Tony Stewart’s Next Chapter

He retired from active NASCAR competition in 2016, spent more time in his Sprint Car and even briefly owned an IROC-like series but with a short track flair in the Superstar Racing Experience. There was still NASCAR team ownership, too.

But in drag racing, which began with Stewart dabbling in the Top Alcohol division under guidance from his then-girlfriend and fiancé, a champion in USAC, IndyCar, and NASCAR found something that provided him the same competitive sensation.

Coming from disciplines that have much shorter runways, Stewart has found a means to remain “Smoke” for years to come.

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“I think the one thing for me that has been consistent across the board is that when you go to suit up and get into the car, it requires the same mindset and focus,” Stewart said. “Whether it’s an Indy Car or a Sprint Car, it requires the same focus and preparation.

“It’s a different mindset, because every car is a different mindset, but I found the same intensity that I needed in go-karts at the age of eight, racing in the Indianapolis 500, NASCAR, or Sports Cars. I feel the same way every time I suit up.”

But again, it was never a strategy for Stewart to race at the highest levels of the NHRA, either. When Stewart and Pruett tied the knot in November, 2021, Smoke just wanted to spend more time at the track with his wife. The creation of TSR (Tony Stewart Racing) Nitro simply facilitated that desire.

Then they announced in June 2024 that they were expecting their first child and Pruett nudged her husband to take over driving duties of her Top Fuel ride. Pruett couldn’t race but both wanted to stay on the road during throughout the process.

Once again … not part of any long-term plan.

“I mean, it was just a perfect opportunity to go race with my wife every week,” Stewart says. “Look, I know there are a lot of men who love going to work because it gives them the opportunity to get away from their spouse a little bit. I know they love their life and love their wife but some guys need that separation.

“We are two people that can just be around each other seven days a week and it works at the racetrack because we’re racers. It’s funny, though, because it’s the complete opposite when we’re home. We’ll spend a lot of time in different rooms, but at the racetrack, we are in lock step, dead in line, and I really love our dynamic.”

In true Stewart-Pruett fashion, the couple welcomed the birth of Dominic James Stewart on a race day morning prior to the start of eliminations for the NHRA Finals in Pomona, California, on Nov. 17. Pruett was home in Arizona and Stewart actually flew back and forth to be there for the birth and to race that afternoon.

It wasn’t entirely his choice. He wanted to remain at the hospital but Pruett insisted that he go. It was the first race weekend that she had missed all season and she genuinely wanted one of them to maintain their perfect attendance.

What a racer. 

Stewart will remain in the Top Fuel car meant for Pruett as she focuses on motherhood this season while Smoke can’t believe this is where his life without a compass has taken him. He is literally going to be called “dad” at some point down the road while still being one of the main characters in North American motorsports.

“I’m not thrilled to be a father at this age, but I am excited about it because in our own way, the time was just right,” Stewart says. “I’m still intense at the racetrack and I still want to win but I just feel like I’m at a place where I’m ready for a family.”

Stewart made two final rounds in his first full season at the national level en route to locking up rookie of the year honors. Despite the award, Stewart says he has more work to do to feel like he ‘belongs’ as the question was phrased.

“I don’t know that I’m there yet and that’s a question you have to ask our peers but I do feel some camaraderie there,” he says. “You go to line up, and you are racing for your livelihood but you get to the end and you’re hugging it out.”

For what it’s worth, Top Fuel champion Antron Brown says Stewart is going to “win one soon, and he isn’t going to stop,” so the respect goes both ways. Brown is a fellow Indiana native and oval racing fan that idolized Stewart from afar and was one of the brains ‘Smoke’ picked when laying the foundation for starting a team.

After decades of bombastic quotes and the occasional fight, Stewart also enjoys that NHRA doesn’t produce a lot of theatrics due to the nature of straight-line racing.

“It’s drastically different than everything I have ever done before because everyone stays in their own lane,” Stewart said. “You don’t see drivers fighting or bickering because there is not a lot of opportunities for that.

“The only thing you can do is hang a guy out, which is still in the rule book that you can do. It’s not illegal to do it.”

Stewart is referring to the practice of taking right up to the full seven-second window a driver has to pull up to the line after the first driver stages, making your opponent wait instead of doing so more or less simultaneously. Some pilots are susceptible to having their internal timing mechanism rattled, but others are unfazed.

“It’s just kind of an etiquette thing,” Stewart said. “I actually think NHRA wishes they could find a way to generate more rivalries but it’s just a different mentality. The vibe is just different in that world. It’s a different discipline and you get used to it the more you do it.”

Stewart said he laughs sometimes because he’s married to a 12-year NHRA veteran and hired a 15-year veteran in Matt Hagan to pilot his funny car, and both have tried to unload data on him, but he just needs to do it to understand it.

“I have a four-time world champion on my team and it’s like high school, where I didn’t want to read the whole book, so I make Matt and Leah give me the cliff notes version because it’s not going to do me any good to read the whole thing. I have to live it.

“But they are a huge asset, and no doubt, they have accelerated my learning curve. I’m a rookie that didn’t have a lot of friends in the sport and had no one to ask questions when I did need something verbally explained, and we have some really, really good people in our camp to get me there.”

What Stewart isn’t going to talk anymore about is his departure from NASCAR and the closure of Stewart-Haas Racing. He’s expressed everything he felt like needed to be said. In other interviews, he has expressed disappointment that NASCAR still hasn’t been able to replicate the leadership structure it had with the likes of Bill France Jr., Mike Helton, and Jim Hunter.

