NHRA Star Leah Pruett Says She 'Does Not Expect' to Race in 2025

Leah Pruett is about two months away from becoming a mom, and the thought of jumping back into an NHRA Top Fuel dragster soon after is not exactly top of mind.

In fact, Pruett, who is sitting out the 2024 season to start a family, says she's in no hurry to get back into the car. Even a return in 2025 is not all that likely, she said on Tuesday.

"For the public, for the fans, for the partners, they can expect to see Tony Stewart start the 2025 season just as he did the 2024 season," Pruett told Autoweek.

Stewart, a three-time NASCAR champion and NHRA rookie in the Top Fuel class, is serving as Pruett's replacement driver at Tony Stewart Racing this season. And he's having a fine season, currently sitting seventh in the standings with five races remaining.

As for the 36-year-old Pruett, who is a career 12-time winner on the NHRA Top Fuel circuit, she said that Stewart's success could factor into her own return to racing.

"Just because I might be ready in 2026 to get back in, well, that means Tony has to come out," she said. "Tony loves NHRA drag racing, and I don't want to get him out."

Pruett has recently been busy working with the NHRA on establishing new policies for pregnant drivers and drivers working on starting a family. The NHRA unveiled that policy on Tuesday.

"What do I have to start doing? Maybe I need to start thinking about building another team, finding partners," Pruett said. "There's a whole business logistics to it on my end, which feeds back into the conversation about females—they'll face the same thing or something similar or something different. But the new policy just allows them to have those conversations, have those thoughts rather than being forgotten."

So, what about 2025? Will Leah Pruett be back in her dragster next season?

"In my dreams," she said. "Were all the stars to align, but it would be very difficult because I don't feel comfortable taking Tony out of the seat with a team that's been competing with him. It's really hard to say. I think my answer to that is 2025 is an unknown, but I definitely will not be starting the season. And I do not expect to be in the seat in 2025.

"Tony thought for sure I was getting back in the seat in 2025. But my gut, myself, I know that I'm going to want to do the best job I can being a mom before I can get back in that seat."