{"id":36145,"date":"2021-10-14T10:48:24","date_gmt":"2021-10-14T15:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/?p=36145"},"modified":"2021-10-14T10:50:00","modified_gmt":"2021-10-14T15:50:00","slug":"tony-stewart-racing-to-join-nhra-in-2022-with-leah-pruett-in-top-fuel-and-matt-hagan-in-funny-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/2021\/10\/14\/tony-stewart-racing-to-join-nhra-in-2022-with-leah-pruett-in-top-fuel-and-matt-hagan-in-funny-car\/","title":{"rendered":"Tony Stewart Racing to join NHRA in 2022 with Leah Pruett in Top Fuel and Matt Hagan in Funny Car as TSR drivers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of Tony Stewart Racing<\/em><\/p>\n

CONCORD, N.C. \u2013 After more than four decades of racing around in circles, Tony Stewart has embarked on a straight and narrow path, albeit at more than 300 mph.<\/p>\n

The championship-winning racecar driver who has successfully transitioned to being a championship-winning team owner is joining the NHRA in 2022. His eponymous team, Tony Stewart Racing (TSR), will field two fulltime entries \u2013 one in Top Fuel for nine-time event winner Leah Pruett and one in Funny Car for 39-time event winner Matt Hagan.<\/p>\n

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The manufacturer and the team\u2019s technical alliance associate, along with corporate partners, will be announced at a later date.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I retired from fulltime driving I said it wasn\u2019t the end, but the beginning of a new chapter. This is proof of that,\u201d said Stewart, who also co-owns Stewart-Haas Racing in the NASCAR Cup Series with machine tool magnate Gene Haas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate all forms of racing and I\u2019ve always been intrigued about drag racing and NHRA, in particular. Back in 2009 when Tony Schumacher and I were both representing the U.S. Army, I got to hang out with him and Don Schumacher at the U.S. Nationals. Tony ended up winning and after taking it all in, I was hooked. But it wasn\u2019t until I met Leah and started going to races regularly, where I saw the strategy and the preparation firsthand, that I truly understood it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart has been a regular at NHRA events since last year when he and Pruett began dating. They are now engaged, with the couple set to be married in November after the season finale in Pomona, California.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBeginning with Don Schumacher, I\u2019ve probably annoyed everyone in the paddock with all the questions I\u2019ve asked, but the more I learned about drag racing, the less I wanted to just be a spectator,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cI want to be an integral part of it. And I don\u2019t do things halfway. I go all in. But I\u2019m smart enough to know that I don\u2019t need to be a rookie owner and a rookie driver, so I made sure to get two of the best NHRA drivers in Leah and Matt. I\u2019m going to lean on their experience so we can hit the ground running in 2022.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSR was formed in November 2000. Since its inaugural season in 2001, TSR has earned 27 owner championships \u2013 14 in USAC, nine in the World of Outlaws (WoO) Sprint Car Series, and four in the All Star Circuit of Champions TQ Midgets. TSR will continue its sprint car program, which is headlined by 10-time WoO champion Donny Schatz. TSR\u2019s NHRA and sprint car entries will operate out of its existing 25,000-square-foot facility in Brownsburg, Indiana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m new to the NHRA, but I\u2019m not new to motorsports,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cWe have good infrastructure in place and we\u2019re used to building things from the ground up. It makes success that much more rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Leah Pritchett. NHRA photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Pruett is currently in her 25th consecutive season competing in NHRA, which began in the series\u2019 Jr. Drag Racing League as an 8-year-old. She won the 2010 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series championship in the Nostalgia Funny Car class and has spent the last eight years advancing her way through Top Fuel. However, the Redlands, California-native is not confined to NHRA\u2019s top class. The 33-year-old Pruett has pulled double duty for a number of years by also competing fulltime in the NHRA Factory Stock Showdown, winning the title in 2018 for Don Schumacher Racing (DSR).<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m an NHRA lifer and nitro racing is my passion,\u201d Pruett said. \u201cDon Schumacher gave me an incredible chance when we teamed up back in 2016. I\u2019ve learned a lot from him and he\u2019s made me a better driver. He helped me take a massive step in my career and this opportunity with TSR affords another big step. I\u2019m forever grateful to all the individuals who I\u2019ve been able to work alongside with at DSR. Don\u2019s mentoring has prepared me for this new endeavor in more ways than just on the track.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Matt Hagan. 10th Annual NHRA Midwest Nationals. NHRA photo<\/p><\/div>\n

Hagan is the three-time and reigning Funny Car champion (2011, 2014 and 2020). He joined DSR in 2009 and currently leads the point standings with only three races remaining. The 38-year-old from Christiansburg, Virginia, balances wrangling an 11,000-horsepower Funny Car down a 1,000-foot straightaway with wrangling cattle on his 3,200-acre farm.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got my start at 13 drag racing a four-wheeler. Went from that to sneaking cars off my dad\u2019s lot and returning them with the transmissions nearly gone. I\u2019ve loved going fast my whole life \u2013 from Pro Mod to finding where I thrive in the driver\u2019s seat of a Funny Car,\u201d Hagan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon Schumacher has been a huge chapter in my racing career. We\u2019ve won a whole lot of trophies and multiple championships together over the years, and that\u2019s because of the incredible team he\u2019s placed around me and the opportunities that he\u2019s given us to be successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis next chapter with Tony Stewart is one I\u2019m excited for. I\u2019m ready to go racing. That\u2019s what I\u2019m here to do. I\u2019m jumping into this new program with two feet and I\u2019m confident in the package we\u2019re bringing into the 2022 season with TSR. Let\u2019s make some history.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Hagan\u2019s future is set, he is intently focused on the present.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon Schumacher has been great to me and my goal this year is to deliver him another Funny Car championship,\u201d Hagan said. \u201cWe\u2019re in a dogfight and a lot can happen in three races. I want to go out on top.\u201d<\/p>\n

TSR will make its NHRA debut during the 2022 season opener Feb. 17-20 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona. Those interested in partnering with TSR for its inaugural NHRA season can contact the team at TSRnitro@TonyStewart.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Courtesy of Tony Stewart Racing CONCORD, N.C. \u2013 After more than four decades of racing around in circles, Tony Stewart has embarked on a straight and narrow path, albeit at more than 300 mph. The championship-winning racecar driver who has successfully transitioned to being a championship-winning team owner is joining the NHRA in 2022. His […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":676,"featured_media":34074,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[794,197,6,68,856],"class_list":["post-36145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nhra","tag-leah-pruett","tag-matt-hagan","tag-nhra","tag-tony-stewart","tag-tony-stewart-racing"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/LeahMatt.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-9oZ","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/676"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36145"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36148,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36145\/revisions\/36148"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}