Tony Stewart Robs NASCAR of Its Grandeur as He Declares Drag Racing’s Supremacy Above Every Discipline

Back in 2012, Tony Stewart was still riding high in NASCAR. Just a year removed from his dramatic third Cup Series championship, he was considered one of the sport’s most accomplished and versatile stars. That same year, he had the chance to test a Formula 1 car, trading machines with Lewis Hamilton in a historic event at Watkins Glen. The exchange thrilled fans worldwide. Yet for Stewart, it became a moment of revelation.

“The one thing I’ve learned about NASCAR is there’s a reason they do everything they do,” he said. That insight came from a place of deep respect. After all, Stewart wasn’t just a driver, he was a champion, a team owner, and one of the few who had raced across nearly every major American motorsport discipline. He defended NASCAR’s constant struggle to keep parity and fairness in a wildly complex ecosystem. Now, over a decade later, Stewart’s tone has shifted entirely.

And it’s not quiet or subtle. It’s as loud as a Top Fuel dragster at launch. Having stepped deep into NHRA drag racing, Stewart no longer sees NASCAR as the pinnacle. He doesn’t just question its place—he dethrones it. The man once defined by the stock car has now crowned drag racing as the supreme discipline of motorsports.

Tony Stewart declares Drag racing’s supremacy!

Tony Stewart didn’t plan to make the NHRA his new home. But life—like motorsport—moves fast. Stewart stepped in behind the wheel after his wife, Leah Pruett, a Top Fuel dragster driver, stepped away from competition to care for their newborn. At 52 years old, he was a rookie driver, and after a year of learning, he created history. In 2025, he captured his first Top Fuel win in Las Vegas, announcing his arrival in a sport many thought he wouldn’t be able to dominate.

With each pass down the strip, Stewart grew more vocal. And his message was clear: this isn’t just racing. It’s the most intense, demanding, and thrilling motorsport on the planet. In a recent interview on the Rubbin’ is Racing podcast, Stewart didn’t hold back. “What they do in three and a half hours (in NASCAR), we do in three and a half seconds,” he quoted his wife, calling it the perfect comparison between Cup racing and Top Fuel competition. “And she’s pretty damn close on that,” he added.

Smoke would further dive into details that drivers competing in the NHRA Top Fuel do not have the luxury of time or improvisation. “You hit the gas, and your eyes aren’t even pointed in the direction you’re going. You’re trying to get your eyes on target downtrack… and before you know it, you’re at the 330-foot cone, and your brain is back at 200 feet,” he said. NHRA dragsters reach over 330 mph in less than four seconds. There’s more than just racing that determines the outcome of the teams competing in an event.

“It’s like trying to data log everything, but you can’t decipher it in real time,” Stewart said. He admitted that driving the car wasn’t the hard part. “The hardest part was staging, the burnout, backing up, all within a strict time frame. Nitro cars burn a gallon of fuel every 10 seconds. If you wait too long, the car literally blows up. It’s like having a wick on a bomb,” he added. Notably, Stewart’s praise for NHRA isn’t just based on driving feel. He’s pushed back against media narratives too. When FOX Sports recently called IndyCar “the fastest racing on Earth,” Stewart clapped back.

“I love FOX, but they’re doing some false advertising. They keep saying IndyCar has the fastest cars. I don’t know what the hell they’re watching, but they’re missing the mark by 100 mph,” he said during a media session. For Stewart, it’s not just about top speed—it’s the total mental, physical, and mechanical overload that defines NHRA. Notably, throughout his storied career, Stewart has jumped between disciplines with ease. USAC, IndyCar, IROC, NASCAR, and now NHRA—he’s done it all.

In 1995, he achieved the USAC Triple Crown, winning the Midget, Sprint, and Silver Crown titles. He won the IRL championship in 1997. Then came NASCAR, where he lifted three Cup titles. Stewart has always viewed racing uniquely because he never sticks to one lane. He earns respect wherever he races—but he says NHRA throws him a whole new kind of challenge. “Everything else I drove was in the same bubble—NHRA is outside that bubble,” he added.

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Kevin Harvick joins Stewart on an elite list!

For his unmatchable contribution to the racing world in 2019, Tony Stewart was inducted into the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame. Six years after his induction, Kevin Harvick now finds his name etched alongside his former team owner in the elite list. For both drivers, the honor is not only a celebration of individual achievement but a symbolic marker of the respect they earned through years of competitive grit and personal evolution.

Stewart secured his 2019 induction by winning two NASCAR Cup races and grabbing four poles across two major series. He also led over 1,000 laps at the Fort Worth track. Harvick, on the other hand, earned the honor through consistency and excellence in all three of NASCAR’s national series. He claimed nine wins at Texas, including three in the Cup Series. His record shows lasting success at a track that helped shape his career.

Their connection runs deeper than shared accolades. Stewart, already a motorsports icon by the time he co-founded Stewart-Haas Racing, gave Harvick a stable platform that would carry the No. 4 driver through the most prolific stretch of his career. Under Stewart’s leadership, he flourished, not only winning a Cup title in 2014 but solidifying his place as one of the sport’s most consistent front-runners well into his forties. Now, with Harvick retired from full-time racing and honored in the same venue where Stewart once stood, the arc comes full circle.