This was not a spur-of-the-moment decision. That’s not how Tony Stewart, Leah Pruett, and Tony Schumacher operate.
What became one of the biggest driver announcements heading toward the 2027 NHRA season had been moving quietly behind the scenes since around June. Pruett had made a family decision, Schumacher saw an opportunity, and Stewart had a race team that needed to figure out what came next.
By the time Tony Stewart Racing announced Friday at the NHRA Great Lakes Nationals in Martin, Mich., that Schumacher would drive its Top Fuel dragster in 2027, the hard part had been handled months earlier. The public announcement was new but the plan wasn’t.
“Whether I am first in points or 11th, my decision was still the same, that came about midway this season,” Pruett said. “I believe navigating motherhood at this level of motor sports is uncharted territory. And we’re all doing the best we can and working through it.”
Pruett, currently third in the NHRA Top Fuel standings, will step out of the cockpit following the 2026 season as she and Stewart focus on growing their family. She returned this season after sitting out while Stewart drove the TSR dragster and won the NHRA New England Nationals in June.
There was never a guarantee Pruett’s return would become a long-term one. Family considerations were always part of the equation, and by the middle of the season, she knew where her priorities were headed.mThe racing side still needed an answer.
“This decision comes mostly from a timeline basis for me, as if I go to get pregnant again, they call that advanced geriatric pregnancy, and I’m just in my late 30s,” Pruett said. “So for that, it’s a timeline for the family. And I have to say the support that I’ve had between my husband, Tony Stewart, Dodge, Mobil 1, my crew chiefs, the funny car, everybody about our organization, Kelly has been able to just wrap their arms around this and go to work.”
Pruett said the decision came before TSR had worked out what would happen with the Top Fuel operation in 2027.
“And so that decision was made, but there was no really a solution and plan in place,” Pruett said. “And that’s where some really, really great things came to fruition, and basically just right on the heels of a friend to friend conversation that Tony Schumacher and I had, just that revealed opportunities along the way.”
That conversation changed the plan in a hurry. Schumacher had already been trying to secure his own long-term racing future when Pruett told him she planned to step out. Schumacher didn’t need much time to understand the opportunity sitting in front of him.
“Well, first of all, from our whole team, man, we’re excited,” Schumacher said. “That was a great meeting and it was simple. We sat down, and Leah said, ‘I think I’m going to step out.’ And I said, ‘Interesting.’ Within one year, she goes, ‘We’re going to continue on our family.’ And I said, ‘That’s a blessed part of life that most people in our sport, we focus so hard on the racing part and forget about that. And I’m proud that you guys are heading in that direction, but the seat was going to be open.’”
Then Schumacher did what racers tend to do when they see an opening. He went for it, throttle wide open with no intention to lift.
“And I sat back and thought about that for a minute and it took about a minute,” Schumacher said. “And I said, ‘Well, if it’s going to be open, I would like that spot.’”
Making the announcement was the easiest part of it. But that didn’t happen without the blessing of sponsors, manufacturer relationships, existing commitments and two racing programs that had to be brought together. Schumacher’s longtime partners had to be included, while Dodge and Mopar already had established relationships with TSR.
American Communications Construction, Aloha Beauty Lounge, 5.11 and Hollinger will follow Schumacher into the program. Dodge and Mopar will continue with TSR’s Top Fuel operation in primary and associate roles.
Schumacher said American Communications Construction’s Aven McBride quickly recognized what was available.
“So we spoke with Aven, and he’s been just a blessing as a sponsor and team guy,” Schumacher said. “And he said, ‘This is a great opportunity. We have to take it.’”
The more TSR worked through the details, the more the deal began to make sense. There was another layer to it, one that stretched much further back than June.
Stewart and Schumacher weren’t strangers trying to make a business arrangement work. History put them on the same avenue back in 2009.
The U.S. Army sponsored Schumacher’s Top Fuel operation at Don Schumacher Racing while also having a relationship with Stewart’s NASCAR program. That crossover brought Stewart into Schumacher’s world at the U.S. Nationals.
Stewart was very much in tune with race cars, it’s just the ones that went straight that left him scratching his head a bit.
“I met Tony in 2009 through the US Army partnership with DSR and we had the army partnership at SHR down on the NASCAR Cup side,” Stewart said. “So to get the opportunity to come up and watch Tony at the US Nationals, and I knew nothing, didn’t want to be in the way.”
The more Stewart tried to be just someone in the background, the more Schumacher insisted he come into the spotlight. Nobody standing there in 2009 could have drawn the line from that weekend to what happened in Martin 17 years later.
Some of the people inside TSR’s operation have worked with Schumacher during his championship years. Mike Green is part of the equation, and Schumacher pointed to other crew members whose history with him reaches back to his Army-sponsored championship days.
“I’m working with Tony Stewart, a Hall of Famer with a team of guys that, over the years, I’ve won championships with these guys,” Schumacher said. “Even though Mike Green’s on his car, Neal was the associate crew chief on my car for a few of the championships. Ryan has been on my car since the Army days.”
One point Pruett wanted to make is that Schumacher is not “replacing” her as she is adamant she’s not leaving TSR.
“I actually don’t love the word replacing because he is coming into our fold, and is a Tony Stewart Racing driver in the car with the team that I had been competing with, the team that Tony competed with for two years before I got back in,” Pruett said. “So he is not replacing me by any means. This is their adventure with our team.”
And for goodness sake, don’t hint that she’s retiring. That word will get her up on the tire quicker than anything.
Pruett intends to remain heavily involved in TSR’s management, logistics and technical programs. She said she plans to attend every race, much as she did while Stewart drove the Top Fueler during her first absence from the cockpit.
For now, Stewart plans to continue driving in Top Fuel with Elite Motorsports, creating the possibility that Schumacher could line up against his team owner.
“The weirdest thing is I’m driving his car, but get to race him,” Schumacher said. “And I thought about that and I go, but Leah has to. And the difference is I don’t got to have dinner with him.”
Schumacher is scheduled to make his TSR debut at the season-opening NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip, Feb. 18-21, 2027.
Pruett expects to be there, too; just not wearing the firesuit.
“I’ll be at every race, just as I was before,” Pruett said. “Midway next season, hopefully I’ll have a big bump, and Don will be over two years old and meeting Tony Stewart or Tony Schumacher at the finish line, hopefully congratulating them with one of them with a Wally.”
