There are programs that spend years grinding toward their first win light. They write checks, burn nitro, shake the car down, and work through the learning curve one weekend at a time. And then there’s what Richard Freeman and Tony Stewart just did at the NHRA Winternationals in Pomona.
Three races were all it took. Three races from the moment Elite Motorsports fielded the R&L Carriers Top Fuel dragster with Stewart behind the wheel to the moment they pulled into the Pomona winner’s circle. From the announcement of the partnership in September 2025 to a national event trophy in hand? Roughly six months. In the world of NHRA nitro drag racing, where teams with unlimited budgets go years without winning, that timeline is almost incomprehensible.
Freeman was characteristically direct when asked whether he saw it coming.
“Did I expect to win in the first three races? No. But it doesn’t surprise me,” he said. “Those guys are fantastic. Listen, my biggest fear of owning a nitro team was making sure that I surrounded myself with the right people, and this weekend cemented that. Absolutely, one hundred percent – every decision that was made was the right decision to make.”
For Freeman, a man who built one of the most dominant Pro Stock programs in NHRA history before ever dreaming of running Top Fuel, the speed of this success traces back to the same principle he’s always operated by. People. Not parts, not cars, but the individuals who make it happen.
“The same thing I said a while ago,” he said flatly when asked what his Pro Stock team-building years taught him. “People. It’s 100% about people.”
Stewart arrived at this program with 47 years of racing experience and an eye for what a winning culture looks like before it produces results. He says he saw it on the very first day of testing at Gainesville, even when things didn’t go right.
“The first day of testing was a total shit show,” Stewart admitted with a laugh.
But he knew. He pulled Freeman aside on Friday at Pomona and delivered a verdict: “I’m telling you, bud. It’s here. All the ingredients are here to be successful. You have the right parts, the right cars, and most of all, the right people.”
Neither man manufactured that confidence. It was built through personnel decisions: veteran crew chief Mike Green, Joe Barlam alongside him, crew guys like Dustin Davis who bring both knowledge and leadership, and a collection of young talent learning to trust each other at race speed. Stewart described watching it come together like a snowball cresting a hill: “It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and gaining momentum.”
The sponsor side of this equation matters too. R+L Carriers has been a visible, invested presence from the jump, and Stewart made a point of acknowledging it.
“I’ve met people that have been working for R+L for 6 months and I’ve met some of them that have been working for years,” said Stewart. “And just to see how excited they are about this program and see the success that we’re having this early, that’s the icing on the cake for us.”
Sunday evening at Pomona, with the sun going down and a winner’s trophy in hand, that icing was very much on the cake. For Freeman, Stewart, and everyone who bet on this program from day one, it wasn’t just a win. It was confirmation. The right people pointed the right direction can make something great happen in a hurry, and fans just watched it happen in real time.
