Now an NHRA Top Fuel winner, Tony Stewart dishes on what is — and isn’t — in his future

Tony Stewart still doesn’t know how much longer he will compete in his substitute role for his wife, Leah Pruett, in her NHRA Top Fuel dragster.

What he does know is, when he eventually departs, he will have at least one victory on his resume.

The three-time Cup champion hopes he has more victories coming, but his win Sunday at Las Vegas was one for the history books. It was also one that ended some frustration, since he replaced Leah at the start of last season when they decided to start a family. 

Their baby boy, Dominic, was born in November and was with them for the victory lane photos on Sunday.

“When does she plan on getting back in the car? I don’t have an answer,” Stewart told FOX Sports on Tuesday. “But I can tell you the thing that I made sure that was very clear to her was any minute that she decides she’s ready to get back in the car, I’ll step out.

“If that’s midseason, it’s midseason.”

Pruett plans to do some testing this summer to see how she feels getting reacclimated to the car. 

“I want her to be driving her race car,” said Stewart about their family-owned team. “So whenever she’s ready and whenever she wants to, I want her to do that. She has told me that to this point, she’s glad she hasn’t because the amount of work that it takes to take care of Dom and do the work that she does at the racetrack with our partners and with the race team itself. It’s all she can deal with right now.

“So I don’t anticipate anything changing before the end of the year. But again, it’s going to be her decision on when she wants to get back in the car.”

As he made the media rounds on Tuesday, Stewart said in a session with reporters that they are still trying to figure out what his role will be when Pruett resumes racing. He isn’t sure he wants to race against his wife. The team does, though, have separate cars for them because of their size differences, the seat and how the footboxes are positioned.

“We’ve started those conversations of what does life look like in the next couple years for her getting back in the car. And one of the main variables in her equation is, what does that look like for me behind the wheel of a car?” Stewart said.

“So we’re trying to figure that out.”

What Stewart doesn’t have to figure out is how to win. In drag racing, the car is a big part of the equation. And Stewart said it was frustrating as he struggled through the 2024 season. He said his team fought the ability to fine-tune the car and that when they made the adjustments, they overcorrected the original problem and caused new issues.

“I’ve never been in a form of motorsports that it took me this long to be in contention to win and to win a race,” Stewart said. “But again, it makes sense when you realize that you’re 30 percent of the equation, not 70. 

“That part’s been really frustrating, honestly.”

Four events into the 2025 season, Stewart sits second in the standings. However, he won’t let himself think about winning the NHRA regular season.

“We’re second in points not because we’ve got the fastest car but because we’ve been consistent, and we’re [advancing out of] rounds,” Stewart said.

“We’ve got to stay the course. We still have a long way to go to get the speed. …  We’ve got a big smile on our face that we’re there in points right now. But it’s not going to change our approach and the way we feel about where we’re at right now.”

As to what else the future holds, Stewart ruled out a couple of things.

He won’t get back into an INDYCAR, no matter how hard people try to convince him. Fans have been begging him to take another shot at winning the Indianapolis 500, a race that he didn’t win during his INDYCAR career.

“The last time I was in an INDYCAR was 2001,” Stewart said. “So 20-plus years now, to go there and even think that I’m going to be competitive is, in my opinion, very unrealistic.

“Do I feel like I could make the race and have a solid showing? I do feel like I could do that, but I don’t feel like I have what it takes. These guys are so good in these cars and have such a good feel and read on what these cars are and what the car needs. I don’t feel like I would have that input to give to the team to help … to have a winning car. 

“I’ve already got enough participation awards from INDY.”

And he won’t re-enter NASCAR as a team owner. His NHRA program is factory-supported by Dodge, which is deep into the process of starting a program in NASCAR’s truck series.

“I told them I’ll do anything I can to help them,” said Stewart, whose Stewart-Haas Racing ceased operations after last season. “Obviously, right now [the plans] are just a truck program [for Dodge]. … We’ll do everything we can to help. But I am not going to own a team in NASCAR ever again.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.