Tony Stewart left nothing unsaid after claiming his second Top Fuel victory at the 25th annual Gerber Collision & Glass Route 66 NHRA Nationals presented by PEAK on Sunday. The motorsports icon didn’t just win — he made a statement.
“I make a big mistake of reading social media, which I think we all make — very vital, critical mistakes — by reading the keyboard warriors that are dumbasses that sit in their mother’s basements and don’t do a damn thing and haven’t accomplished anything in their life and tell you how bad you are at what you do,” Stewart said in a raw, emotional post-race press conference. “But they can’t tell you to your face. I’ve never stood at the ropes and had anybody come up there and go, ‘You really are bad at this, and you should put your wife in the car.’ But I read it on the internet — ‘Why is he driving the car? His wife’s way better. She almost won a world championship.’
“Well now they can kiss my ass. They literally can kiss my ass. And I’ll sit there and stick it out for them too, because they don’t do a damn thing. They’ve never accomplished anything in their life. They don’t know how to work hard to be successful in anything. That’s why they say the shit they say on the internet.”
Stewart, driving the Rinnai Top Fuel dragster, powered to a 3.777-second run at 329.10 mph to defeat Justin Ashley in the final round. It marked his fourth consecutive final and vaulted him to the top of the NHRA Top Fuel points standings — a career first.
“To sit there and have to fight and prove these people wrong, that’s the pride I take now. That’s the pride I’m leaving here with tonight,” Stewart continued. “I’m going on vacation with Buddy Hull and his family. We’re going and having a great week this week. I’m gonna celebrate this because this is for all those people that say that I suck, I’m no good, I’m terrible, I’ve never been anything.
“They don’t have anything to show for it. I got two silver Wallys this year to show for it. We’ve proven these guys wrong. So they can say what they want to say now. Now they just look stupid when they say it. That’s the pride I take in what we have, what we’ve done today and what we’re accomplishing.”
The victory comes on the heels of shoulder surgery and what Stewart described as too much idle time scrolling through toxic online commentary.
“I took a lot of crap when Leah decided to make the change to get out of the car. I had shoulder surgery at the same time, so I couldn’t do anything for literally six weeks, and I sat there and spent way too much time reading stupid people’s comments,” he said. “And I let it get the best of me for a while. But at the same time, it was my motivation.
“These idiots don’t realize — the more they talk shit about me, the more they motivate me to be better. That’s my best motivation. So I encourage them: keep doing it. Keep coming, keep coming at me. The more you come at me, the more I’m gonna prove you wrong.”
Despite the fire, Stewart balanced his frustration with an outpouring of appreciation for the NHRA community — something he says makes drag racing unlike any other motorsport.
“I like where I’m at. I like the atmosphere that NHRA provides. I’m very happy about my decision to be where I’m at,” he said. “So when you go up against Davis’ team, and you go up against Skagg and Randy and his program, and you race against Justin Ashley — I guarantee you, I can go in my cell phone right now and there’s a text message from Justin Ashley and Mike Ashley congratulating us. And probably Randy as well. And Davis.
“It’s the camaraderie in the sport that I think is underestimated. As much as NHRA wants the drama because they think they gotta be like NASCAR — they don’t have to be like NASCAR. They have something nobody has. They have an atmosphere here that is family-friendly, that is fan-friendly, that is competitor-friendly.”
He recalled camping out with fellow racer Steve Torrence and his wife Natalie the night before the final, sharing laughs and building friendships off the track.
“We’re just… we’re camping together. And that’s the stuff I like about our sport,” Stewart said.
And when it comes time to race?
“When you line up against them, you wanna beat them. We joke around saying, yeah, you wanna put your foot on their throat and make their face turn blue,” Stewart said, grinning. “But that’s competitors — and that only lasts for three and a half seconds. But when you get to the top end, whoever loses, you congratulate each other.
“It doesn’t have to be cutthroat all the time. It’s respect. And that’s what NHRA has — these teams, these drivers, they all respect each other. And that’s what I really love about the sport.”
This story was originally published on May 22, 2025. 
