Tony Stewart jokes about sleeping on the couch if he wins drag race against wife Leah Pruett

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EULESS, Texas (AP) — Tony Stewart has been joking that he made sure the new couch he and his wife bought was one he could sleep on comfortably if he wins a drag race against her.

Well, his team does still win if Leah Pruett beats him in an NHRA race when they begin competing against each other next season.

That is when Pruett will be back in her seat for Tony Stewart Racing, the one her NASCAR Hall of Fame husband has filled since she stepped aside ahead of the 2024 season to focus on starting a family and the birth of their son later that year. Stewart will then be driving a Top Fuel dragster for Elite Motorsports.

“I’ve always looked at it as it’s a double lose for me, that I can’t win no matter what,” Stewart said Wednesday. “If I win, I get kicked to the couch is what I always jokingly told everybody. And if I get beat by her, then all I do is get all the messages from my buddies about how my wife kicked my (rear)."

Stewart said last month that he was turning the TSR seat back over to Pruett after keeping it warm for her, then a week later said he would drive for Elite Motorsports. That has them racing against each other even though those teams have a marketing alliance.

“Leah's the one that talked me into it. I was kind of against it because I didn’t want to create tension in our family first and foremost. She was the one that goes, well, you’re kind of thinking about this too much,” Stewart said.

“As much as it on paper could look like a really bad idea, I think it’s a really cool opportunity for us. Not a lot of people get to get an opportunity to race with their significant other," he said. "Leah and I have always been able to race together, but to literally compete against each other is something different that we’ve never had that opportunity to do in the past, and something that I think we’re both going to enjoy.”

When asked what it will be like racing against his wife, Stewart responded, “really easy honestly.” Different from dirt track or NASCAR racing, when cars could be sliding into each other, drag racers control their cars in their own lanes.

The 54-year-old Stewart will race at the Texas Fall Nationals in Ennis this weekend, but first took part Wednesday night in his annual fundraiser for Speedway Children's Charities at Texas Motor Speedway. His Smoke Show that started as racing fantasy camp in 2008 and has raised nearly $2 million, was a bowling tournament this year.

“There’s a lot of people that don’t necessarily have an interest in driving race cars, and just about everybody can bowl,” said Stewart, who could be more interactive than when at the track. "I'd spend half the time and half the night in the car with a helmet on, but I can’t hardly hear what anybody’s saying.”

While describing himself as a terrible bowler, Stewart said the worst part is that he has no excuse. He two lanes in his basement.

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