The NHRA Mission Foods drag racing series made its fourth stop of the 2025 season in Las Vegas earlier this month for the NHRA 4-wide Nationals. Motorsports standout Tony Stewart was able to get that long awaited Wally.
Stewart, who took over the driving duties for his wife Leah, who won two races and came up one round short of winning the series championship in 2023. Leah stepped out of the car to begin a family and made the choice to have her husband and legendary driver fill in for her. Stewart’s 2024 rookie campaign was a tough one, not just for Stewart but for the entire team, as they went winless. However, Stewart and his team never stopped working towards getting back to the winner’s circle.
On Sunday, April 12 Stewart made history by becoming the first driver to win in all three major American motorsports at the top levels. Not only did he accomplish that, he also became the only driver to win at all of the Las Vegas motor speedway tracks which include the 1.5-mile oval on which NASCAR currently runs and Indy cars used to race on, the dirt track, the Bullring and now the Dragstrip. Stewart, who has won races and a championship in Indy car, NASCAR and USAC, has now added NHRA Top Fuel to his amazing list of accomplishments. On the way to the win, Stewart defeated reigning four-time Top Fuel champion Antron Brown, Jasmine Salinas, and Justin Ashley in the final. Stewart recorded a time of 3.870 seconds at 317.42 mph to defeat Brown’s 3.912 @ 302.35 mph; Ashley’s 3.965 @ 304.25; and Salinas who exploded a supercharger 4.237 @ 196.67 mph.
The 2024 Funny Car champion Austin Prock returned to the top of the mountain after having an up and down start to his title defense. Prock struggled to qualify in the 15th position for the season opener before being eliminated in the opening round in Gainesville, Florida. Race two in Phoenix, Prock lost in the final round to Paul Lee, and in Pomona, CA Prock qualified on the pole and was eliminated again in round one. Las Vegas motor speedway proved to be his true start to his title defense. Prock qualified number two and then advanced his way through the field to find himself in the final round against Paul Lee who won Phoenix, four-time series champion Matt Hagan and Dave Richards. Prock was able score the win with a solid 4.009 @ 316.01 mph run.
In Pro Stock the final round would come down to an all-KB Titan racing quad. Dallas Glenn, six-time champion Greg Anderson, Matt Hartford and rookie Matt Latino faced off in the finale. Glenn would score the win with his 6.649 @ 206.83 mph run with Hartford finishing second with his 6.638 @ 205.85 mph.
Next stop for the NHRA is Charlotte for the American Rebel 4-wide Nationals, April 25 through 27.
