Naturally, Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett would begin their parental journey on a race day.
The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion, IndyCar and USAC champion and 12-time NHRA Top Fuel division racer winner welcomed son Domenic James on Sunday morning in Phoenix, Arizona, just prior to the start of the NHRA season finale at Pomona Dragstrip in California.
Stewart, 53, was able to be in attendance for the birth of their son and able to get back to California by 8 a.m. in time for a first-round pass against Billy Torrence. Stewart is actually racing in place of Pruett, 36, this season at Tony Stewart Racing and will likely do the same next season as they balance parenthood.
Stewart advanced over Torrence but was eliminated in the semifinals by Doug Kalitta.
“It’s very obvious we haven’t had the season this team had last year,” Stewart told FOX Sports after the event. “But to come into the final and have some performance gains, and even losing in the semi-finals, before it went wrong at 2.2 seconds into the run, the 60 foot number, the 30 foot number, best run the car has made all year.
“We’ve moving the needle in the right direction. You hate to say it’s too little too late but at the same time, we’re making progress. … At least we finished the year on a positive note and can carry that momentum into the off-season.”
How does he feel about his day holistically?
“I feel like it’s 3 a.m. right now,” Stewart joked. “It’s 5 or 6 p.m. so to function all day, and cut the reaction times that we cut now with two hours of sleep and everything that happened overnight, this is one of the coolest days of my life, obviously.
“My wife is unbelievable. She’s a way tougher woman than I will ever be as a man. To do what she did and make the decision to step out of the car, and take herself away from what she does so much, to start a family and go through this journey that has taken a whole year, and see it come to fruition today, and see her go through this process, super proud of her as a woman, wife, my partner. She’s an inspiration to a lot of females out there and it makes me want to push myself harder to be better. To have her support, and I know it was tough, and I know this was an important day for our family, I know this is the first race that she’s missed where I know it’s killing her. I know she’s excited for me to get back home to Phoenix and be with our baby boy tonight.”
The couple met in 2020 and were married in 2021 after Stewart took a liking to drag racing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, personally and professionally, Stewart and Pruett have tackled life together.
