Tony Stewart captured his first Top Fuel win Sunday, defeating reigning NHRA champion Antron Brown, Jasmine Salinas, and Justin Ashley in the final. Stewart recorded a time of 3.870 seconds at 317.42 mph, adding to his growing list of accolades in motorsports.
Joining Stewart in the winners circle at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway were former Stewart sprint car associate turned Funny Car champion Austin Prock and Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock).
The victory marks a significant milestone for Stewart, who earned NHRA Rookie of the Year honors last year and reached the finals two weeks ago in Pomona. It will hold a special place alongside series titles in NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC competition.
“It’s unreal. I haven’t been around the NHRA that long, and I realize it takes a long time to win a race in this series, but everything in my career, I never had to wait over a year to win a race. I always figured it out in the first year, and multiple ones normally, so I’m just very appreciative of this win,” Stewart said.
“Last year was so stressful after Leah (Pruett, wife) almost won a world championship (in 2023), and I get in the car last year, and the people in the stands think I’m the reason the car sucks. It wasn’t that we had bad people tuning on it, it was just, it was a different combination. There were different variables that change. My body weight is different, tubing changes from rules changes, but it was still really frustrating we could not get on a path to where we could make gains last year.
“I think probably the one thing that may not sink in as much right now, but when Leah brought (son) Dom up on the stage there, that’s an emotion that you can’t even think about or dream of. When I saw her coming up those steps with him, my heart stopped. That was a feeling I’ve never had in my life before, and I have a feeling when I lay down and put my head on a pillow tonight, that’s going to be the one thing that I want to reflect on the most tonight.”
Brown finished as the runner-up with a 3.912, 302.35, while Stewart’s victory moved him to second in the Top Fuel standings behind Shawn Langdon.
Prock returned to 2024 championship form in Funny Car, securing his first win of the season with a run of 4.009 seconds at 316.01 mph. Prock held off Paul Lee, Matt Hagan, and Dave Richards in the final, following a strong semifinal performance where he recorded a time of 3.964 seconds.
“We haven’t had the success that we had last year, but we’re still the same team,” Prock said. “We always expect to show up and win. We want to go set low E.T. every round, and we want to win every race, so when we’re not doing that, it’s hard to keep your head up when things aren’t going right, especially when your expectations are so high. So, for all of us to come together is great.
“It feels really good, man. Opening up in Gainesville, it just wasn’t a great weekend, and we just struggled in Pomona after a good weekend in Phoenix, but just couldn’t put it all together. You just want to hold one of these Wally (trophies) again because you don’t know how long it’s going to take before you win another one.”
Lee finished as the runner-up with a 4.042, 311.77, marking his second final-round appearance of the year. Prock’s win moved him to third in the points standings.
Glenn claimed the Pro Stock victory against points leader Greg Anderson, Matt Hartford, and Matt Latino, finishing with a 6.649 seconds, 206.83. The victory was the 15th of Glenn’s career and third at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“I’m really thrilled,” Glenn said, recalling a challenging day that included a nosebleed during staging. “I still made a decent run going into the second round … It’s a good day. The car is working great.”
Hartford secured his first runner-up finish of the season.
Anderson maintained his position at the top of the Pro Stock standings, leaving Vegas with a four-point edge over Glenn.
The NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series resumes action April 25-27 with the 15th annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte.
