“No. I mean, the biggest part I miss is the people. The people are the part I miss. It’s like anything else. Technology comes in and evolves and it changes and it’s just not what it used to be when I ran it,” Tony Stewart said, reminiscing about the Cup scene. After all, NASCAR felt less like a global sports franchise back in the day. Remember Earnhardt’s sardine-under-the-seat prank on Rusty Wallace? That informal environment introduced memorable garage lore that underlined how social the paddock was. No wonder Stewart is filled with nostalgia.
When Tony Stewart reflects on his days in NASCAR, what stands out to him isn’t just the racing, but the shared journey with his crew. Back in 1996, as a rookie preparing for the Indianapolis 500, he didn’t hop on a charter plane or fly in separately from his team the way many drivers do now. Instead, he piled into the team hauler, riding shoulder to shoulder with the same mechanics and engineers who would wrench on his car once they arrived at the track.
Speaking on Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour podcast, Tony Stewart didn’t hold back on the changes he has seen over the years: “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it at this time in this point in my life. I love the environment. I love that you know, it’s not March of the Elephants, where all the crew guys come in at a certain time and they have to be out of the garage at a certain time… But what I do enjoy about it, and that I feel like brings us back to very early 2000s or the ’90s was you’ll have teams, and even with our two teams, I mean, the Top Fuel team might get done before the Funny Car team’s done servicing their car.”
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That kind of intimacy was a part of Stewart’s grit that enabled him to win three Cup championships, two with Joe Gibbs Racing and again in 2011 as an owner-driver with Stewart-Haas Racing. And even within his NHRA team, camaraderie has become a cornerstone. Tony Stewart Racing, since entering NHRA nitro competition in 2022, fields entries in both Top Fuel and Funny Car and has begun forming strong internal bonds. The recent alliance with Elite Motorsports also speaks to his belief that success in drag racing comes not only from horsepower and reaction times but also from teams working together, sharing resources, and mutual respect.
Reflecting on the almost mechanical functioning within teams these days, Stewart said, “But they’re all milling around. The whole pit area is milling around, visiting with each other, and drinking beer in the pits together. And it’s like, ‘Wow, this reminds me of when I used to race sprint cars back in the day. And when we started in NASCAR, guys from different teams were milling around. The races I went to last year, the teams don’t mill around with anybody but their own organizations. They don’t go talk to other people in different teams. So, it’s just a different time in the NASCAR sport. But, um, I do enjoy that. I do enjoy the camaraderie with the entire pit area.”
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But with the lost beer-drinking moments with teams, Stewart is looking onward and upward. While Stewart sold off his NASCAR team last season to focus fully on drag racing, he hasn’t abandoned his dirt track roots. In fact, Tony Stewart Racing just completed a full restructuring of its own. On Wednesday, TSR announced a full-time switch to the High Limit Sprint Car Series and a blockbuster signing: current series points leader Rico Abreu is set to join the team for the 2026 season. With that, Tony Stewart isn’t just staying in the game; he is writing the playbook, one bold move at a time.
Tony Stewart is set to race against his wife in the NHRA Top Fuel division
Even as the winds of change blow through his drag racing team, the indomitable Tony Stewart isn’t easing off the throttle any time soon. NASCAR Hall of Famer and motorsports icon confirmed that his high-octane drag race journey will continue in 2026, this time in the adrenaline-pumping NHRA Top Fuel division.
But here is the kicker: Tony Stewart won’t be behind the wheel for his own team, TSR, due to a major shake-up going on. ‘Smoke’ is shifting gears and teams, signing on with Elite Motorsports for the upcoming season, ending a stretch of speculation and uncertainty about his future in the sport.
Stewart, as candid as ever, said, “I am going to be driving too. I said I wouldn’t race against my wife — and, well, I’ve lied to myself, obviously. It’s like saying you wouldn’t race against your own kid. Yeah, I’ve already gone down that road, and it’s never not going to happen. And now, if it happens again, that’ll be twice. But yeah, I have an amazing opportunity with Richard Freeman and the entire crew at Elite Motorsports to get behind the wheel of a Top Fuel car next year.”
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So, what sparked this steam transition? Enter Leah Pruett, Stewart’s wife and a seasoned NHRA veteran, who is gearing up for a dramatic return to racing after stepping away in 2023 to begin building a family with Tony Stewart. When she hit pause, Tony stepped into the driver’s seat in her place, and he didn’t just fill in; he thrived. After earning Rookie of the Year honors, Stewart has roared into 2025 with serious firepower, clinching the NHRA Top Fuel division regular season championship, but even champions have their scars. Stewart’s momentum took a hit the past weekend with a dramatic and widely shared crash during Finals Round Two of the Reading Nationals.
Still, true to form, he remains locked in at second in the points standings, proving he is far from done.