On November 24, 2024, Tony Stewart and his wife, Leah Pruett, welcomed their first child, a baby boy named Dominic James Stewart. For Stewart, this was a big leap as he became a first-time dad at 53, and the transition in his personal life required more nerves than winning a race. For once, this allowed the three-time NASCAR champion to gain a new perspective on life, and it turns out Dale Jr. and Kevin Harvick played a big role in it.
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Speaking on the Sons and Daughter podcast, Leah revealed how influential Jr. and Harvick had been in their journey toward becoming parents. “I would say the two people that the listeners are very familiar with between Jr. and Harvick had always been telling him, ‘You know what you’re missing in your life is kids’… Tony respects two people that were like, ‘You gotta do this.’ We used the same IVF clinic as the Harvicks.”
Pruett stepped away from full-time NHRA racing before the start of the 2024 season, and Stewart took over her ride, making his full-time debut in NHRA Top Fuel. The couple underwent extensive IVF treatments involving months of self-administered hormone injections. Pruett bluntly made it clear that without IVF treatment, they wouldn’t have had the joy of becoming parents.
Moreover, Kyle Busch and Samantha Busch’s Bundle of Joy Fund also had a profound impact on Pruett personally. “I was emotionally attached to what the Buschs were doing. Since then, I’ve probably referred many couples that are having problems to at least check out that foundation, and they do make a difference in people’s lives. We would not be able to have Dominic without doing IVF, that’s just the truth.”
Since then, Leah has returned to the racetrack and competes against Smoke in the Top Fuel division. This journey into parenthood also helped revolutionize NHRA’s driver policy, especially for female drivers. NHRA created a formal protocol for pregnancy and fertility programs. Thanks to this, female drivers no longer face the risk of losing championship points or putting their team owner’s investment in jeopardy.
“It’s also important to say that this isn’t about telling a woman that she can’t race because she’s pregnant. It is about creating an opportunity for a female to step out of the seat and have the opportunities that any other person would have for any other medical condition,” Pruett said while describing the new NHRA driver policy.
The important thing to note here is that both Stewart and Pruett had the support they needed. Dale Jr. and Harvick were there for Smoke, nudging him in the right direction, while NHRA made necessary changes to its policies to help Pruett and other female racers start families without worrying about putting their racing careers at risk.