Stewart blasts into NHRA FallNationals on final qualifying pass
Top Fuel driver Tony Stewart made a pass in the fourth qualifying session that was clocked at 3.816-seconds and 327.25 mph to secure the 15th spot on Sunday’s 16-car eliminations ladder. NHRA photo
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
ENNIS – Tony Stewart puckered-up and dodged the dreaded first DNQ of his rookie Top Fuel season during final-round qualifying Saturday afternoon for the 39th annual Texas NHRA FallNationals.
Tony Stewart is competing in his first season in the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel class. NHRA photo
Stewart covered the 1,000-foot distance at Texas Motorplex in 3.816-seconds and 327.25 mph to bag the 15th spot on Sunday’s 16-car eliminations ladder. Stewart’s previous three passes this weekend in the black-and-gold 50th anniversary Tony Stewart Racing Mobil1 Dodge//SRT dragster had gone up in tire smoke, leaving the NASCAR Hall of Famer 18th in a field of 19 entries after an aborted lap of 4.586-seconds at 165.03 mph.
But the frustrations of Stewart and veteran crew chief Neal Strasbaugh were momentarily relieved by “Smoke’s” Point A-to-B pass in the summer-like Texas heat at 4:30 p.m. That pass bumped Scott Palmer and his best run of 3.883-seconds out of the race day program.
“It’s days like this that you hate,” said Stewart, who had qualified for the season’s previous 17 races without drama. “We shouldn’t have been in the position we were in going into the final round of qualifying like this. That part’s frustrating, but the guys have been rock-solid. We’ve just got to do a better job.”
Recall that Stewart’s wife, Leah Pruett, won this event last year with the same car and team en route to a third-place finish in the final season standings topped by first-time champion Doug Kalitta. For the record, Pruett trailered (in order) 2013 world champion Shawn Langdon, Kalitta, Clay Millican and four-time world champ Steve Torrence at The Plex one year ago.
Leah Pruett and Tony Stewart. Photo courtesy of the NHRA
Pruett – who finished 57 points/two rounds of racing behind Kalitta _ officially exited the car in December so she and her hubby could start a family. That life-changing event – the couple’s first son – is anticipated around Nov. 20, one day before their third wedding anniversary.
“I’m starting to feel like I’m cursed or something,” Stewart said during his top-end interview. “Leah almost won a world championship with this team and I can’t get out of my own damn way with it. So, just proud to get this Mobil 1 50th anniversary car in the race because they deserve it. They’ve been a great partner of ours for years.”
The FallNats is the 18th of 20 races in the 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series, Round 4 of the six-event Countdown to the Championship playoffs and culmination of the 10-day “Stampede of Speed” at Hall of Famer Billy Meyer’s facility. Stewart began the weekend ninth in points, 194 behind leader and three-time world champion Antron Brown.
Brittany Force, the Top Fuel world champion in 2017 and 2022, qualified P1 with a pass in 3.667-seconds at 338.19 mph in the HendrickCars.com/Chevrolet dragster fielded by John Force Racing. Force posted her fourth pole of the season and landmark 50th of her stellar career. During her post-qually presser, Brit said she certainly could relate to Stewart’s pressurized situation.
Brittany Force, Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier. NHRA photo
“It’s a tough place to be,” said Force, whose 13-15 won/loss record (.464) actually ranks one spot behind Stewart’s 15-17 (.469). “Nobody wants to go into the final qualifying session fighting their way in. There’s an outstanding number of cars here and you’ve got to fight to get into that top-16. So it definitely puts a lot of pressure on the driver, on the crew chief, on the whole team.
“As the driver, you’re looking down that racetrack hoping your car will go and you put a number on the board that gets you in the show. It’s very stressful but it’s part of the game. We all deal with it.”
A three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, Stewart has emerged as his own harshest critic during a season that has included a loss in his lone final-round appearance against Brown.
“I think we’re doing all right,” Stewart said during an interview at the 14th annual Smoke Show charity event earlier this week at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth. “I mean, from the driving side…when we left the U.S. Nationals I was tied for fifth in average reaction time _ was tied with Tony Schumacher. That’s pretty good company, to be with an eight-time world champion. If you ask my wife, if you ask the team _ at least what they tell me in the team meeting at the end of the day on race day _ they’re happy with what I’m doing driving the car.
Tony Stewart. NHRA photo
“It’s definitely different than running a 500-mile race (at TMS), way different to manage expectations and a way different skill-set. You’re in a Cup car for three-and-a-half hours; it’s three-and-a-half seconds (at The Plex). It’s make it/take it, miss it/kiss it. It’s like playing H-O-R-S-E in the backyard. There’s no re-dos, no ‘let me change this’. You get one shot to do it and if you do it right you get to go to the next round. If not, you start loading stuff up. It’s definitely a different environment for sure.”
