Tony Stewart Reveals How He Convinced Wife Leah Pruett to Race in 2026 Daytona Truck Race

NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart explained how his wife reacted to the news about his Truck Series return.

Tony Stewart Reveals How He Convinced Wife Leah Pruett to Race in 2026 Daytona Truck Race

Leah Pruett and Tony Stewart (Via IMAGO)

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The 2026 NASCAR Truck Series season opener is one of the most awaited events of the season, as it will mark the return of Tony Stewart after a decade of absence from the sport. He will drive the Kaulig Racing RAM Truck, making Dodge’s NASCAR return extra special.

The whole racing community was in shock, when the Tony Stewart return was announced and that included the champion racer’s wife Leah Pruett. The veteran pointed out that he had to convince her by highlighting his Dodge commitment despite the fact that it is the toughest race he could make a comeback to.

She looked at me and she’s like, ‘Why would you do that? She goes, ‘You’ve always told me it’s about a 70% chance you’re going to get wrecked out of any race at Daytona.’ I told her this is how much the Dodge brand, Stellantis and Ram mean to me. Is it the most ideal race for me to run as a driver? Probably not, in all reality

Tony Stewart said via RACER.

The veteran didn’t race for over 2005 in the series and only has just six career starts in the championship. Talking about the challenge, he asserted that he wanted to make the NASCAR return extra special with the Daytona start and give the fans something special.

Why not be a part of that? Why not help kick off the season for Ram and get this off on the right foot? Hopefully, it brings excitement. Hopefully, it’s the right event to kick everything off and get everyone who is a Ram fan excited about it…

Tony Stewart added.

Furthermore, he explained that the truck series return is going to be pretty special for him. He admitted that the technology will also be a major challenge for him. He also confirmed that the character of the Superspeedway and the limited experience of the third division driver will also be a major factor of concern for them. 

The second part of it is, I thought through it, and as much as I realized that there’s a lot of potential that we’re going to get wrecked, I haven’t been in a NASCAR anything for 10 years. As much as technology has changed and all these different variables have changed, all these drivers that are running in the Truck Series, they know the handling characteristics of these trucks. But when you go to a place like Daytona and Talladega, they aren’t going to necessarily have the same handling characteristics and things that you truly need to know about (in) the draft. 

Tony Stewart said.

Tony Stewart explains the one factor that still gives him an advantage at Daytona 

In the same conversation, the veteran pointed out that despite all these challenges, he is confident about himself over one factor. The air is still one major decider of speed at Daytona and Stewart has mastered how to take advantage of it in his career. Hence, he is hoping that this will help him challenge the rest of the grid.

Tony Stewart
Tony Stewart (Via IMAGO)

It doesn’t matter how much technology changes, the one thing that doesn’t change at Daytona is the air. So, I think our record book shows we have a pretty good success rate at Daytona, and at least we understood that part of it.

Tony Stewart added.

At the moment, the only positive that is ahead of Tony Stewart in the NASCAR return is the fact that he will start the first race regardless of qualifying run, owing to the new NASCAR provisional for new OEMs.  But everything else will be a learning and humbling experience for him. 

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