
via Imago
Motorsport, Herren, USA, Dragster Drag Race Vegas Four Wide Nationals Apr 16, 2023 Las Vegas, NV, USA NHRA top alcohol dragster driver Tony Stewart left celebrates with wife Leah Pruett after winning the Four Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Las Vegas The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway NV USA. | Image credit: Imago

via Imago
Motorsport, Herren, USA, Dragster Drag Race Vegas Four Wide Nationals Apr 16, 2023 Las Vegas, NV, USA NHRA top alcohol dragster driver Tony Stewart left celebrates with wife Leah Pruett after winning the Four Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Las Vegas The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway NV USA. | Image credit: Imago
Tony Stewart has experienced a series of transformative events over the past two years. May that be tieing the knot with Leah Pruett, an accomplished NHRA Top Fuel drag racer, or venturing into team ownership in the NHRA drag racing realm. And now, adding another feather to his cap, Stewart has decided to compete full-time in NHRA’s Top Alcohol Dragster (TAD) class this season.
Notably, Stewart continues to maintain his role as co-owner of Stewart Haas Racing in NASCAR, being a analyst for FOX Sports’ NASCAR telecasts, owning various small race tracks like Ohio’s Eldora Raceway, and overseeing a small racing series. However, even though Stewart relishes his current endeavors, he eagerly anticipates the forthcoming years, with fatherhood potentially on the horizon and aspirations of ascending to higher NHRA classes such as Top Fuel or Funny Car.
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Tony Stewart Talks About Building a New Top Fuel Car
In a recent interview with Autoweek, Tony Stewart opened up on the future prospects of his personal and professional life. While talking about his team’s plans on building a new Top Fuel car, Stewart revealed how an uncomfortable and strange experience in his wife’s car inspired him to pitch for a new setup.

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LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 16: Tony Stewart 314 TA Mobil 1 McPhillips Racing Top Alcohol Dragster holds up his Wally trophy and celebrates after winning his class at the Motorsport, Herren, USA, Dragster Drag Race Four-Wide Nationals Camping World Drag Racing Series on April 16, 2023 at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was Stewarts first NHRA win and marked the fourth track he has won a race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway: The Bullring, The Dirt Track, the Speedway, and the drag strip. Photo by Jeff Speer/Icon Sportswire AUTO: APR 16 NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Icon230416008
He said, “We’re building another chassis that there’s some things that after I drove Leah’s car (in testing), there’s things in the cockpit that I’ve questioned. (There were a) couple of different dragsters I’ve sat in and then said, ‘Why don’t you change this or remove this? And so we actually literally are building another chassis right now that has some of the ideas I like in it.”
Furthermore, he talked about how even though the changes might not make the car faster, they might help make it more comfortable.
Explaining how it is uncomfortable to ‘cram’ up inside the vehicle, he said, “There’s some other just little things that aren’t going to make the car faster, but it might make it more comfortable. And so it’s definitely a car that I can drive as well. Trying to drive Leah’s car, it’s like trying to cram 12 pounds of sh*t into an eight-pound sack.”
Starting a family could be one path, if even on short-term basis, for Stewart to replace wife Leah Pruett in her NHRA Top Fuel dragster. https://t.co/OeQSrMRoXy
— Autoweek (@AutoweekUSA) June 9, 2023
WATCH THIS STORY: NASCAR Insider Clears the Air After Fans Left Puzzled by Tony Stewart’s NASCAR Driver’s Anomaly
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What Are the Issues That the New Setup Might Resolve?
Elaborating on the struggles faced while driving the Top Fuel car, Tony Stewart revealed how a shorter steering wheel might help him make the new car comfortable.
He shared, “This is a true story. When I drive her car, I use a junior dragster steering wheel, because I’ve got broader shoulders than hers and it pushes my shoulders an inch forward just getting in her car. My arms are longer than Leah’s. And my hands are closer together, so that’s why I run a junior dragster steering wheel, which is a lot shorter.”
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Furthermore, he added that since the driver’s hands are quite close while driving a car at 330 miles an hour, the span between the knuckles plays an important role.
“My hands are this close together, you’re driving a car 330 miles an hour with your hands. The span between my knuckles when I’m in the car is probably an inch, inch, and a half.”
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Since Stewart is seriously considering making the big leap to Top Fuel, it might be possible that the new changes to the car can help him ease the learning curve and come in handy when he is aiming to clinch his next win.
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