Stewart said he and his wife have learned to adjust to their new roles – Tony as over-eager student and Leah as Professor of Nitromethane.
“I think she was more worried about that aspect than I was when we knew she wanted to start a family and I got named to drive the car,” said Stewart, 53. “I think she was a little more worried about how I was going to be with her coaching than I was.
“Obviously, we communicate very, very well. I told her, ‘I don’t want to do this 98 percent of the way right, I want to do it 100 percent.’ So if there’s something I leave on the table, two percent or less, I want to know what it is so I can try to make it better. Literally, the first third, the first half of the season, she would sit there and critique every little thing about the run that I did _ I mean, even if I didn’t pull the chutes early enough.”
Tony Stewart finished the regular season in the top 10 and is competing in the Countdown to the Championship in Top Fuel this season. NHRA photo
Stewart, whose versatility has drawn comparisons to motorsports legends A.J. Foyt Jr. and Mario Andretti, has won professional auto races in more types of vehicles than any current driver in North America. That list includes events in NASCAR (Cup, Xfinity and Truck), INDYCAR, USAC (Triple Crown), World of Outlaws and All-Star Sprint Cars, IROC, SRX, Chili Bowl, Turkey Night Grand Prix and Dirt Modifieds.
“My goal, as quickly as possible, was to look like it wasn’t my first year driving a Top Fuel car,” Stewart said. “Leah’s been a great coach and now the compliment for me is when I come in and she doesn’t even talk to me about the run anymore. She’s happy with what I’m doing, and I’m doing it right. Between her and Matt Hagan (TSR’s Funny Car driver and four-time/reigning world champion), they’re both excellent teachers. They’re a cliff notes version of how to run in a Pro class in NHRA.”
Stewart made his NHRA debut on the Motorplex’s famed all-concrete surface last season in Top Alcohol Dragster, qualifying ninth and advancing to Round 2 during eliminations. Stewart returned to TAD this season with immediate success, running a five-race schedule in a familiar McPhillips Racing TAD entry. Stewart racked up three wins, one runnerup result and one semifinal finish for team-owner Richie McPhillips to secure the NHRA North Central Division TAD championship in NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 3.
Tony Stewart recently won NHRA North Central Division TAD championship in NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Division 3. Courtesy photo
“The five races that you claim, they take your best four toward the regional championship. Looks good on the resume,” Stewart joked, “in case I want to be a professional driver one day.”
The highlight of Tony’s Top Fuel season to-date occurred during the 36th annual Denso NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway on July 28, when he reached his first nitro final against Brown. But even that accomplishment didn’t escape scrutiny.
“Ah, I wouldn’t say it was a great day,” Stewart said. “On surface value it was a great day but we weren’t running well. We had lost to Jasmine Salinas two consecutive races first-round and that was very frustrating.”
Stewart left the line first against Antron, but Brown tracked him down at 3.746-seconds and 329.67 mph in his 11,000-horsepower Matco Tools/Toyota dragster to earn his 77th career victory. Brown defeated Shawn Reed, Steve Torrence and Force to reach the final.
“Me and Tony know each other well,” Brown said that afternoon. “When I started as a team-owner he was putting together TSR, we talked a lot about budgets and spreadsheets and all that. He was also a hero of mine when he ran NASCAR and INDYCAR. I know how good of a driver he is. He understands the science, so as soon as he showed up I knew what he could do.”
Stewart reached the Sonoma final by defeating Langdon, Justin Ashley and Ron August Jr., who had upset point-leader, No. 1 qualifier and reigning world champion Kalitta in Round 1.
NHRA Top Fuel driver Tony Stewart. NHRA photo
“Sonoma was positive from the standpoint we found one of the variables that was holding us back,” Stewart said. “But when you look at race day we ran Shawn Langdon first round. Shawn should have beat us, smoked the tires. Second round, Justin Ashley smoked the tires. We left on him, but he still smoked the tires. And third round we had the guy (August) who had the bye run in the second round, but he did beat Doug Kalitta first round. We had holes (cylinders) go out, shouldn’t have won that round.
“I wouldn’t say we won our rounds, we just didn’t lose them. Shawn and Justin, we didn’t beat those guys. They just lost to us. We beat Ron, but on paper we were supposed to beat him. Antron, we ran way better and actually gave him a fair fight. We had a cylinder go out that cost us, but we were in the hunt.
“I hope and pray I win a Top Fuel race. And I hope and pray the day I do win one it’s because I won four rounds, not because somebody else lost rounds. I’ve only got three more shots at it (this season), so I don’t know.”
Brown noted he was among the NHRA regulars who urged Stewart to make the jump into Top Fuel. “I did tell him to come on over,” Brown said, “but there are a lot of sharks in the water here. His time is coming and it won’t be one win. It will be a lot of them.”
Reminded of Brown’s comments, Stewart smiled and said, “I hope Antron’s right. I’m rooting for him.”
