Tony Stewart's wife Leah Pruett embraces new purpose in motherhood and activities beyond the racetrack during pause on NHRA career

Last year, Leah Pruett stepped away from racing to start a family with former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart. Pruett has been a drag racer for over a decade, but her decision to start a family with Stewart opened a new life beyond the drag strip.

After parting ways with Gary Pritchett in July 2019, Pruett got into a relationship with Stewart a few months later. Pruett and Stewart announced their engagement in March 2019 and got married in November that year.

Nearly two and a half years after their marriage, Pruett stepped away from racing as she was pregnant and wanted to start a family with Tony Stewart. Finally, in November 2024, the couple welcomed their first child, Dominic.

As Leah Pruett stepped away from racing, she encountered a different side of life, something she had not experienced while racing at the highest level of drag racing. Speaking about this, the 37-year-old from Redlands, California, opened up in the recently surfaced Dodge GarageCast podcast.

"Now, being a mom, I'm understanding how important [it is], even though Dom'sonly five months old," Pruett said (8:01-8:34). "I am understanding about the influence in people's lives. And really, I don't want to say more careful, but I just understand the scope of what that's like. And not even just little girls, but little boys or families as a whole, and what they experience at the drag race means to them."

"I'm understanding what the experience is like going to the mall with Tony and just being with him and what they're looking for and what those memories are that they're trying to grasp. So I get to look at it as, I feel like, a much bigger picture than just the inspiration for those trying to drive," she added.

Leah Pruett has been racing in the National Hot Rod Association racing series' Top Fuel Dragster category since 2013, racking up 12 wins. She also raced in the Pro Mod and Factory Stock Showdown, where she claimed three wins, respectively.

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Leah Pruett in no hurry to return to Drag Racing

Tony Stewart celebrates with wife Leah Pruett, son Dominic Stewart, and crew after winning the Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway. - Source: Imagn

As Leah Pruett took a sabbatical from racing last year, she is in no hurry to return to the racing strip.

"We had conversation at the end of last year about me getting back in the car, and I just had to be very truthful that I did not think that I could do a job for Dodge, for our fans, and be engaging with the team. And even though there's not a strategy for it, my heart says that I'll be back in a race car," she explained (via Autoweek).

Tony Stewart, Pruett's husband and Dominic's father, is currently racing in the latter's seat in the Top Fuel Dragster category. However, the NASCAR star confirmed that he will yield once Leah Pruett returns to racing in the NHRA.