Tony Stewart Claims First Career NHRA Top Fuel Victory in Las Vegas | US Sports Rush

Tony Stewart Claims First Career NHRA Top Fuel Victory in Las Vegas

NHRA Drag Racing • April 7, 2025

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Historic First Win
• Emotional Victory Lane
• Completing the Vegas Legacy

Tony Stewart's prolific racing resumé has a new addition – NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Top Fuel winner. The legendary racer earned his first career NHRA Top Fuel win on Sunday at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals.

Historic First Win

Stewart covered the 1,000-foot drag strip in 3.870 seconds at 317.42 mph on his final round pass, defeating reigning NHRA Top Fuel champion Antron Brown, Jasmine Salinas and Justin Ashley in the finals. This comes just two weeks after reaching the final round at the Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals at Pomona.

WATCH STEWART'S WINNING RUN

The NASCAR Hall of Famer embarked on a drag racing career starting in 2022, and joined the Top Fuel ranks in 2024 replacing wife Leah Pruett in the Tony Stewart Racing Top Fuel dragster. He finished ninth in Top Fuel points in 2024, winning NHRA Rookie of the Year honors.

TONY STEWART'S RACING ACHIEVEMENTS:

• 3x NASCAR Cup Series Champion
• IndyCar Series Champion
• USAC Triple Crown Winner
• Now NHRA Top Fuel Winner
• Wins at all 4 LVMS facilities
• 2024 NHRA Rookie of the Year

Emotional Victory Lane

The "Rayce" Stewart mentioned in his post-race interview was Rayce Rudeen, as Stewart's Top Fuel dragster carried the Rayce Rudeen Foundation colors during Sunday's win. The foundation works with organizations that encourage a healthy life free from addiction.

"It's the highest of highs and lowest of lows. Our Rush Truck Centers family, Rusty Rush, we lost his wife Jenny this week. Literally 15 minutes before we rolled out for the final here, I got a message that we just lost a friend's father. We've lost a lot of people this week, and it's been tough."

Completing the Vegas Legacy

This win adds to Stewart's trophies from Las Vegas, as he has now won at all four racing facilities on the property of Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Along with a NASCAR Cup Series win at the 1.5-mile speedway, Stewart has won in USAC competition at both The Dirt Track and The Bullring.

FOLLOW STEWART'S NHRA SEASON