NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Less than a week after a top-end shunt at the NHRA Reading Nationals presented by Nitro Fish put his dragster on its side in the shutdown area of Maple Grove Raceway, regular-season Top Fuel champ Tony Stewart is ready to continue his pursuit of a first NHRA championship at the NHRA 4-Wide Carolina Nationals.

“We’ll have to bring out a backup car,” Stewart reported. “It’s a car that’s been run before, so Monday we tested with Leah [Pruett] behind the wheel just to make sure all the systems ran correctly.”

The accident with Kalitta occurred after Kalitta’s Mac Tools dragster suffered a problem with the left front wheel/suspension assembly that left him with little control. He crossed into Stewart’s lane, where the rear tires of both cars touched, flipping Stewart’s dragster momentarily on its side before ending up back on all four wheels. Kalitta won the round and was able to continue with a backup car and took Stewart’s points lead away.

“It’s an unfortunate situation, but I have a lot of confidence in PBRC [Precision Built Race Cars],” said Stewart. “They build our chassis, so going from one car to another is no drama. They build very repeatable cars, so that’s a strength for us to have that second car in the bullpen. You hate to have to get it out in the Countdown [to the Championship], but it’s the cards we were dealt, and I have the confidence the car will be just as good as the one we crashed last weekend in Reading. Doug [Kalitta] gained points on us last weekend, but we have a chance in Charlotte to win another four-wide event like we did in Last Vegas. I love the four-wides, so if we have a race to rebound, this is the one to do it at.”

The four-wide format could prove fortuitous for Stewart considering the success he has had in such events. Although he has yet to win a four-wide race in Charlotte, he won his very first drag race on April 16, 2023, at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway when he prevailed in Top Alcohol Dragster in the four-wide event at that facility. Two years later, on April 13, 2025, he won his first Top Fuel trophy in the same event on the same track. Earlier this year, he reached the final quad at the spring four-wide in Charlotte. In his first appearance in the Carolina Nationals last September, he qualified 14th but was ousted in round one.