AUBURN HILLS, Mich.,
Dec. 7,
2023 /PRNewswire/ --
![Leah Pruett announced she will temporarily step away from driving duties in the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Pro Drag Racing Series to focus on starting a family with husband and Hall of Fame racer Tony Stewart, who will race the full season in her place in the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) team’s 11,000-horsepower Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel dragster. Leah Pruett announced she will temporarily step away from driving duties in the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Pro Drag Racing Series to focus on starting a family with husband and Hall of Fame racer Tony Stewart, who will race the full season in her place in the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) team’s 11,000-horsepower Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel dragster.](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2294922/DG023_022MO.jpg)
- Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) announced that Top Fuel driver
Leah Pruett will temporarily step
away from 2024 NHRA competition in her Dodge//SRT Direct Connection
dragster to focus on starting a family with husband Tony Stewart
- Stewart, the former NASCAR, IndyCar and USAC champion, will
take over the driving chores in the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct
Connection Top Fueler after finishing second in the 2023 NHRA
national Top Alcohol Dragster division in his rookie campaign in
NHRA competition
- Stewart, a 13-time motorsports series champion and NASCAR Hall
of Famer, made his NHRA full-season debut last year, scoring two
national and two regional event wins
- Pruett drove the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection dragster to
third in the 2023 NHRA Top Fuel points with victories at
Norwalk, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas
- Pruett's 2023 campaign led her to a chance to capture the Top
Fuel World Championship in the final round at the final race at
Pomona, California
- Pruett will remain as a Dodge Direct Connection and Mopar brand
ambassador and continue to be involved in various aspects of the
TSR Nitro organization
- Stewart's 2024 NHRA Top Fuel effort will be led by crew chief
Neal Strausbaugh and car chief
Mike Domagala in the 21-event
national campaign
- Stewart will team with reigning NHRA Funny Car World Champion
Matt Hagan in the 21-race 2024 NHRA
Mission Foods Pro Drag Racing Series in the two-car TSR Dodge//SRT
Direct Connection nitro operation
- In 2023, Pruett and Hagan combined for eight NHRA national
event victories for TSR with Hagan scoring the team's first World
Championship
- Follow Dodge in NHRA action at DodgeGarage.com
The motorsports duo of Leah
Pruett and Tony Stewart made
major news today regarding their respective racing careers, with
Pruett announcing she will temporarily step away from driving
duties in the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Pro Drag Racing Series to
focus on starting a family with husband Stewart, who will race the
full season in her place in the Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) team's
11,000-horsepower Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel
dragster.
Just one round win away from earning the coveted NHRA Top Fuel
World Championship last month at the season-ending NHRA Finals in
Pomona, California, Pruett enjoyed
her greatest Top Fuel season in 2023 with two wins and a
third-place finish in the final Top Fuel points standings, proving
her TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection dragster was a top contender
against the highly competitive Top Fuel field. Pruett, a fan
favorite who has driven almost her entire NHRA pro career under the
Dodge and Mopar banner, will continue as a Dodge Direct Connection
and Mopar brand ambassador during the 2024 season.
Motorsports legend Stewart, a series champion in NASCAR, IndyCar
and in USAC, takes over the controls of the team's Top Fuel machine
in 2024 with another championship in his sights. Stewart will make
his 2024 Top Fuel driving debut at the season-opening NHRA
Gatornationals, March 7-10.
"We are thrilled to welcome Hall of Fame racer Tony Stewart as the new full-time driver of the
Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel dragster for the upcoming
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Pro Drag Racing Series," said Tim Kuniskis,
Dodge brand chief executive officer – Stellantis. "With her
decision to temporarily step back from a full-time racing career,
we also recognize all Leah Pruett
has accomplished in her many years competing and winning under the
Dodge and Mopar banners. We're extremely excited that Leah will
continue next year as an at-track ambassador for our brands. Tony
is a motorsports legend, and along with 2023 NHRA Funny Car
champion Matt Hagan, we know the
Tony Stewart Racing team will continue to demonstrate that Direct
Connection parts are championship-proven examples of premier
performance on the track and on the street."
With her desire to focus on starting a family with Stewart, and
after consultation with TSR team owner Stewart, crew chief
Neal Strausbaugh and car chief
Mike Domagala, Pruett, with a
27-year drag-racing career, made the decision to step away and hand
the reigns of the Top Fuel dragster to her husband.
"This decision did not happen overnight, and I feel that
stepping out of the seat right now is what's best for myself and
Tony to start a family," said Pruett, a 12-time NHRA Top Fuel
national event winner. "This has been one of the most difficult
decisions to make because of what we have collectively created at
TSR, a highly successful program and enjoyable operation. I'm
excited about how competitive this team is, and to be able to have
Tony compete in a very safe, vetted, well-performing car with an
established team."
It was Pruett's decision to step away from driving at this time
but the veteran racer will be actively involved in the TSR
organization and team strategies.
"I am very proud of my wife," said Stewart. "To make a decision
like this must be extremely hard. We had discussed starting a
family and this was her decision. I was very supportive as to
whether she wanted to do it now or years from now. I'm very humbled
that Leah and Neal felt I was the driver to fill in for her. I feel
honored that I can do that for my wife and this team."
Stewart's drag-racing career began in 2022 with a close loss in
his debut in the Top Alcohol Dragster category in Las Vegas, but the Indiana driver returned for a full season this
year and placed second in the NHRA national points, including wins
at Las Vegas and Reading.
"I enjoyed my time in the Top Alcohol Dragster class," explained
Stewart. "I absolutely loved racing with the McPhillips Racing
family. But to have an opportunity like this, where you have your
wife, who's also a driver, and the crew chief feel I'm capable to
come in and drive the car is very flattering. It's an honor to be
able to fill in for her until she's ready to come back."
Stewart's teammate will be reigning Funny Car World Champion
Matt Hagan, who scored his fourth
title last month at the NHRA Finals in the TSR Direct Connection
Dodge//SRT Hellcat. Hagan believes his team owner will be an
excellent addition.
"It's a great move for Leah, who wanted to start a family," said
Hagan. "I'm so happy for the two of them. It was challenging for
Leah to step out of the seat. It's a personal and private situation
for Leah and Tony and I respect that. And she can come back when
she wants as well. And for Tony, he's a natural and a champion in
whatever he has driven. He's a great team owner as well, and has
driven Leah's car and my car in testing. He was outstanding in both
of them. I believe Tony will be a contender this year."
Stewart will start his NHRA Top Fuel career in the TSR
Dodge//SRT Direct Connection dragster in the season-opening NHRA
Gatornationals on March 7-10 at
Gainesville, Florida, while Pruett
is expected to drive in the PRO Superstar Shootout on Feb. 8-10 in Bradenton,
Florida.
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SOURCE Stellantis