A new teammate and a step back from Leah Pruett signal big changes at Tony Stewart Racing, Plus Clay Millican’s new crew chief.
The 2026 Mission Foods NHRA Drag Racing Series 20-race season, the group’s 75th anniversary of its genesis under Wally Parks, hasn’t been the best for eight-time Top Fuel champion Tony Schumacher. Accustomed to having a car that will get him from A to B on the 1000-foot dragstrips where NHRA competes, Schumacher’s 2026 stay at Rick Ware Racing (RWR) finds him mired in 12th place in the standings as the tour’s Countdown to the Championship begins this weekend at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park.
Still, based on Schumacher’s entry to races held thus far, he’s eligible for the championship, albeit 142 points behind leader Doug Kalitta of Kalitta Motorsports. With today’s announcement by RWR, Schumacher has an added tool in his pit box that could help him gain time on the track and help him perform to his own rigorous standards. Rob Wendland, the crew chief who helped Shawn Reed to his first official NHRA class win – as well as victory in the second pre-season PRO Superstar Shootout at Bradenton, FL – has joined the team for Clay Millican for the balance of the 2026 campaign. That will reflect well on Schumacher’s program as well.
“Rob brings a tremendous amount of experience to our team,” said Rick Ware, team owner in making this announcement, “and more importantly, he knows what it takes to win races. We believe Rob’s approach can help bolster our program immediately.” Wendland, who has found success both behind the wheel (he’s won two Top Alcohol Dragster races as a driver), worked with Johnny Gray’s Don Schumacher Racing (DSR) Funny Car team from 2011 through 2013, then with Terry McMillen 2015 through 2020. He established Reed’s program and helped him win his first NHRA national event in Reading last September.
While Schumacher’s plans are as usual for the balance of the season, but once all of the 2026 75th anniversary NHRA races have been run, he’ll have a new pit location in 2027. Tony Stewart Racing’s press release dropped a little more than two hours after Rick Ware made his team’s announcement.
Schumacher is joining Tony Stewart Racing for the 2027 season that celebrates 16-time Funny Car champion John Force, and he’s signed for more than a single season. The 88-time NHRA national event winner is taking over the dragster currently run by Leah Pruett, who is, once again, stepping away from full-time competition to focus on growing the family she shares with Tony Stewart. Currently third in Top Fuel’s points standings, Pruett was the primary protagonist to Doug Kalitta in 2023, as the duo battled for their first national titles; that nod went to Kalitta in the final round of the season.
“I made the decision to step out of the seat,” 13-race winner Pruett explained, “to put some more focus on our family. Hopefully that means growing our family, but it also gives me the opportunity to be more present with [son] Dom during such an important stage of his life. I feel incredibly fortunate that I’m in a position where I can make that choice, and I’m genuinely excited about what this next chapter looks like for us.
“At the same time,” she noted, “this season has been one of the most fulfilling of my career. I’ve had so much enjoyment racing with my team and, personally, the pursuit of continuing to push myself to try to match the level at which this team performs, has been incredibly challenging and rewarding. I’m proud of the progress we’ve made together, and I’m proud of where this program is headed.
“This is not retirement and I’m not going anywhere.” Pruett intends to be fully involved with the team as she was when her husband was driving her dragster, and continues to be even as she takes the wheel. “Just like before, the hope is that there’s another opportunity for me to get back in the car. I’m not making any promises or putting a timeline on it, but I feel really comfortable and confident, knowing we’ve built a solid foundation and a formidable team that can continue chasing championships for years to come.”
As part of the new agreement between Schumacher and Tony Stewart Racing, the driver’s longtime partners, American Communications Constructions, Aloha Beauty Lounge, 5.11 and Hollinger, are joining him in this new venture, becoming part of the team’s established partner portfolio that includes both Dodge and Mopar. Schumacher’s partners will have both primary and associate visibility on the dragster. “I couldn’t have seen this coming or planned something this good,” Schumacher admitted. “It truly fell into place as perfectly as possible. I feel privileged that Tony Stewart and Leah Pruett, such a power couple who are in this purely for the love of the sport, trust me with the seat of the Top Fuel dragster.
“I’ve known them for a while,” Schumacher continued. He worked with Pruett at DSR and knew Stewart when he had an Army NASCAR Cup Series entry for Ryan Newman. He worked with crew chief Neal Strausbaugh and car chief Ryan McGilvry in the past. “To be brought into the Dodge family – who were an affiliate for the Army car at DSR – and now be a teammate to some of the best drivers and team owners is pretty incredible,” he concluded.
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