Three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart’s first NHRA Top Fuel victory last weekend at Las Vegas rekindled memories for him of when he won the 2009 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Stewart’s victory this past weekend added to a long list of triumphs in many forms of motorsports, including NASCAR, Indy cars, IROC, SRX, sprint cars, midget cars and others.
After clinching his first NHRA Top Fuel winwith a run of 317.42 mph in his 11,000-horsepower dragster, the 53-year-old Stewart celebrated but his thoughts quickly turned.
“I was so excited just to have won that race for myself until the team got up there,” Stewart told reporters Tuesday. “ … It brought me back to a moment back in 2009 when we started Stewart-Haas Racing, and I remember winning the All-Star Race at Charlotte and getting to victory lane.
LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 13: Top Fuel driver Tony Stewart celebrates with his wife Leah, son Dominic, and his crew after winning his first career national event at the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Four-Wide Nationals on April 13, 2025, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. (Photo by Will Lester/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
“I was in that mode, here people were telling me I was crazy to leave Joe Gibbs Racing to go to a team that had a car 34th and 36th in the points and I had ruined my career by doing it. Here we were from February to May … we win the highest paying event of the year with the All-Star Race.
“ … They used to pull a semi trailer up there and the crew guys would sit on the edge of that trailer. I remember looking on there and half of those guys were in tears. I looked at one of the guys and I’m like, ‘What is wrong? What happened?’
“They said that group of guys had never won a NASCAR Cup Series race. That moment, I realized it was not about me, it was not about me proving to all the naysayers that I was going to fail with Stewart-Haas. It was way deeper than that. It was about the guys and the people that we had put together and the people we had kept from Haas Racing and want it meant to all of us. That’s exactly what Sunday turned into as well (after his NHRA win).”
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Stewart shocked the sport when he announced in 2008 that he would leave Joe Gibbs Racing — where he had won Cup titles in 2002 and ’05 — to become a part-owner and driver in Haas CNC Racing, which became Stewart-Haas Racing. Haas CNC Racing had not had much success before Stewart arrived.
That All-Star victory was his first with the team. Stewart went on to win four points races in 2009 with SHR. He collected his third Cup title in 2011 and gave the organization its first series crown.
Stewart is in his second year in NHRA Top Fuel. He was selected as the NHRA Rookie of the Year in 2024. He took over wife Leah Pruett’s ride in 2024 so they could start a family. Son Dominic was born in November 2024.
“I think it was probably one of the coolest parts of (winning) was seeing Leah bring Dominic on the small stage they bring on the race tracks so the fans can join in the celebration Sunday,” Stewart said. “I had no idea she was coming with him, and when I turned around and saw her, I literally almost lost it up there. That is a great feeling having him there.”
