“If I win, I get kicked to the couch is what I always jokingly told everybody.” Tony Stewart shared this in early October, about the occasion where he would beat his wife, Leah Pruett, in a drag race. Pruett is a 12-time NHRA Top Fuel winner, along with owning 3 trophies in Pro Mod and Factory Stock Showdown each. The ability to beat this veteran is no mean feat. And considering the immense milestones that Stewart has picked up already, he may sleep on the couch soon.

Although this prospect is not bright, the journey so far has been amazing. Tony Stewart Racing has undertaken a fantastic job in 2025, scoring many wins both in Top Fuel and in Funny Car. And the rest of the year mattered more to Stewart than the unfortunate twist in the finale.

Tony Stewart reassures his team

The 2025 In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals at the Pomona Dragstrip remained in people’s imaginations. Incessant rain eventually prevented the championship finale from taking place. Yet Tony Stewart is not flustered. “The only thing undefeated is Mother Nature in life,” he said. Instead, he focused on gleaning the positives from the season. “All I really wanted at the beginning of the season…the goal is just to see the needle move in the right direction. So, I think with two wins in a regular season championship, I think we definitely saw the needle move the right way. So, hard to be disappointed with that.”

The race would have marked Tony Stewart’s fourth Pomona start and 40th Top Fuel outing. For Matt Hagan, TSR’s Funny Car driver, it would have been his 372nd career Funny Car start and his 33rd overall at Pomona. Yet what mattered more were Stewart’s 39 races and Hagan’s 371 starts that led them to this moment. Stewart said, “I mean, obviously, we’d like to perform better in the countdown. But like I said, I just keep referring back to, you know, we just wanted to see improvement with the team, and we definitely did that for sure.”

The NHRA Safety Safari undertook an exhaustive effort on Sunday to dry and prepare the Pomona Dragstrip in a feverishly dwindling window of time. However, those efforts did not work out, and the Mission Food Series’ finale fell prey to Mother Nature. A stubborn storm front lingered over Southern California, and more rain was forecast for the start of the week. So, the sanctioning body awarded championships to Austin Prock (Funny Car), Dallas Glenn (Pro Stock), Richard Gadson (Pro Stock Motorcycle), and Doug Kalitta (Top Fuel).

What’s more, Tony Stewart pointed to factors beyond just the rain that hampered the race. Those were the track circumstances: “It’s the glue, it’s dragging tires. And, you know, the sand trap at the end is like a concrete block right now. It’s really hard. So, safety-wise, it’s not conducive to us running. I mean, there’s kind of a 70-degree benchmark of the surface track. The track temp needs to be at least 70 degrees.” He added, “And unfortunately, just the way the weather’s worked out this week, it’s not conducive to doing that.”

Clearly, Tony Stewart has not beaten himself up over the season’s outcome. And this may be just one of the qualities that earned him a unique tribute recently.

Just like another legend

Last week, an NHRA legend hung up his firesuit. That was none other than John Force, who picked up 16 championships and 157 wins in a star-studded career. The 76-year-old famously said he would race until the end. However, a crippling 2024 crash caused a traumatic brain injury, from which he could not recover. Despite announcing his retirement, Force continues to inspire his fans and peers, including Matt Hagan. The TSR driver even compared Force with Tony Stewart in an exclusive interview with EssentiallySports and placed them in the same group.

“He’s like the new John Force, man,” Hagan said about Tony Stewart. “I think NHRA really rallies behind that. They have a great guy that’s gonna be a great ambassador for the sport, he’s just a great dude, man.” Stewart entered NHRA when his wife, Leah, stepped back for a maternity hiatus in 2024. Since then, he has achieved many laurels. These include winning the 2025 regular-season title and winning the 2024 Rookie of the Year award.

And as Tony Stewart’s calm attitude shows, the journey ahead is bound to be long and successful. With 2025 done and dusted, let’s wait and see how he performs in the next season.