When Tony Stewart met his future wife Leah Pruett, he was engaged and she was separated. They met, things clicked, and we all know how it all turned out. They’re the “it” couple of American motorsports—both pioneers in their own right and still very active in their respective careers.

But here’s the thing: before tying the knot, Tony and Leah faced certain problems and issues which, had they not been solved, could’ve led to potentially a different future for them.

Of course, he was engaged and she was separated.

But there were other issues too which the SHR co-owner recently revealed.

Tony Stewart on the problems he and future wife Leah Pruett faced

Speaking with Dale Earnhardt Jr and Mike Davis in a recent episode of The Dale Jr. Download, Stewart recalled the time when he and Pruett were invited by her friend Ken Block to Utah for a racing activity that ended with them being sure about each other.

“We do that and by the time that’s over we’re like, ‘We’re gonna do this.’ We’re gonna date,” he said.

“And then we had to sit there on the ride home and figure out, we got problems, we got hurdles we’re gonna have to cross here. First one was she’s sponsored by Pennzoil, I’m sponsored by Mobil 1,” Stewart explained.

“She’s sponsored by Dodge, I’m sponsored by Ford,” the 3x Cup champion further added, “So it’s like, ‘Man what are we gonna do?'”

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Stewart recalls how they reached an agreement with his and Pruett’s sponsors

Once Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett decided they would date each other, a decision which eventually lead to their marriage, they had some problems to solve before moving forward.

“I called my PR guy and I said, ‘Hey, this is what’s going on,’ because nobody knew we were doing anything together. Like there were two or three people that knew who I was with or where I was at,” Stewart told Junior. “I said, ‘We gotta figure this out.’

“I remember on the way home from Swingarm, with Ken, I’m driving the motorhome and she’s in the right side of the motorhome and I’m on the phone with Mobil 1, she’s on the phone with Pennzoil and we hang from that call and I’m calling Ford and she’s calling Dodge at the same time.”

Stewart added how they were having these conversations with their respective sponsors and partners “3 feet away” from each other. But it finally ended when the respective parties involved with both of them agreed and everyone reached a common ground.

“Not one of our partners had a problem with it and said, ‘Yeah, we’ll work around it.’ We said, ‘Hey, when I go to her events, I won’t wear my brandings, and when she goes to my events, she won’t wear any brandings,'” he revealed.

“That’s what we’ve done.”

Also Read: “Why Did I Put This Thing on the Market?” – $90-Million-Worth Tony Stewart’s Recent Experience Made Him Question His $30-Million-Worth Decision