AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart just missed making motorsports history Sunday at the NHRA DENSO Somona Nationals in California when he scored a Top Fuel runner-up finish with his Tony Stewart Racing Rinnai Dodge//SRT nitro-burning dragster.
Stewart was attempting to become the first driver in racing history to capture major professional race wins in four separate disciplines (NASCAR, IndyCar, USAC and NHRA) as he faced former world champion Antron Brown in the Top Fuel final round in just his 12th professional event.
Stewart, who had defeated Shawn Langdon, Justin Ashley and Ron August Jr. in the first three rounds of competition before a large crowd in the 75-degree weather, posted a quicker reaction time over Brown, but Brown’s car drove around Stewart’s mount with a 3.746 to 3.774 for the Top Fuel event title.
Stewart has been impressive off the starting line and showed it again Sunday with a great reaction time against two of the best in Top Fuel — Ashley in the second round and Brown in the final. The runner-up finish for Stewart keeps him in the top 10 in the NHRA Mission Top Fuel points standings as the series heads to Brainerd, Minn. for the NHRA Lucas Oil Nationals on Aug. 16-18.
Stewart, a three-time NASCAR Cup Series winner at Sonoma Raceway, had not competed at the track since 2016 when he captured his last Cup Series win.
“This was a much better weekend than I anticipated,” said Stewart after the final. “We knew after last week’s Seattle race that we had to regroup. Dickie Venables from Matt’s (Hagan Funny Car) team offered to help us, and we walked through many things with our Top Fuel guys and Dickie.
“We were trying to see if there was a ‘smoking gun’ we were missing. We needed a day like today for the team guys. In the final, we did everything we could as we left on one of the best drivers in Top Fuel. To leave on Antron in the final is very big for me as a driver. We spit a couple of (spark) plugs out at the far end and, if Antron had any problem, we were right there for the win,” Stewart continued.
“I’m so proud of the team and the morale is great. That was the key to the success today. We gained speed this weekend and ran three 330s (mph). We’ll take want we learned this weekend and try to make it better. We kept Antron honest in the final and we made improvements with the car. It was my first two-car final and I’m proud how the weekend went overall.”