"Felt incredibly good to knock the rust off": Leah Pruett ends a 499-day-long Top Fuel hiatus by testing Tony Stewart's ride 

Former NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart's wife, Leah Pruett, snapped her 499-day hiatus and made her comeback to the NHRA Series. Pruett shared the exciting news with motorsports fans on her Instagram, mentioning her experience of getting behind the wheel of a top-fuel car.

Stewart and the 12-time NHRA winner were introduced by Don Prudhomme via FaceTime in 2019. The couple soon began dating and tied the knot in 2021. Years into their marriage, Pruett took a break from professional racing to focus on starting a family, and since then, the former NASCAR Cup Series driver has been filling her seat.

Leah Pruett took part in the exclusive test session at Virginia Motorsports Park and drove Tony Stewart's car. She was seen in the cockpit of her husband's dragster and wrote a heartfelt note on social media. Her caption read:

"499 days. That’s how long it had been since I last wheeled a Top Fueler — until Monday. ☺️ And trust me… I didn’t care that we were testing in some of the nastiest conditions ever (98.6º ambient, 146º on the track). After 499 days out of the seat… it felt incredibly good to knock the rust off." "This test day had been in the works for months. I drove Tony’s car — the one built and fitted for him. Swapped out seat inserts and a couple belts, and I was… dialed in-ish. 😏 We got in 3 good hits in, checked off key items from our parts test list, and left @racevmp with self assurance that ‘racer Leah’ can absolutely co-exist with ‘mamma Leah.’ Keeping my NHRA license current means a lot to me."

After getting behind the wheel of an 11,000 horsepower dragster, Leah Pruett can use this chance to solidify her presence. Additionally, her fans have been eagerly waiting for Pruett to return to the series.

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"It was hard to find the parts"- Tony Stewart recalled building his NHRA team from scratch for his wife, Leah Pruett

Earlier this month, former NASCAR Cup Series team owner Tony Stewart was featured in an interview with POWERtube TV. During the interaction, Stewart recalled the challenges he faced while building his NHRA Series team for his wife, Leah Pruett.

Pruett had a solid career in drag racing before she tied the knot with Stewart. Following the same, the Cup Series driver often visited his now wife on drag strips, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, Stewart found his love for drag racing and aimed to start a new team. He debuted in two different divisions with Pruett in the Top Fuel ranks and Matt Hagan in the Funny Car division.

Following the same, Tony Stewart recalled the challenges he had to go through to build his team. He told the host (via YouTube):

"But it was hard. I mean, it was hard to find the parts just to build Leah's backup car. But, for Neal (Strausbaugh) [crew chief for Tony Stewart Racing’s Top Fuel team] to have to sit there and pick a co-crew chief, and Neal didn't even start trying to be the crew chief. Neal had every intention to be the co-crew chief on the car, but we couldn't find a crew chief." [10:45]

Tony Stewart drives the TSR Dodge SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster and clinched the Rookie of the Year title in the 2024 season.

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Edited by Anisha Chatterjee