What comes to your mind when we say the phrase: Fated to be? Well, what if we told you Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett are one such couple? While the duo’s love story has been reiterated in the community countless times, what many fans don’t know is Stewart and Pruett were running in each other’s close circles way before they hit it off!

Recently, one such video surfaced that showed the couple interacting during an interview, completely oblivious to what life held for them. And when Stewart’s acquaintance Kenny Sargent pointed out a funny aspect regarding the interaction, Tony Stewart came all guns blazing to hit back at him!

Tony Stewart could’ve pursued his wife sooner

Recently, the four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion was invited to SpeedFreaks. He was talking about the learning curve he is facing this season, now that he has stepped into the Top Fuel dragster. The conversation was going all pleasantly until Sargent decided to show Stewart a throwback video of him and his wife Leah Preutt.

The video featured Pruett interviewing him while covering the Lucas Oil Drag Boats in 2010. However, the mood shifted when Sargent made a hilarious comment, indicating that he could have introduced Stewart to Pruett earlier. He said, “You understand I could have saved you a lot of time and money if I would have been… if I would have introduced you to Leah back then.” 

And just then, Stewart decided to unveil his witty self. He didn’t hesitate to fire back sarcastically, “Thanks for nothing, I guess.” Well, it seems the stars actually did align for the two lovers to come together. In fact, once Stewart himself revealed how the pair ended up for talking for almost an hour the first time they got acquainted with each other while newly single. 

How did the two racing hearts first meet?

Stewart and Leah Pruett truly share a beautiful love story. Stewart recently opened up to co-hosts, Brian Lohnes & David Freiburger on the HOT ROD Pod on how he first met his wife. He said he first heard of her from a friend who said they were quite similar but didn’t pursue it further as they were not single. But as fate would have it, once they were single again, Tony Stewart decided to go all out! 

He said, “And so we’re back at Pratt’s at the Dunes again, and he gets her on FaceTime, and Jeff Gordon and Clint Bowyer and I are there that year. And we’re fighting over an iPhone. And I’m like, we’re going to break this iPhone, but this one’s married and wants to talk to her. This one’s married. I’m single. I am committing. Maximum effort. I am diving in. And I almost broke my hand grabbing the phone. We talked for about 40 minutes on FaceTime.” 

Then the pandemic happened and that’s when Pruett invited Stewart to spend some quality time with each other. Leah told Drag Illustrated about how the pandemic brought them closer than they ever thought possible and said, “We got to literally spend four months with each other as a man and a woman. Not race car drivers being on the road and traveling and doing all the crazy stuff that we do. It gave us a chance to get to know each other before we started adding the racing elements to it.”

As for the comment, some banter is often entertainment in the racing circle, but Tony Stewart sure is a pro when it comes to tackling them.