Antron Brown, a three-time Top Fuel champion, laughed that knowing laugh and shook his head after talking with fellow new NHRA team owner Tony Stewart before the start of this season.
And Brown declared, “This drag-racing world’s in trouble right now.”
He added, “Y’all don’t know what you’re about to unleash on it.”
That, Brown said, is “because this man is bringing his mindset — as an owner, not just a driver. He’s going to put all that together and understand what it takes for championships. He has that look in his eye.
“And he’s got championship-caliber people already. All the people he’s got over there have won championships before in some shape or form. Matt Hagan’s (Funny Car) team was plug-and-play. He’s got that,” Brown said. “But then (Stewart) brought in his dynamic and mindset to help them evolve, to even be better. Before, they raced hard, but now they got the support system that’s going to make them feel invincible.
“It wasn’t about just running a race team and watching what you spend and go racing anymore,” Brown continued. “It’s like, ‘No, no, no. We’re here to win. And what does it take to win? And this is how we’re going to do it: Come on, boys. I got you. You want to climb this mountain? Ain’t no problem. I’m not going to get on your back. I’m going to boost you up.’”
Stewart introduced his two-car NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series team, with wife Leah Pruett in a Top Fuel dragster and three-time champion Matt Hagan in a Funny Car, more than a year ago with the team hitting the track in time for the season opener at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
Scoring a victory at Denver, in a race that presents uniquely challenging conditions, Pruett and her team showed flashes of excellence.
Those were tempered by strong performances that were on the wrong side of close drag races as they grappled with a baseline for consistency. Hagan’s team launched in title-contender form and made a late-season push after a rocky mid-summer stretch. Both drivers qualified easily for the Countdown to the Championship.
It has been a bit of a learning curve at Tony Stewart Racing, even for the boss.
“I’ve enjoyed it. It’s definitely been a learning year for me,” Stewart said. “Obviously, I don’t have a drag-racing background, so being able to watch for a couple of years and be in the middle of it but not be on the business side (has helped). I’ve asked a lot of questions. I’ve talked to a lot of people that have been in the business a long time and feel like we had a really good understanding going into it.
“The fun part, I guess, is the more I learn about it, the more questions I have. And it seems like every time I get an answer to a question, it brings up three new questions,” he noted. “The learning part has been extremely fun from my side. But I feel like we’ve got two awesome drivers, and I don’t think I could have more fun than what I’ve had this year.”
Brown, whose approach to the sport is similar to Stewart’s, said he isn’t surprised Stewart has a passionate quest to master all aspects of the business.
“Tony knows what it takes to win races and championships. Look at all the success he has in all the other forms of the motorsports scene, from midgets to dirt track to him racing NASCAR and IndyCar,” Brown added. “He just loves racing, period. And he’s taken a love to this sport of drag racing. He’s a student of the game. He learns all the details of what it takes to be good. You understand why he was so good. He understands all the characteristics and what it takes to manipulate, to make it bend to his will.”
Hagan said Stewart “is one of those guys who is a see it, do it, figure-it-out kind of guy. He is very methodical. I will come back and tell him what happened on a run, and he will say, ‘I saw this here’ or ‘You did that there.’ He is paying attention and he is always observing, which is why he is so good. It was impressive to me that Tony is not just out here shaking hands and signing autographs. He really is paying attention to what we are doing and how we are doing it and learning.”
Pruett said she noticed a creativity-inducing atmosphere at the TSR shop in Brownsburg, Ind.
“We have a lot of really independent workers here at TSR. There’s a difference between an executive and an employee, right? An employee is somebody that’s told what to do. An executive is somebody that makes decisions. We have a lot of executive employees that think for themselves, because they have so much experience,” she said. “There’s a lot of ingenuity talk that we all have, and that relates to a lot of time on the computer.
“I have a lot of fun with it. I started thinking about traction and a program that we’re working on and the communication device for it,” Pruett continued. “And I never before would have spent my off-time to think about the actual race-car application. And I find myself doing that, because it’s fun and those are normal conversations. So I definitely feel like I’m evolving, not only just as the driver in the car but in other (areas) because of the communication that this team has.”
In Hagan’s eyes, it’s about performance.
“The atmosphere that this team provides for my group of guys and myself is really special. That is why I am honored to be here. Tony gives us everything we need to win,” Hagan explained. “To see the work that Tony and Leah have done over the offseason, building a team from scratch and bringing our stuff over here (from Don Schumacher Racing), it just shows the type of people that Tony surrounds himself with. I am excited because I know what we have with this car.
“If we need it, Tony says get it. I wouldn’t say there is not a budget,” Hagan said, “but if you can justify it and explain how it is going to improve performance, he is all about it.
“That man is motivated by trophies and that is it,” he said. “He wants to be here to win. If we don’t win for him, he will find someone else who can.”
Stewart has been impressed with the ambience at the track.
“I’ve enjoyed the experience. I absolutely love the atmosphere at an NHRA race: How friendly everybody is, how much of a family atmosphere it feels like inside the racing community,” he said. “I love how the fans have the opportunity to just buy a ticket and come down and be right in the middle of the action in the pits. I think it’s awesome that people can see what these teams do to get the cars to the (starting) line to make that (pass). Even though it’s a short run, they see all the work it takes to make it go down through there. So I’ve really enjoyed it.”
Fellow team owner John Force said he’s “really happy that Tony Stewart has come in.” Besides the fact he said, “We need new blood. We need new names. And he’s a big name that can help our sport,” Force uses Stewart’s presence as a negotiating chip. “It helps me sell in the boardroom,” Force said. “I go in there to pitch a sponsor, I’m talking about Tony Stewart: ‘Why do you think he came over? He saw something.’”
The Camping World Drag Racing Series FOX broadcast team invited Stewart to work on the air with announcers Brian Lohnes and Tony Pedregon for a couple of events.
Frank Wilson, FOX Sports vice-president of event and studio production, said, “Tony’s work in the FOX NHRA booth for the U.S. Nationals was absolute nails. Drawing from his experience as a Hall of Fame driver, a team and track owner, and the relationships he has with some of the biggest names in the business, Tony has a unique perspective and can talk to nearly any aspect of racing with insight and credibility.”
Ratings soared for Stewart’s second appearance, the telecast of the first race of the Countdown at Pennsylvania’s Maple Grove Raceway. It drew an audience of 1.678 million, most ever for NHRA on FOX. That was up 10 percent (150,000 viewers) from last year’s NFL-adjacent game (the previous best), with peak viewership at more than 2.8 million people.
Stewart has made some runs in various types of drag-racing machines.
As this magazine was going to press, Stewart announced he would make his competition debut, driving in the Top Alcohol dragster class during the Oct. 28-30 event at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
“I’m excited and nervous at the same time,” Stewart said. “It’s definitely going to be a big learning curve, and to do it at a national event right out of the gate adds to the challenge. But it’s something I’ve really been wanting to do and I’ve been working toward this moment. I’m not taking it lightly. It’s a serious business and I’m going to be as prepared as possible when I get to Las Vegas.”
Stewart was to drive a car entered by McPhillips Racing.
“I’ve been a rookie in a lot of different cars over the course of my career. That part won’t be new, but the drag racing side is so different from anything I’ve driven in the past. It’s all about procedures and knowing the routine and doing it the same every time,” Stewart said. n