‘An emotion that I’ve never had before’: Tony Stewart, wife Leah Pruett welcome son during whirlwind racing weekend

Talk about a busy weekend!

Racing legend Tony Stewart and his wife, NHRA driver Leah Pruett, announced the birth of their son over the weekend. Dominic James Stewart was born in Phoenix; mother and son are “doing great,” according to Stewart’s racing team.

It marked a whirlwind weekend for Stewart, who was in Pomona, California, for NHRA qualifying on Saturday, traveled to Phoenix to witness his son’s birth and then flew back to Pomona in time for race day. It wasn’t the only thing happening near the dragstrip.

Tony Stewart Racing Nitro posted a photo of Stewart adorned with an “it’s a boy” banner to mark the occasion.

In an interview NASCAR reporter Bob Pockrass posted on social media, Stewart said it was his responsibility to come up with the boy’s name.

“I was tasked with the job of creating names I liked and handed it over to her,” Stewart said. “Then she whittled it down to what she liked out of what I liked.”

And while that is definitely a big job, it was nothing compared to what his wife pulled off.

“She has literally, the whole season, moved us into a new house, a second trip got the baby room done,” he said. “Got travel stuff ready to go for when we’re traveling to the races on the weekends. She has worked her a** off for this child and for us as a family. She’s done that and done all the hard work. In the meantime, I’ve been out racing and having fun doing what I do.”

Stewart made sure to keep out of her way and said they couldn’t be happier. He resisted the idea of naming his son after himself.

“There’s no way in hell I would give a kid a strike against him right out of the gate like that,” he joked.

Stewart said his wife added a name to their list late in the process but made the final call. That was fine with him.

“I don’t care what we call him,” Stewart said. “I’m just proud to have him, and when I saw his face today, it just [was] an emotion that I’ve never had before.”

As for Stewart’s NHRA performance, he made it to the Top Fuel semifinals before losing. This week, however, it’s safe to say “Smoke” came out a winner no matter what.