Tony Stewart recently expressed his enthusiasm for racing and his disinterest in the 2024 Paris Olympics. In a social media video, Stewart was seen preparing for upcoming events by getting into his NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster, even though he had a weekend off.
At the latest NHRA event, the DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals at Sonoma Raceway, Stewart came close to making motorsports history. Driving his Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) Rinnai Dodge//SRT dragster, he finished second in the Top Fuel category. A member of the NASCAR Hall of Fame, Stewart aimed to become the first driver to secure major professional wins in NASCAR, IndyCar, USAC, and NHRA. After his second-place finish at Sonoma Raceway, the 53-year-old is now preparing for the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway, scheduled for August 15-18. In a video posted on X, Stewart showed himself back in his dragster, saying:
“We have a weekend off. I said, ‘You don’t think I’m gonna sit at home and watch TV?’ I don’t give two s**ts about the Olympics. So, I’d rather come race and hang out with some cool people.”
His post’s caption read: “Hopped back in the Top Alcohol Dragster on the off-weekend for a packed house at #NightUnderFire. Made it to the Final, but Gary’s 5.25 pulled off the win against my 5.26.”
Tony Stewart narrowly missed victory at Sonoma Raceway last weekend, where he returned since his final NASCAR Cup win in 2016 to compete against former world champion and 77-time winner Antron Brown. As a rookie in the Top Fuel category, Stewart faced several challenges this season, including four first-round exits in the last six races.
Starting in the P11 position at Sonoma, Stewart upset P4 qualifier and championship contender Shawn Langdon in the first round. He continued his success by defeating Justin Ashley in the quarterfinals and Ron August, the lowest qualifier, in the semifinals.
In the final, Stewart initially took the lead but was soon overtaken by Brown, who won with a time of 3.746 seconds at 329.67 mph. Stewart’s 3.774-second run fell about 10 feet short.
Reflecting on the weekend, Stewart wrote in his post-race social media post: “This was a much better weekend than I anticipated. We didn’t really win anything, but we didn’t lose yesterday. In the final, we did everything we could as we left on one of the best Top Fuel leavers,” he wrote on X. “To leave on Antron in the final is very big for me as a driver. We kept him honest and we made improvements with the car. We are checking boxes one at a time. We’ll take what we learned this weekend and try to make it better,” he added.
With Stewart now fully committed to NHRA, the racing community eagerly awaits the continuation of his career, especially with his wife Leah Pruett also returning to racing.
