“He will win in Top Fuel, it’s just a matter of time.”
Sixteen-time Funny Car champion John Force gave rookie drag racer Tony Stewart quite the endorsement last December when Stewart announced he’d be taking over driving duties for his wife, Leah Pruett, in 2024.
Though he raced well in the Top Alcohol dragster class in 2023, Stewart’s climb up the NHRA ladder was a bit rushed by Pruett’s decision to step away and focus on building a family.
“Maybe not the first year, or maybe it is the first year, he will win,” Force continued as he described his expectations for the three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion’s transition to the nitro-burning ranks.
“It’s great to have him, and who doesn’t love Tony Stewart?”
Force’s high hopes for Stewart trigger a question for the remainder of the racing world, who eagerly has their eyes pinned on the drag strip to see how Stewart performs in his rookie year.
When will Tony Stewart earn his first Top Fuel victory?
To find the most probable answer, one must first consider the many other segments of motorsports in which Stewart has won — ranging from USAC to IndyCar to NASCAR to Top Alcohol.
How many starts did it take for him to win in those forms of racing?
USAC — 20
Beginning with the open-wheel, dirt-track ranks where Stewart first made his name, the future NASCAR and Sprint Car Hall of Famer won his first USAC national midget race on Sept. 18, 1993, in one of the sport’s biggest races — the Hut 100 at the Terre Haute Action Track.
It was his 20th career start on the national tour.
IndyCar — 6
It was January 1997, Stewart was starting his sophomore Indy Racing League season and the setting was Walt Disney World Speedway in Orlando, Fla.
At the end of his sixth IndyCar race, Indiana native collected his first series trophy.
NASCAR — 25
During his inaugural NASCAR Winston Cup Series campaign in 1999, it took 25 races for “Smoke” to gather his bearings behind the wheel of the Joe Gibbs Racing No. 20 Pontiac.
He won at Richmond (Va.) Raceway in his 25th start on Sept. 11, 1999.
World of Outlaws — 9
Sammy Swindell gave Stewart a run for his money for the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series feature win on July 27, 2011, at Canada’s Ohsweken Speedway. But Stewart was ready for it.
In his 14th overall appearance and ninth A-main start with the World of Outlaws, Stewart held off the sprint car mammoth to take his first series victory.
Top Alcohol — 4
Four rounds deep into his Top Alcohol Dragster debut, the 52-year-old took a trip to the winner’s circle at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway during the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals.
The date was April 16, 2023.
Top Fuel — ?
Ultimately, everyone can make their own predictions about when and where they believe “Smoke” will flip the win light in his 12,000-horsepower dragster.
The final fact to consider is his record in Top Fuel thus far.
In the opening two races of the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series campaign, Stewart has lost in the first round of eliminations at both events. Conversely, in his debut at the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals on March 10, he clocked the quickest reaction time of the entire field — 0.21 seconds.
Will he get it done during this weekend’s NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Motorsports Park?
Make your bets.