Leah Pruett Returning to NHRA Top Fuel Competition in 2026

12-Time NHRA Top Fuel Event Winner to Pilot the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster in the
NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series

BROWNSBURG, Ind. (September 9, 2025) – Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) has announced that Leah Pruett will return to driving for Tony Stewart Racing in 2026, piloting the TSR Dodge//SRT Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series.

Pruett stepped aside from racing in 2024 to start a family with husband Tony Stewart, who has been her replacement driver the past two seasons. The pair welcomed a son Dominic in November of 2024. Since becoming a mother, Pruett has continued to be very involved in the day-to-day operations at TSR, working with various partners on marketing initiatives and assisting the crew chiefs with technical projects.

“I’d first like to thank Tony, the team, and our partners for allowing me the necessary time on my hiatus to start our family, learn motherhood, and welcome me back,” said Leah Pruett. “I tested in Richmond earlier this year, which as expected, validated my eagerness and passion for racing Top Fuel.”

“This announcement has been delayed for some time, as the priority has been getting through Indy, and focusing on the Countdown with Tony, Neal (Strausbaugh – crew chief), and team,” continued Pruett. “Tony has done an incredible job behind the wheel, as many would expect, but I know how much he’s devoted himself to being the best ‘driver replacement’ he can be, and I couldn’t be more proud and thankful for him.”

Pruett is a 12-time NHRA Top Fuel event winner. Her NHRA journey began in the series’ Junior Drag Racing League as an 8-year-old. Pruett finished the 2023 season third in the Top Fuel championship standings, which is the highest she’s finished in her 14-year Top Fuel career.

“Leah taking the wheel of the Direct Connection Dodge//SRT Top Fuel dragster in 2026 feels like she is coming home,” said Matt McAlear, Dodge CEO. “Leah has been part of the Dodge and Mopar family since the 2016 season and has carried the Dodge banner to victory lane on many occasions. We appreciate the incredible job that team owner and motorsports legend Tony Stewart is doing filling in for Leah in the race car as the couple starts their family with son Dominic, and we will continue to root for Tony as he fights for the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel championship. But Tony has always said it was Leah’s race car, and we totally support the Stewarts’ decision and look forward to a successful future ahead at the dragstrip for Dodge and Tony Stewart Racing.”

Since occupying the Top Fuel ride the last two seasons, Stewart has continued to propel the TSR Top Fuel program forward. He finished the 2024 season ninth in the Top Fuel point standings and earned the 2024 NHRA Rookie of the Year title. In 2025 thus far, Stewart has earned two Top Fuel victories at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals in Las Vegas and the NHRA Route 66 Nationals in Joliet, Illinois. He clinched the 2025 NHRA Regular Season Championship at the 71st Annual NHRA U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis, where he enters the Countdown to the Championship at Maple Grove Raceway in the Top Fuel points lead.

“I’m excited to see Leah get back in a race car,” Stewart said. “She’s done such an amazing job of becoming a mother and going through a whole year of pregnancy and our first year with Dominic. I know deep down inside that she wants to drive that race car really bad, so I’m just excited to see her get that opportunity again. I appreciate what she’s done to help our family and help this entire race team. She’s been a very critical part of this team’s success and projects that we’re working on, so she hasn’t sat on her hands by any means, but first and foremost, I know she wants to drive that car more than anything.”

Neal Strausbaugh and Mike Domagala will continue as crew chiefs for Leah Pruett and the Top Fuel team. During their two seasons together since TSR’s inception in 2022, they compiled three wins total. In 2022, Pruett raced to a win at Denver, picking up the first Top Fuel win for TSR. In 2023, she scored two wins and four runner-up finishes and compiled a 32-19 win-loss record.

“Working with Neal and Mike in a different capacity the past two years has kept me deeply involved, and I’m very pumped to be their driver once more,” said Pruett. “To my fans and supporters, I look forward to returning to heavy competition as when I left, just now with a little guy in tow everywhere I go.”

Pruett will once again join the two-car TSR operation with existing Funny Car driver, Matt Hagan. Hagan is a four-time Funny Car Champion and earned TSR’s first championship in 2023. It was announced earlier this season that Hagan signed a multi-year contract extension with TSR.

The next event on the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series schedule is the 40th Annual NHRA Nationals presented by Nitro Fish Sept. 11-14 at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. It is the first race in the six-race Countdown to the Championship, where the top-10 drivers in each of the four professional categories – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – vie for the title in their respective divisions.
 
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Contact Ashley Wilson
Tony Stewart Racing
(303) 594-8147 or [email protected]