Relief Over Glory: Tony Stewart's First Top Fuel Win Is a Tribute to Team Grit
- Crystal Clay
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
By Crystal Clay
Chief Motorsport Correspondent
LAS VEGAS (April 14, 2025)—Tony Stewart’s first win in Top Fuel didn’t come with a fist pump. It came with tears. At the top end of the track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, it wasn’t celebration. It was relief. After more than a year of adjusting, adapting and answering questions about when the breakthrough would come, Sunday’s NHRA Four-Wide Nationals marked the moment his team got the monkey off their back.
The former NASCAR champion became emotional as he spoke about the win, his first in the Top Fuel ranks, and credited the entire Tony Stewart Racing program, from crew chiefs to Funny Car teammates, for making it possible. His win was not just a moment. It was the result of a unified effort, a painstaking reset after a frustrating 2024 season.
Stewart’s NHRA journey has been rooted in Las Vegas from the start. His debut in Top Alcohol Dragster came at The Strip in 2022, and not long after, so did his first national event win in the category. When Stewart took over the seat previously occupied by his wife, Leah Pruett, expectations were high. Many assumed he would win quickly. But Stewart never fed into the pressure.
He stayed grounded, focused on learning and measured progress by effort over outcome. That is why his emotion at the top end told a different story.
This was not about pressure to win, it was about believing this team deserved it all along.
“It just makes you proud when you’re at the top and you’re like, as much as it’s a stress for me… imagine the stress those guys have felt,” Stewart said. “Finally, these guys got the monkey off their back.”
When asked if the four-wide format impacted the outcome, Stewart pointed to the conditions and setup making it a tuner’s race. “We flat out won our first two quads,” he said. “Nobody could just throw up big numbers today.” Stewart noted that he did his job off the starting line in the early rounds, but in the final, it was the crew that delivered. “I didn’t win us that round, our mechanics did,” he said. “That car went down the track like a rocket, and that’s what won it.”
Stewart emphasized that the win belonged to his entire crew: Neil Strausbaugh, Mike Neff, Phil Schuler, Mike Knutson and others. “Our motto is: one team, all team,” he said. “We all helped each other, and that’s what this win is about.”
Sunday’s win wasn’t just about a time slip or a trophy. It was about resilience. It was about the pressure of legacy. And it was about a team that never stopped believing they could get there—together.
Now, Stewart heads to Charlotte, the heart of his NASCAR legacy for the next four-wide. But this time, he arrives with something new: a Top Fuel win, and the confidence that his team can deliver when it counts. In a sport where few ever cross over, Stewart is reminding everyone why he never really fits in just one lane.
Asked about his mental focus and the shift in perspective over the past year, Stewart offered an honest assessment.
“I mean, we never took a year to win a race in any kind of race car we’ve ever driven,” Stewart said. “After Leah wins a world championship, I get in the car and we’re struggling. The fans in the stands don’t totally understand what that means.”
He reflected on the dynamic between driver and crew, contrasting it with his past experience.
“Everything I drove before I got into the NHRA, I was 70 percent of the equation, and the car and crew were 30 percent,” he said. “But this is different.”
“When the car doesn’t go down the track,” he added, “people are looking at me like, ‘Put his wife back in the car.’”
A Champion Across Disciplines
Tony Stewart's victory in Top Fuel adds to a storied career that spans multiple racing disciplines. He is the only driver to have won championships in both IndyCar and NASCAR, securing the IndyCar Series title in 1997 and NASCAR Cup Series championships in 2002, 2005, and 2011. Stewart's versatility is further demonstrated by his success in USAC, where he claimed the Triple Crown in 1995 by winning titles in Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown categories. His accomplishments have earned him induction into several halls of fame, including the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2020, the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 2019, and the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 2022.
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