Tony Stewart clinches first Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier in NHRA breakthrough at Bristol

2025 is shaping up to be a stellar season for racing phenom Tony Stewart. Just weeks ago, he bagged his first and second career Top Fuel wins in the NHRA. During the 24th annual Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway, the veteran racer recorded his career-first No. 1 qualifier.

Tony Stewart is currently in his sophomore year, driving his wife Leah Pruett’s TSR Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster. Pruett became a mother just last year and opted against a full-time schedule in 2025 as well.

Winning his first two NHRA national events reminded Tony Stewart of the moment when he started Stewart-Haas Racing with automotive tycoon Gene Haas in the NASCAR Cup Series. Speaking of which, the three-time series champion said (via NEWS WCYB),

“That brought me back to a moment back in 2009 when we started Stewart-Haas Racing. It was brief moment of being excited and knowing that I could go to the race track and not have to answer all these questions about 'when are you going to win a race?' It's we've done it and now we can just show up each weekend and do it again.”

That day at Bristol, Stewart won a specialty race named #2Fast2Tasty Challenge as well. During the final dash, he held off Doug Kalitta with a strong lap at 324.05 miles per hour in 3.803 seconds. This shattered Kalitta Motorsports’ streak of winning the first six #2Fast2Tasty challenges of the season.

Stewart will open eliminations on Sunday, racing alongside Cody Krohn. Next up for the motorsports veteran is the Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park. Scheduled for 11 am EST on Sunday, June 22, the race will air on NHRA.tv.

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Former Cup Series champion reflects on getting "chewed out" by Tony Stewart as a rookie

(From left) Ryan Blaney, Tony Stewart, and Dave Blaney talk before the start of the SRX qualifying heats at Sharon Speedway on July 23, 2022, in Hartford, Ohio. - Source: Getty

Since joining the Cup Series, Ryan Blaney, driver of the No. 12 Penske Ford Mustang, has learned from the best. One of his mentors was Tony Stewart, back when Blaney was driving for Wood Brothers Racing.

Even though Blaney was taking pointers every week from the Wood Brothers and Roger Penske himself, the Hartford Township native learned to respect his fellow racers from Stewart.

Reflecting on the good old days, Blaney said in an interview (quoted by Yardbarker),

“I got my ass chewed out by Tony Stewart my rookie year because I did something kind of foolish and dumb and just not knowing any better.” “Tony chewed me out and I learned from it. I moved on and I tried to become a better race car driver from that. That’s just how it goes in every sport, you look at that, that’s just how it goes. The experience level gets higher and higher,” he added.

Ryan Blaney is now one of the winningest drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series. His victory at Nashville Superspeedway last week got him in the playoff rumble alongside teammates Joey Logano and Austin Cindric. 14 races in, the speedster sits seventh in the driver standings with 417 points to his name.

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Edited by Tushhita Barua