NHRA’s Tony Stewart found himself with a “hell of a headache” after a “massive” crash in the second round of ‘Countdown to the Championship’ at Maple Grove Raceway in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. The incident occurred after Doug Kalitta’s dragster crossed the finish line and crashed into Stewart’s car.
Stewart races in place of his wife, Leah Pruett, who paused her drag racing career to raise a family. He recently won the 2025 NHRA Top Fuel regular-season championship. However, the NASCAR champion was shaken as a result of the high-speed crash, leaving him with no memory of the incident. Fortunately, both drivers escaped major injuries.
Kalitta won the 335 mph run while competing against Stewart, but right after he crossed the finish line, the front left tire of his dragster gave up, as witnessed in the video, causing it to swerve aggressively to the left and crash into Stewart’s dragster.
Due to the impact, Stewart’s dragster flipped onto its side and struck the left guard wall before coming to a stop. While Kalitta seemed unaffected by the incident, Stewart took a while to get out of his dragster. NHRA Chief Medical Officer Dr. Surface examined them before they were released. A statement from NHRA read:
“During the second round of Top Fuel eliminations on Sunday at Maple Grove Raceway, Doug Kalitta’s dragster crossed the center line past the finish line and collided with Tony Stewart’s dragster in the left lane.
“Stewart’s dragster went on its side, came back down on its wheels and struck the left guard wall before coming to a stop, while Kalitta’s dragster went back over the center line before coming to a stop. Both Stewart and Kalitta were alert and exited their cars under their own power.”
Stewart told Fox Sports 1 later that day that he was unable to recall the incident. Motorsport.com quoted his statement:
“I don’t have a damn clue, honestly. I honestly don’t remember any of it. The first thing I remember, they’re waking me up here. Not sure what happened, but it appears to have been pretty massive. Looking at Doug’s car and my car, I’m glad PBRC builds our cars, because we have safe race cars, obviously.
“I’m as curious as everybody else as to what happened. I just know that we’re not where we’re supposed to be at the end of a run here. So, just confused. I got one hell of a headache and banged my left hand up. But I’ve been through sprint car crashes way worse than this, I’m pretty sure. We’re good. We’re good. We’re fine. I promise we’re fine.”
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