Three-Time NASCAR Champion Triumphs in First NHRA Top Fuel Victory

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series Champion Tony Stewart has won his first NHRA Top Fuel run, setting a remarkable time of 3.870 seconds at 317.42 mph. The feat was achieved at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Stewart raced against Antron Brown, Justin Ashley, and Jasmine Salinas to win the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals. The NASCAR champion embarked on his NHRA career three years ago in 2022 and scaled up to the Top Fuel class last year.

Stewart's racing performance won him the NHRA Rookie of the Year title after his ninth-place finish in the 2024 championship. Addressing his first NHRA Top Fuel win, Stewart said:

"You sure as hell appreciate it more when you struggle like we did. All the credit goes to this team. I'm so proud of my guys. There's so many great partners here and I have a great team standing there. I have a feeling I'm really going to be hurting in the morning, but it sure as hell is going to be worth it."

With 49 wins to his name in addition to the three championships, Stewart has been named one of NASCAR's 75 greatest drivers of all time. Stewart co-owned Stewart-Haas Racing, which decided to leave NASCAR at the end of 2024.

Denny Hamlinis also listed on NASCAR's 75 greatest drivers of all time, recently reached the milestone of 56 NASCAR Cup Series wins at Darlington, after his third consecutive win at Bristol yesterday.

Kyle Larson led the race for 411 laps and eventually secured a dominant victory, preventing Hamlin from taking his third win of the season. Speaking after the race, Larson said:

"Just a flawless race once again here at Bristol for the 5 team. Really, really good car. That was a lot of fun, you know? However many laps of green we ran there was a lot of fun and I was pretty comfortable with things. Then, Denny came on really strong there before the pit cycle. Then it just kind of kept the pressure on from there. So, I knew I had to make some good moves in traffic."

He added:

"You know, if Denny's in front of me, it could be a totally different story and be really hard to pass him. Glad to stop his three-peat; we hate to see him win. As I'm sure you guys do too."

Hamlin also credited Larson for his flawless performance. He told FOX NASCAR:

"You go to give that team their due and Kyle his due. Just a dominant performance. It looked like a pretty flawless day for him. It looked pretty easy. It was all I had to try to keep up there. Glad we were able to give him a little bit of a run with our Progressive Toyota."