Tony Stewart will take on wife Leah Pruett's NHRA spot as they focus on starting family

Three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Tony Stewart has taken on a new challenge. Or as he views it, two new challenges.

Stewart started a drag-racing team two years ago with his wife, Leah Pruett, as one of his drivers. Pruett will not race in 2024 as she and Stewart focus on trying to start a family. Her replacement in the NHRA top fuel dragster? Stewart.

"I keep throwing big challenges in my racing career, and this was one that wasn't planned," Stewart said Thursday. "When Leah said it was her decision [to temporarily step out of the car], the very first conversation we had about it, I spent the first 30 seconds in husband mode in the discussion and then morphed into car owner mode knowing the timing of this and how it could affect a season or two seasons. 

"And by the end of a 10-minute conversation, I realized if I didn't shut up soon, I wasn't going to have to worry about it because she would divorce me." 

Pruett, 35, is not pregnant but felt it was best to step aside to focus on starting a family.  She is coming off a year in which she won two events and finished a career-best third in the top fuel standings.

"Me seeing him grow in such a small amount of time, there was no question in my mind that he is the right fit for this position," Pruett said.

This will be Stewart's second full season of drag racing as he finished second last year in the NHRA top alcohol division, a stepping stone to the top NHRA divisions.

"My goal is to not suck," the 52-year-old Stewart said. "My goal is to not get fired by my wife and not kill myself driving this thing. I think we'll be fine. It's just going to be a matter of time.

"Every time we've jumped into a different type of race car and different form of motorsports, there's always a learning curve. And this is no different. This has probably been one of the hardest things that I've ever had to learn to drive."

Stewart said the time commitment to the top fuel car will be similar to his commitment last year to his racing and NHRA teams. He also owns (or co-owns) the NASCAR Stewart-Haas Racing organization, a sprint-car team, Eldora Speedway in Ohio and the Superstar Racing Experience (SRX) Series. He announced in October that he had sold the All-Star Circuit of Champions sprint-car series he owns to racers Kyle Larson and Brad Sweet.

"We didn't get where we are with our sprint-car team, with our race track, with our series, with the NASCAR program ... without having good people. And that's what it takes.

"It doesn't take me to make it all work. It takes me surrounding myself with good people that makes this work. That part of the equation isn't changing. What I'm going to be doing with my time is going to be a fraction different but really not much different than what it was this current year."

Few people who know Stewart are likely surprised he still wants to race. But what scares Stewart more — racing a car he has little experience in or potentially being a father? 

"I've been asking myself that literally the last seven days," Stewart said. "I've come to a solution on that: I'm way more scared about starting a family, I can barely take care of myself. ... I don't have any experience as a parent, but I have a lot of experience driving.

"This is definitely one of the biggest jumps I've ever made my driving career, but at least I have a little bit of an idea of what to expect and what's going on. The family side of it, I'm still learning how to try to be an average husband at best at this point. And trying to learn how to be a father at the same time is just another challenge. But that's what our life's all about. It's always about unique and new challenges and how to accomplish our goals."

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including the past 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.