Three-time Cup champion Tony Stewart’s first NHRA High Gasoline victory final weekend at Las Vegas rekindled reminiscences for him of when he gained the 2009 NASCAR All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
Stewart’s victory this previous weekend added to an extended record of triumphs in lots of types of motorsports, together with NASCAR, Indy vehicles, IROC, SRX, dash vehicles, midget vehicles and others.
Katherine Legge will compete in both the NASCAR Xfinity or Cup Collection in 12 of the subsequent 18 weekends.
After clinching his first NHRA High Gasoline winwith a run of 317.42 mph in his 11,000-horsepower dragster, the 53-year-old Stewart celebrated however his ideas rapidly turned.
“I used to be so excited simply to have gained that race for myself till the crew acquired up there,” Stewart instructed reporters Tuesday. “ … It introduced me again to a second again in 2009 after we began Stewart-Haas Racing, and I bear in mind successful the All-Star Race at Charlotte and attending to victory lane.
LAS VEGAS, NV – APRIL 13: High Gasoline driver Tony Stewart celebrates together with his spouse Leah, son Dominic, and his crew after successful his first profession nationwide occasion on the NHRA Mission Meals Drag Racing Collection 4-Large Nationals on April 13, 2025, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, NV. (Picture by Will Lester/Icon Sportswire through Getty Photographs)
Icon Sportswire through Getty Photographs
“I used to be in that mode, right here folks have been telling me I used to be loopy to go away Joe Gibbs Racing to go to a crew that had a automobile thirty fourth and thirty sixth within the factors and I had ruined my profession by doing it. Right here we have been from February to Might … we win the best paying occasion of the yr with the All-Star Race.
“ … They used to drag a semi trailer up there and the crew guys would sit on the sting of that trailer. I bear in mind wanting on there and half of these guys have been in tears. I checked out one of many guys and I’m like, ‘What’s incorrect? What occurred?’
“They mentioned that group of men had by no means gained a NASCAR Cup Collection race. That second, I noticed it was not about me, it was not about me proving to all of the naysayers that I used to be going to fail with Stewart-Haas. It was approach deeper than that. It was concerning the guys and the those that we had put collectively and the folks we had saved from Haas Racing and need it meant to all of us. That’s precisely what Sunday become as properly (after his NHRA win).”
BRISTOL, Tenn. — A take a look at the winners and losers from Sunday’s Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Stewart shocked the game when he introduced in 2008 that he would go away Joe Gibbs Racing — the place he had gained Cup titles in 2002 and ’05 — to turn out to be a part-owner and driver in Haas CNC Racing, which turned Stewart-Haas Racing. Haas CNC Racing had not had a lot success earlier than Stewart arrived.
That All-Star victory was his first with the crew. Stewart went on to win 4 factors races in 2009 with SHR. He collected his third Cup title in 2011 and gave the group its first sequence crown.
Stewart is in his second yr in NHRA High Gasoline. He was chosen because the NHRA Rookie of the Yr in 2024. He took over spouse Leah Pruett’s experience in 2024 so they may begin a household. Son Dominic was born in November 2024.
“I believe it was most likely one of many coolest elements of (successful) was seeing Leah carry Dominic on the small stage they create on the race tracks so the followers can be a part of within the celebration Sunday,” Stewart mentioned. “I had no concept she was coming with him, and once I rotated and noticed her, I actually virtually misplaced it up there. That could be a nice feeling having him there.”
