently rooted for her husband’s success at the racetrack, where she was absent. As Stewart vies for a potential NHRA championship, Pruett oozed her excitement on social media. “This year’s Finals is wildly different for me as it will be the first race I’ve physically missed being at in almost a decade,” Pruett wrote on Instagram. “I know our teams are going to go hard to finish strong this season, and I’ll be rooting them on somewhere close to home hoping this baby comes any day now, and not Sunday of the finals so [Stewart] can make it.”

So mother and father are doing a fabulous job in their responsibilities. Who knows, maybe Dominic’s birth would grant Tony Stewart that boost to charge toward yet another title!