Tony Stewart has spent nearly five decades chasing victories across multiple forms of motorsports. Now the three-time NASCAR Cup champion and reigning NHRA Top Fuel regular season champion says the drag racing world won’t have to wait long to learn his next move.
On a recent episode of the Dale Jr. Download, Stewart revealed he will announce his 2026 plans during this weekend’s NHRA Carolina Four-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway. He dropped the news on the same show where Rico Abreu was confirmed as a new member of Tony Stewart Racing, adding another dimension to an organization already juggling Funny Car, Top Fuel and sprint car programs.
“I do. I do,” Stewart said when asked if he already knows his future. “And this week we’ll all know what it is, but yeah, let’s just say next year’s going to be a lot of fun.”
For Stewart, drag racing was never an inevitable career stop. He admitted he was only a casual fan before meeting wife Leah Pruett, who drew him deeper into the NHRA world. He compared her passion for drag racing to the fire that fueled him early in his stock car career.
“Absolutely not. Didn’t have, I was a casual fan,” Stewart said of his pre-Pruett interest. “I enjoyed watching it on TV if it was on, but I didn’t search for it and didn’t plan my day around watching a broadcast of it or go to the races.”
Stewart said his first real exposure came when Stewart-Haas Racing was backed by the U.S. Army. That sponsorship opened the door for him to visit the U.S. Nationals and meet Don Schumacher and son Tony Schumacher. Even then, he remembered standing outside the pit area, reluctant to distract a team on drag racing’s biggest weekend.
That changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Schumacher granted him permission to accompany Pruett at races under strict health protocols. What began as a chance to observe became an immersion into the behind-the-scenes life of a Top Fuel operation. “That really sparked the fire,” Stewart said.
Doing it alongside Pruett solidified his commitment.
“To get a chance to do it with someone you love and care about and is your life partner, and to get to see her passion and drive and it’s the same, I tell everybody she is me 17 years earlier,” Stewart said. “To go to the racetrack each weekend, get to do it with my wife, to now have our son there … that passion’s never went away.”
That passion was tested last weekend at Reading when Stewart and Doug Kalitta crashed at in the Maple Grove Raceway shutdown. He described the wreck as a reminder of the risks, but said his instinct remained focused on preparing for Charlotte. His backup car was tested by Pruett the following Monday while he recovered from doctor’s orders.
“Our crash the other day happened at 240 miles an hour, and I’d never thought about that,” Stewart said. “But even when that happened, all I cared about was, all right, well, what do we got to do to get ready for next weekend, which is Charlotte coming up.”
Stewart has never hidden that his Top Fuel ride is borrowed. He stepped in while Pruett paused her driving career to start a family with Stewart, and he now acknowledges it was always her car. For him, the arrangement became as much about marriage as it was about motorsports.
“This wasn’t about me,” Stewart said. “Me driving her car was about her and her decision for us to start a family together, and she got to dictate the timing of it and all that because I felt like that was really important.”
Even so, he found pride in proving himself behind the wheel. Stewart won races, secured the Top Fuel regular season championship and entered the Countdown as a title contender. That validation, he said, made stepping aside bittersweet.
“There were a couple small moments where I had to bite my tongue, because I’m like I really don’t want to get out of this race car,” Stewart said. “But I do because I’m doing it for the person I love and I know how much she loves being in it.”
Now, with Pruett preparing for a 2026 return, Stewart admits he has his own plans lined up. He didn’t reveal details but hinted his competitive career is far from over. Abreu’s addition to the TSR fold only reinforces that Stewart’s motorsports portfolio continues to grow.
“If racing with Rico is not fun enough, this just encompasses all of it and the season we’re going to have next year and the things that I’m going to get to do,” Stewart said. “We’re one team, all team.”
The question of retirement, which follows most drivers into their fifties, doesn’t appear to concern Stewart. Friends have asked when enough will be enough, but he insists his motivation remains strong. He credits a renewed focus on fitness for keeping him sharp in the cockpit.
“I don’t see an end anytime in the near future,” Stewart said. “We’ve had a lot of our friends that have sat there and said, ‘When’s enough going to be enough?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t know, but my brain doesn’t say that this is it yet.’”
For now, Stewart’s future in drag racing is both settled and unsettled — clear to him, yet still a mystery to fans. By the end of the weekend, he says, the waiting will be over.
