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Last year’s Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals was a whole new experience for drag racing’s power couple, Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett. Stewart was making his Top Fuel debut, and Pruett was on the sidelines — firsts for both — as the couple committed to starting a family in 2024.

Flash forward one year and both are at Gainesville Raceway now as parents, having welcomed Dominic into the world back in November — on the morning of final eliminations from the season-ending In-N-Out Burger 91���� Finals in Pomona — and again experiencing new roles.

The duo, along with their Tony Stewart Racing Funny Car teammate Matt Hagan, during a Friday press conference announcing their extension with Dodge, were welcomed by the media and talked about their new challenges.,

“She's the one doing all the work,” said Stewart of his wife. “That's just the reality of it, but I remember when Dale [Earnhardt] Jr. had his first child, and he told me, ‘This is what's missing in your life, that you don't realize you're missing,’ and I realized that when [Dominic] was born. I realized that in the off-season, while we were home, and I'm realizing it even more in depth when we went to the PRO Shootout, and now that we're in Gainesville and testing this week.��

“Obviously, Leah has huge responsibilities, not only as a mom and a babysitter for me, but now on top of that, she plays a very crucial role with the race team. She doesn't just sit around. She's working in the pit and has a full schedule. We have help with Dominic here, and it's gone really, really well, and if I have a bad run, and I ��get a chance to go back to the bus just for five minutes, and he's awake and I see him smile one time, that bad run doesn't seem so bad anymore. So I think this kid's gonna play a really crucial role in this team, just like my wife, just like Matt.

“I've thoroughly enjoyed the short amount of time, and obviously we're just scratching the surface getting back to racing, but I guess it's kind of like what Dale had told me years ago. It's like I didn't realize what this was going to mean till we got here and got to the track, and it's, it's the best feeling in the world.”

Pruett, who admitted that she has plans to get back into a racecar of some sort in the future, explained,"Consistency is so key, just like a race car, and nothing about our life right now has been consistent. But when I come here to the first race, and we are announcing this partnership with Dodge, and knowing that I'm late [to the press conference], I'm still smiling, watching all the fans, knowing that my baby's in good care, knowing that we have the best partners, I feel very consistent, and there's nothing better than that. That's the very foundation of any type of success, including from the mother standpoint, I'm learning all that, and I'm enjoying it because of what's surrounding us and the team and the support that we have, I'm absolutely loving it, and I'm finding this balance between constantly comparing my love for racing and love for Dominic and there's two different types of love, right? But I feel like I have won the absolute lottery: a beautiful baby, an incredible team on both sides, incredible partners, and I couldn't be happier.”

Pressed about the rumor that he’s yet to change a diaper, Stewart was candid.

“She keeps telling me every time I say this answer, that it is not a flex, it is embarrassing,” he said, “but I still am undefeated. At this point, I have not changed the diaper. I have told her I am ready in the right situation, so I would say. keep tuned to social media because I will make sure the world knows when I change my first one. I'm ready for this. I'm probably more scared about changing this first diaper than I was lining up against Justin Ashley the first round [here last year]. I never thought I would say this, but I'm kind of looking forward to this a little bit, because I feel like it's a rite of passage to a certain degree as a father. So it is coming, and I'm planning and psychologically getting my mind in the right frame of mind to do this because I've watched her pull the diaper down, and I've seen what's in there, and I immediately exit stage right. So I'm going to have to commit to this, but once we do the first one, it'd be fine.”

Similarly, Stewart is hoping that repetition is the key to success in his dragster this weekend, too.

“My No. 1 goal this weekend is to not be first pair against Justin Ashley on Sunday; you couldn't have asked for a worst case scenario last year,” he said. “I think this year I'm way calmer. I mean, there's still a lot of things that haven't happened driving the car that I know are out there and that are going to come at some point, so it's not like you sit here a year later going, I got that, but I feel way more confident and comfortable where I am now versus where I was a year ago at this time.��

“It made testing more fun. I mean, literally, when we tested here last year, I was trying to figure everything out. I almost felt like we should have put something on a whiteboard every run how many parts I blew up because I was making mistakes. But, you know, coming back here now, it's like you're not worried about those things as much. I can still make mistakes that we all can, but definitely the confidence level is much higher now versus a year ago. I feel like I can race now, and I feel like starting the season, I'm not starting behind everybody. I feel like I'm more caught up.”

As to her return to the sport, Pruett admitted, "There's not a strategy by any means. This is the first day of the first race of my first season with a child. And, you know, I guess from a strategy standpoint, we had conversation at the end of last year about me getting back in the car, and I just had to be very truthful, I did not think that I could do a job for Dodge, for our fans, and be engaging with the team like I love to be, and also be a mom to Dominic.

"My heart says that I'll be back in a race car; I don't know which one it will be, or what category, what class, or what year, but it will be there because I'm so involved with the team, specifically the Top Fuel team,�� that have kept me on purpose. I have kept very busy so that I don't lose involvement. And so when I do jump right back in, I'm even more equipped with what I've been working on. So I don't know, and it really not about kicking Tony out of the seat. I think I'd have a harder time dealing with that but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. It's always exciting when you look forward to the future and you have something in mind and what that journey is like. I still don't know, but I'm enjoying it."