The Winternationals in Pomona, Calif., is full of drag racing history.
The storied national event added a new chapter to its rich history when Tony Stewart captured the Top Fuel title Sunday at the 66th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at In-N-Out Burger Pomona (Calif.) Dragstrip
Stewart, who is in his third season driving an NHRA Top Fuel dragster, became the first NASCAR Cup Series Champion (2002, 2005 and 2011) and IndyCar Series champion (1997) to win an NHRA Top Fuel Wally when he was twice victorious in 2025.
Stewart won his inaugural career NHRA Top Fuel national event at the Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on April 14, 2025. He notched career win No. 2 at the Gerber Collision and Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK Performance near Chicago on May 18 last year.
Stewart claimed Top Fuel national event win No. 3 when he clocked a 3.683-second elapsed time at 332.51 mph to edge Justin Ashley’s 3.714, 328.54.
This was Stewart’s first win while driving the R+L Carriers Top Fuel dragster for Richard Freeman’s Elite Motorsports Team.
“Definitely not,” said Stewart if he would win in just three races with Freeman’s new Top Fuel team. “I literally told Richard Freeman and Royce Freeman on Friday, and individually, I mean, I saw them and I got Richard off to the side and I said, ‘Listen, I know I’m relatively new to drag racing,’ I said, ‘but I’ve been racing for 47 years. I’ve been a part of a lot of different programs and worked with a lot of different people.’ And I said, ‘I promise you, all the ingredients are here. You can see it. I can tell. I’ve just been a part of enough programs to know when it’s right.’ And I said, ‘I don’t know when it’s going to click and when it’s all going to come together, but I’m telling you all the stuff that you need to be successful is right here, right now. It just has to come in its own time,’ and I had no idea in 48 hours that it was going to come together but and we still got a lot of work to do. I mean you know obviously [crew chief] Mike Green and Joe Barlam they’ll tell you the same thing. I mean, we had a great day. I felt great on the race track. I felt great on the lights. There were times during the day when we were sitting there and we knew we missed stuff, but at the same time, they made big adjustments and to run a 68, that’s what he tried to run in the semifinals.”
On a Sunday mired in a lengthy rain delay, Stewart didn’t blink, defeating Will Smith, Josh Hart, Shawn Langdon and then Ashley. Stewart also beat Ashley in the final round at Chicago in 2025.
It was an extra special day as Matt Hagan, driving for Tony Stewart Racing, captured the 1,000th NHRA Funny Car race by defeating Ron Capps moments after Ashley had been downed by Stewart.
“I don’t know what feels better to me – winning my first race (Elite Motorsports) or Matt winning the 1,000th for NHRA’s Funny Car race,” Stewart said. “It’s just everything about all this. Leah’s passion for this and this being a home race for her, and Matt [winning] – you couldn’t ask for anything more.”
Stewart knows claiming Wallys is no easy task. Freeman has been ultra-successful in NHRA’s Pro Stock ranks, winning multiple world championships. Adding a Top Fuel team in the offseason and getting it to win in just three races is a major feat.
“Just to see these guys and see the progression. I mean, Mike Green’s track record speaks for itself and so does Joe Barlam’s. Joe’s been around forever,” Stewart said. “When I met Joe, we were in IndyCar together back in the late ’90s. So, for me to race with those guys and to race with a different program, it’s definitely a unique and different dynamic than what I’m used to, for sure. But at the same time, it’s awesome to race with Mike Green and Joe and, Dustin Davis. I mean, just such a unique and great group of people at Elite Motorsports, and most of all, Richard Freeman.”
Stewart also took a moment to thank his wife – and fellow Top Fuel driver – Leah Pruett, who was the person that got him involved in drag racing in the first place.
“In these three top fuel wins now, the one person I’ve never thanked in the media and in the interviews is Leah. If it wasn’t for her and everything that she’s taught me … I mean, between Leah and Matt Hagan, and Leah’s probably been 95% of it,” said Stewart who shared his winner’s press conference with Hagan. “Leah gets tired of me climbing in bed and asking questions about racing and finally said, ‘When our asses hit the mattress, we can’t race anymore.’ She goes, ‘It’s time to go to sleep.’ But she is such a huge part. People don’t realize how integral of a part she’s been in my career in drag racing.
“I’ve had a thousand questions, and every time there’s an answer, it leads to three more questions. And she’s never sat there and acted like I was annoying and that she didn’t want to take the time. She’s always taken the time to answer it. And everything that I’ve done in the sport has been because of her. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t even be an owner in the sport and be involved in it. So, the impact she’s had on my career here and to be a part of it and NHRA’s 75th anniversary to sit here at the Winternationals, this is her home track. It feels extra special to me because of her and because of her story of telling me that when she was a kid she’d sneak out of school just to come to the drag races on Fridays.”
Although this wasn’t Stewart’s first career Top Fuel win, winning at a storied venue like Pomona wasn’t lost on him.
“I’ve been here five years now and following her [Leah] around and being a part of it, but it doesn’t take long to realize how special Pomona is in drag racing and how much it means to everybody,” Stewart said. “So like Matt said, to be able to come here and especially on an anniversary year for an NHRA – you couldn’t ask for a better scenario for me. The only thing that would have made it better is if we met – if Leah and I met – in the finals. That’s the only thing that could have made this any better. But for Matt to get the 1,000th Funny Car win here and to be here on NHRA’s 75th anniversary and win here at the Winternationals, that is huge.
“And to win for R&L Carriers and everybody at Elite Motorsports, they showed me the video in victory lane from the starting line when it was over. There were so many people from the Pro Stock team. That’s the stuff that means so much. The way Richard and I met was literally before I bought the trucks and trailers from Don Schumacher and started TSR [Tony Stewart Racing]. But from that day, Richard and I had a special connection with each other and a bond. To sit here and race together and be able to get him his first win in the nitro class is just a feeling that you can’t express. There are really no words that really tell the story of what it means. For his whole group and all those people and … for everybody, the day that they had and to sit there and every one of those employees from Elite were on that starting line when we won that race and to see that video, it, that means more than being at the top end to me. It’s just hard to put it all in words. The part I’m scared about is Richard’s going to think this shit’s easy. And it’s not. It’s definitely not.”
