Having entered NHRA as a substitute for his wife, Leah Pruett, Tony Stewart has found a new motorsport to master following his retirement from NASCAR. And he has a message for fans who come to the race for the first time.

“In the last two years, fans have come to drag races for the first time, and they will come by and see us, and they’re like, ‘You know, it’s our first time.’ I say, ‘Well, what brought you here?’ They say, ‘You.’ Well, that’s cool, you know, bringing a new group of fans to the racetrack.”

Stewart brought a new wave of popularity to the sport. After all, he's a NASCAR Cup Series champion who also raced in IndyCar. And when he began driving as a replacement for Pruett, it took popularity of the sport to a whole new level. That's why when fans approach him, Stewart has a simple response.

"I said, ‘If you have time, come by before you leave and tell me what you thought.’ And they haven’t seen a Nitro car down the racetrack yet, and the number 1 overwhelming response is, ‘We had no idea.’ That’s what four out of five people would say literally, almost word for word: ‘We had no idea.’ And I think it really is a testament to what this sport is truly about."

That's not just because of the NHRA cars being more powerful. While a NASCAR race is a 3-4 hour event, NHRA takes up an entire day. The multi-day format features various car categories and qualifying rounds leading to the finals.

That's why when Stewart talked about the NHRA broadcast, he had this to say.

Stewart Praises NHRA Broadcast Coverage

Stewart also praised how broadcasters capture the intensity of the track.

He said, “ TV does a great job of showing things that you know, like the super slow-mos we have with the cars as fast as they are going. To be able to see these little fine details in the replays is amazing.” 

The broadcast helps the fans keep up with the race since these cars can go from 0-60mph in less than a second. In October 2025, NHRA went past NASCAR's 1.7 million viewership record as they recorded 2.07 million views. 

Read more at the RFK Racing Digest!

Written by

Chionia Libania Colaco

Edited by

Siddharth Shirwadkar