Tony Stewart’s win in NHRA Top Fuel earlier this month was incredibly impressive. Taking his first win in the series at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 14 April, the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has silenced his doubters once again.

Tony Stewart confirmed the building of an NHRA team in 2021, expanding Tony Stewart Racing into Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars. In 2024, it was the Hall of Famer who stepped into the cockpit of an 11,000 horsepower Top Fuel machine, instead of his wife Leah Pruett who was originally planning to race it. He came away with the Rookie of the Year award after a successful season finishing ninth in the championship standings but with a win still eluding him so far.

This changed this month as the legend took his first NHRA win. Sat behind the wheel of the TSR Rayce Rudeen Foundation Dodge//SRT Top Fueler, he championed the four-wide format against reigning world champion Antron Brown, Justin Ashley, and Jasmine Salinas.

In an interview with Forbes, Stewart was able to reflect on the criticism he’s received over the years after his substantial success in NASCAR.

“I think it’s funny because it’s kind of the polar opposite of that… It reminds me of one other scenario… back in 2009 when we started Stewart-Haas Racing,” Stewart admitted. “People were telling me I was crazy. I left Joe Gibbs Racing to go to a team that had a car 34th and 36th in the points.

“I had ruined my career by doing that. And here we were, three months into it, and we win the highest paying event of the year.”

Tony Stewart, Stewart-Haas Racing

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

He continued:

“I remember getting to Victory Lane and half of those guys were in tears. That moment, I realised—it was not about me. It was about the people we had put together. And that’s exactly what Sunday turned into.”

The team owner’s talents have been proven multiple times now, with his Vegas win being just another notch in his belt.

“It was a brief moment of just being excited and knowing I could go to the racetrack and not have to answer all these damn questions about ‘when are you going to win a race?” he said. “We’ve done it now. And now we get to show up and just race each weekend. And try to do it again.”

With his first NHRA win in the bag, he now wants to continue his momentum in the series.

“I feel like the first one is always the hardest one to win,” he said after his win. “I feel like so many times when you’re trying to win that first one, emotion gets in the equation and the nerves get in. Once you win that first one, everybody calms down because their demeanour is different.”