Tony Stewart Grows Into NHRA Top Fuel Ride, Says Funny Car Is Off the Table

• Tony Stewart compares Top Fuel dragster to Alcohol Dragster.

• He says he’s a caretaker of wife Leah Pruett’s 11,000-horsepower ride.

• The versatile motorsport veteran has no preference in race cars in general but definitely won’t be competing in a Funny Car.

Tony Stewart said during a break in this weekend’s Lucas Oil Winternationals at Southern California’s In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip that it’s too early to be an expert on all the nuances of his Top Fuel dragster.

And he claims he isn’t partial to one kind of race car.

But he is certain that he never will be a Funny Car racer. And he’s adamant that his spin in an 11,000-horsepower, nitro-gulping Top Fuel has a limited run, at least for the immediate future. He stepped in as a substitute this season for wife Leah Pruett, who announced in December she would step from the cockpit to focus on starting a family.

“Listen, I was just hoping I was still going to have a job after Gainesville [where he qualified ninth and bowed out in the first round of eliminations at the Florida season-opener earlier this month],” Stewart said. “I think if you asked Leah, she's got a different idea than what I have, but literally on my radar right now, I'm just driving this car until she's ready to come back.

"As soon as she's ready to come back, I'm going to get out of her race car. I don't care if it has my name on it. I don't care if the trailer has my name on it. That's her race car. That's her race team over there,” he said.

“Get another one for yourself,” someone suggested.

“I'll start a GoFundMe account,” Stewart joked. “It just takes money.”

He said it’s “maybe too early” to compare the Top Fuel dragster to the Top Alcohol Dragster he began with but identified the thrust and the speed as two definite factors.