Six years ago – June 26, 2016 – Tony Stewart passed Denny Hamlin on the final lap, in the hairpin Turn 11, to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350 for the third time. It ended his 84-race winless streak and turned out to be the final victory of his distinguished NASCAR career. The same year he joined Ernie Irvan in Sonoma Raceway’s Wall of Fame. 

This weekend, his wife, Leah Pruett, is hoping this same track will produce equally special memories and give her added momentum following her first 2022 victory last Sunday at Denver. It was the first Top Fuel victory for Tony Stewart Racing. 

Pruett set the Sonoma Raceway elapsed-time record at 3.669 seconds in 2017, and she was runner-up to Steve Torrence last year. With this weekend's Sonoma visit, Pruett can keep alive her chances to sweep the Western Swing. 

Looking to become the first driver in NHRA history to win four straight races at Sonoma Raceway, Funny Car’s Robert Hight secured the No. 1 position in front of a capacity crowd on Saturday at the 34th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals.
 
Leah Pruett (Top Fuel), Erica Enders (Pro Stock) and Angelle Sampey (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also qualified No. 1 at the 12th of 22 races during the 2022 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season and the second stop of the three-race NHRA Western Swing.

After struggling for nearly the entire first half of the 2022 NHRA season, Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett finally seems to be finding her groove.
After winning the Mile-High Nationals in Denver Sunday, Pruett responded  Friday night by taking the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot at the Denso Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals.

Pruett, driving for her husband’s Tony Stewart Racing team, clocked a 3.689-second time at 327.59 mph.

Veteran nitro Funny Car driver Robert Hight’s incredible 2022 keeps picking up steam.

After winning the Mile-High Nationals in Denver Sunday, Hight rolled off the trailer and grabbed the top spot in Friday’s qualifying at the Denso Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals this weekend.

There’s very little multi-time NHRA Pro Stock world champion driver Erica Enders hasn’t done right this season.

She proved that again Saturday during qualifying at the Denso Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals this weekend.

Angelle Sampey left no doubt who had the fastest bike at the Denso Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals.

Sampey powered to a track record 6.700-second elapsed time at 200.95 mph to grab the No. 1 qualifier position at the second race of the NHRA’s Western Swing.

Josh Hart turned a lot of heads last season. The part-time driver from Ocala, Fla, became the first driver since Darrell Russell in 2001 to win in his debut when Hart scored a massive win at the 2021 NHRA season opener in Gainesville, Fla., last season.

Hart, who appeared in 12 races last season, ran strong every time he showed up at the racetrack and would score his second career win later in the season in Charlotte, putting the rest of the Top Fuel class on notice that he was a force to be reckoned with.

With all the talk in the offseason about the stacked field in Top Fuel heading into the new year, Hart, who was stepping up to run a full season in 2022, would be expected to continue his outstanding performance from the year prior and be one of the frontrunners in the class.  

Here's a sneak peek of Stan Shelton's new Mustang that just rolled out of Jerry Bickel Race Cars. We are told the car is headed to ProLine for the installation of a new Noonan powerplant and is expected to see action in the NHRA's Pro Modified and PDRA Pro Boost divisions. 

Veteran nitro Funny Car driver Jeff Diehl is returning to the track.

Diehl will be piloting his Funny Car at the Denso Sonoma (Calif.) Nationals this weekend.

Diehl is racing thanks to his long-time sponsors as well as new sponsors.

“I’m excited about Sonoma and the new sponsors we will have helping us,” Diehl said.