Tony Stewart wins at Maple Grove Raceway, takes Top Alcohol Dragster points lead

Are we about to see Tony Stewart claim another series championship? Smoke won at Maple Grove Raceway today to take the points lead. In his Top Alcohol Dragster, the NASCAR legend bested Madison Payne in the final with a time of 5.213.

The NHRA season has been going very well for Tony Stewart. He’s won multiple events and he is now back on top of the standings in his category. His hard work is paying off, and to almost no one’s surprise, he looks poised to win a championship.

From IndyCar to NASCAR to anything he damn well pleases to drive, Smoke can do it and do it at a championship level. He might not be in a stock car anymore, but the man can drive anything with a steering wheel on it.

Won at @maplegrove1320 and took over the Top Alcohol championship points lead! Happy to get the win for my McPhillips Racing crew at their home track. @NHRA | @Mobil1 | @mobil1racing pic.twitter.com/72wUG7PAmz

— Tony Stewart (@TonyStewart) September 18, 2023

For Tony Stewart, it is just another day at the office. He has races all the way through the November NHRA Finals at Pomona Dragstrip in California. There is a lot of racing left to go. Right now, he’s the one to beat in the Top Alcohol Dragster division.

Are we going to see Smoke win another championship? He couldn’t get the best of Ryan Newman in the SRX Series. So, I’m sure he’s got his eyes on landing the championship in November.

Tony Stewart’s NASCAR team looks rough

Back to NASCAR from the NHRA, Tony Stewart isn’t doing so well. At least, the organization bearing his name isn’t. Stewart-Haas Racing had just one driver in the playoffs this season. Now they don’t have any heading into the Round of 12.

Kevin Harvick has been carrying SHR for most of the season. For whatever reason, as an organization, they have not been able to hit on their setups and have fallen behind. You could argue that Front Row Motorsports is a better Ford organization right now.

Before the Live Fast Motorsports charter was sold to Spire Motorsports this week, there were rumors. Word was that Stewart-Haas was shopping around two of their charters. However, that has since been denied and it doesn’t appear to have legs. Given the poor performance of the team and Stewart’s interests seemingly elsewhere, it was believable.

While I think the complaints about Tony Stewart are mostly overblown, it bears pondering. After all, in these NASCAR Playoffs we have seen owners like Brad Daugherty, Michael Jordan, Chris Rice and Matt Kaulig, Rick Hendrick, and more make their way to races. Smoke is busy with the NHRA schedule, of course.

Still, it would be nice to see him at the track outside of his Fox Sports duties early in the year.