OK, we’ve talked about Tony Stewart’s NHRA aspirations before, but now it’s official. Tony Stewart Racing has just revealed that it will be fielding two drag racers for the 2022 NHRA racing season—one in Top Fuel, the other in Funny Car.
To be clear, Stewart himself won’t be driving either one. Instead, his fiancée Leah Pruett will be driving in Top Fuel, while 3X champ Matt Hagan will be racing Funny Car.
Both Pruett and Hagan come from Don Schumacher Racing.
“When I retired from fulltime driving I said it wasn’t the end, but the beginning of a new chapter. This is proof of that,” said Stewart. “I’m new to the NHRA, but I’m not new to motorsports,” he continued. “We have good infrastructure in place and we’re used to building things from the ground up. It makes success that much more rewarding.”
While the initial press release didn’t reveal many details beyond the drivers, it does say that news on any manufacturer, sponsor, and technical relationships will come later.
Tony Stewart Racing will make its NHRA debut next year at the first race of the 2022 NHRA season: the Winternationals, February 17-20 at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California.
You can read the full announcement at the official Tony Stewart website.
[…] While rumors circulated for most of 2021, by last fall the secret was out: Tony Stewart’s now got an NHRA team. […]