Tony Stewart is content with the fact that he once spent $80,000 to earn a $5 yellow hat.
Granted, it’s the hat awarded to the No. 1 qualifier on an NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series weekend and the chunk of money went toward replacing an exploded blower on Matt Hagan’s Funny Car during qualifying last year at Brainerd (Minn.) Int’l Raceway.
But still, the Tony Stewart Racing team owner is a proponent of being aggressive on the drag strip, regardless of whether it’s during qualifying or eliminations.
“Yeah, it cost us $80,000 to get it, but it put us low ET and it put us No. 1 on the bracket going against 16 on Sunday,” Stewart said. “We want them to do what it takes to win. I want a yellow hat on Saturday and a blue hat on Sunday.”
In Stewart’s mind, collateral damage is just part of drag racing.
While he hopes the team won’t be making expensive repairs every weekend, he knows there will be some races where things go wrong. His unrelenting tenacity as a team owner has trickled down to his drivers, but is perhaps most evident in Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett.
This year, the 10-year class veteran — and Stewart’s wife — has been the No. 1 qualifier twice, finished in the semifinals twice, been runner-up once and recently clinched her first victory of the season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk, Ohio.
With only nine races of the 21-event schedule complete, Pruett’s strong final-round record is the best she’s had in five years.
The difference, she says, is aggression.
“You look at those small little wins and that’s what gives you that confidence to keeping pushing. But for us, we have been aggressive this year and it’s difficult to be that way when you’re worried about parts,” Pruett said.
Prior to joining TSR last season, the 35-year-old was familiar with being on NHRA teams where any parts failure, smoked tire or mechanical issue was detrimental to a race weekend. While those same issues, which inevitably occur on every race team, are certainly not welcome problems for TSR, it’s the mentality about the setbacks that has influenced Pruett in the staging lanes.
“When you have a little bit longer of a leash, you get to go a little bit farther,” Pruett said. “Neil (Strausbaugh, crew chief) has to remind himself, ‘I have to stay aggressive right here, I can’t just fall into qualifying fifth or sixth and get down the track.’ That’s not what wins championships.”
Aside from their attack-the-track, hammer-down approach, the 11-time national event winner added that Strausbaugh has made progress with their mathematical setup.
Ensuring that the Rush Truck Services/Dodge SRT dragster can perform up to par in any type of track conditions — cool, warm, humid, etc. — has been his priority behind the scenes. In light of their recent victory, the team feels confident the algorithms are near perfect.
With the leadership’s philosophy and the mechanical components dialed in at TSR, the last piece of the formula rests on Pruett’s shoulders.
“My dominant thought is to make the car perform as best as possible,” Pruett said. “Be as consistent as possible, keep the clutch cool, take care of the tires and make sure that I can eliminate as many human variables for my crew chief and that car. That gives me personal happiness, being that kind of race car driver.”
Pruett is third in the Top Fuel standings, 106 points behind leader Justin Ashley.
Meanwhile, Hagan’s TSR Funny Car is leading the points in his respective category.