Stewart says their modern counterparts are more interested in keeping their jobs than making tough decisions to improve the sport.  He called the charter system “a joke,” and “an area that I no longer want to be a part of anymore,” while also explaining that it was just one of many elements that made the timing right to step away.

Once again, Stewart maintains he never planned for any of this stuff but the timing and circumstances continue to dictate what direction he goes in life. With that said, do not think for a second that decision was made without any emotional impact.

Standing between haulers for this conversation at Phoenix Raceway prior to the final race in team history, Stewart was wearing sunglasses and it was really easy to hear what hid behind them when he talked.

“Everyone in these four trailers know what today is about,” Stewart said. “It’s not a normal race day. We all know what’s going on and we’re just enjoying being with each other. That’s the biggest thing. We’ve been here since 7 a.m. and no one has ever gotten me to the racetrack at 7 a.m. for a 2 p.m. race. At least not out of the motorhome. I’m just happy to have this moment with everyone as a group and then everyone is going their own separate ways and (moving) on with their own path.”

Everyone on the roster that night stayed at the track well after champion Joey Logano and the Team Penske No. 22 group cleared tech and left the facility. Stewart remained with his guys and even personally directed the haulers out of their stalls and out of the Arizona short track.

He cares and was also very cognizant that this signaled the end of an era for him personally. Will we even see ‘Smoke’ semi-regularly at NASCAR races moving forward?

“I would say it’s going to be very few and far between in the state it’s at right now,” he said.

Stewart leaves NASCAR as a Hall of Famer but also the blueprint for many who followed in his path. There is no Kyle Larson today without Stewart creating a pathway for a young Sprint Car star to be embraced in NASCAR and also be allowed to simultaneously compete in a multitude of other disciplines.

“I’m not here if Tony and Jeff [Gordon] didn’t do it first,” Larson says. “But I was obviously a huge fan of Tony because of his continued connection to the dirt track world. He was great in everything he got in. He has done so much for American motorsports. It’s sad to not see him around a lot anymore but it’s also a lot of fun watching him in drag racing.”

Christopher Bell is also from that same archetype and called Stewart “my hero growing up” and rooted for the same Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 car that he now drives at the highest level of NASCAR.

“I love Tony and admire his passion for the sport and his personality, how he tells it the way it is,” Bell says.

Even though Chase Elliott didn’t grow up racing dirt, he did have a front row seat for the start of Stewart’s NASCAR career in the late ’90s as he raced his father, Bill. It left Elliott with a tremendous amount of respect for the three-time Cup champion as he grew up alongside someone he eventually formed a legitimate friendship with.

“I hate that we don’t get to see him around much anymore,” Elliott says. “I loved having him here. For me, I look at Tony as a great champion and great competitor on track and a guy that was so raw with his personality and wasn’t afraid to show that. I have a lot of admiration for that.

“I got the chance to really know him on a personal front and he has always been a really good dude to me. I have always been able to lean on him when I needed to and am appreciative of our friendship.”

Elliott got a front row seat for the end of Stewart’s NASCAR career as that 2016 season was also his rookie year.

“In hindsight, I’m really grateful he came back for one more year because I really wanted to spend a season on the road with him,” Elliott says. “Now, I get to have that for the rest of my life. Because, honestly, he was the first guy other than my dad that I cheered for.

“He was the first driver that I finally mustered up the courage to tell dad, “This is my favorite driver,” and for me to spend a season racing alongside him was such a surreal moment.”

What isn’t changing for Stewart – and this is something that really agitates him – is his commitment to dirt racing. Because he has stepped away from NASCAR and pushed all his chips into the NHRA alongside his expanding family, dirt fans have pushed the narrative that it is only a matter of time before Stewart sells Eldora and shutters his Sprint Car operation.

“I don’t know where it started earlier this year that someone said I actually sold the track,” Stewart says. “I didn’t sell it. It’s not for sale. It is not going to be for sale. It will be with me for the rest of my life. Again, I don’t do well with plans but that is my intent.

“Leah loves going to Eldora and loved coming with me to NASCAR races. She’s just as sad about this period of my life ending as I am.”

To that end, Stewart says he wants people to stop blaming his wife for the changes in his personal and professional life.

“It really pisses me off to see people blaming someone they don’t even know, saying she is the reason I am getting out of this or that. That’s the frustrating part about our society today, that people aren’t educated enough to form their opinions and have no facts to support them whatsoever but everyone has an equal voice on the internet these days.

“So to blame innocent people, or to blame me for a scenario they don’t even understand, that has been the only frustrating part about this deal. I love my Sprint Car team. I’m sad to end this (NASCAR) chapter of my life but there was a reason (it) got me out of bed at seven in the morning today and it’s because this was a special chapter of my life. But there is another chapter coming with my wife and my family. The time was just right for this chapter to come to a close.”

Ultimately, Stewart hopes the NASCAR community remembers that he was always honest with them. He says he valued authenticity above all other attributes. Stewart wants everyone to know that he earned the right to be so outspoken about the series, tracks, or racecars because he invested himself in owning all three across multiple disciplines.

Stewart continues to put his money where his mouth is.

“I guess I’ve always been raised to, you know, stand up for what you believe in,” Stewart says. “Early in my career, I was a little more quiet and finally got to the point where I decided I wasn’t going to be someone that I’m not.

“I decided that I was just going to be me and let the results at the end of the day, my body of work, all speak for itself. I think that’s what created our huge fan base: that I was always willing to call a spade a spade.

“No one ever had to wonder what was on my mind. It was really easy to get that out of me.”