Leah Pruett did not leave Top Fuel because she was done.
She stepped away because time, biology and belief told her it was the right moment — and because she trusted she could return stronger than when she paused her championship pursuit.
More than two seasons after announcing she would step out of the cockpit to start a family, Pruett is back in the Tony Stewart Racing Top Fuel dragster.
The seat was always hers.
Pruett gave birth to her son, Dominic, in the early hours of NHRA Finals weekend on Nov. 17, 2024.
The timing felt symbolic, though she said the decision, made months earlier, was rooted in reality, not emotion.
“You can’t compete against time. I’m a female, right? I never had a biological clock that’s ticking. It’s just the reality,” Pruett said. “If I don’t do this now, then I might not have the opportunity to really have a family of my own, so it won.”
The move did not end her Top Fuel career.
It paused it.
“I was able to get here one time, I can get here again,” she said.
That mindset framed a deliberate two-year plan.
While husband and team owner Tony Stewart temporarily filled the seat, Pruett remained immersed in the program.
“I was in every debrief and working closely with the crew chiefs and helping Tony get on his way feeling as comfortable in the drag race space,” she said. “Because of that, being in that quote unquote teacher role, I never felt removed from the scene.”
Her absence from the starting line was not detachment.
It was observation, analysis and preparation.
The most critical part of that preparation was rebuilding the mental muscle required to drive a 300-mph race car.
Pruett calls it processing speed.
“Your brain is a muscle and it needs to work out, but there’s no way to work out that muscle in that capacity, that processing speed,” she said. “So, I was able to get it back in more test sessions and that’s truly what I’m looking forward to the most of our test sessions, is getting that processing speed.”
Her first return to the cockpit came in Richmond.
It was less about elapsed time and more about confirmation.
“My first test was really just for me. Am I comfortable in the car? Where’s my mind at? And it was great,” she said. “That first one in Richmond, man, I flickered the bulb. That’s awesome, still got that.”
The second test came unexpectedly after Stewart’s crash in Reading required the team to shake down a spare chassis.
That session reminded her what it means to carry professional responsibility.
“It was no longer about me,” Pruett said. “It was about I’m qualified to do the job, this car needs to make it down track safely, testing parts, all of the things that goes along with being that professional race car driver.”
Her third test in Las Vegas restored competitive urgency.
“I remember leaving that test so wanting the first race of the 2026 season to be like that next Tuesday. I was good. I was ready to rip, ready to go.”
Motherhood, she said, has changed her structure — not her intensity.
If anything, it has sharpened it.
“I feel like I’ve become a baby crew chief,” Pruett said. “You’re always thinking about the next step in preparing.”
Preparation now extends beyond clutch wear and track temperature.
It includes travel logistics, sleep strategy and building a support system without nearby family.
“I’ve got a strategy for the time that I need with Dom and the help,” she said. “We don’t have any family that is closer around or anything, so I do have help on the road.”
She did not shy away from the reality of combining infancy and travel.
“The only time I truly remembered I had a son is when I needed to pump out milk that had just gone 300 miles an hour,” she said.
The potential for a husband-and-wife pairing in the same Top Fuel field adds another storyline.
Stewart now competes through a marketing alliance with Elite Motorsports.
“People are wanting so bad for this wild rivalry and there’s really not,” Pruett said. “There’s going to be a first winner and there’s going to be the first loser and the odds of us matching up are so great throughout the year, but our goal really is to not, right? Not until the later rounds.”
She expects the same driver she has always known.
“You can’t shake Tony,” she said. “Tony as a driver remains the exact same and I expect no different from him when he lines up against his wife and his child’s mom.”
The stability behind her return was anchored by Stellantis and its Dodge and Mopar brands.
Pruett said the manufacturer supported her decision to step out and crafted a plan that kept the program intact.
“Dodge was the biggest supporter of me, of my decision to continue racing, right, or stepping out?” she said. “We found a way to keep everything moving and grooving with Tony in the seat and continuing support with me coming back in.”
Stewart’s recent return to Daytona underscored that loyalty. He had effectively closed his NASCAR chapter, but agreed to compete in support of Stellantis’ renewed efforts because of what the manufacturer did to preserve Pruett’s Top Fuel program during her maternity pause.
Pruett said the decision was rooted in gratitude, not ambition. “He did that because of what Dodge did for me and what they did for TSR and being a part of the growth of our family,” she said.
She also pointed to faith as central to her confidence.
“I’m in the best place religiously with my faith, Christian following Christ more than I ever have been,” she said. “Any apprehensions, all of it I’m just putting in God’s hands and He’s laid this out and made it possible for me to come back.”
Her competitive target is direct.
“My best Top Fuel season race win, perspective-wise, I think it was 2017 and I had five wins,” she said. “Specifically, right, is to capture more wins in a season than I ever have.”
“If you’re winning races, you’re probably qualifying. well. If you’re winning races, you’re getting points. You’re getting points, you’re in the hunt for championship,” she said.
Drag racing remains humbling, she acknowledged.
“Drag racing’s a humbling sport,” Pruett said. “The moment you open your mouth one way, this sport could show you another way.”
Her return is not about reclaiming what was lost.
It is about proving growth does not require sacrifice of ambition.
“I think my focus is returning to the seat better than when I left it,” she said. “And I’m more looking forward to my return probably more than anyone else.”
