Tony Stewart reacts to NHRA finals being canceled due to rain

This weekend was supposed to the the NHRA finals, but instead, Tony Stewart and everyone else are going home with nothing. Pomona was rained out all weekend long, meaning the championship standings stayed put and champions were crowned without a single run.

Tony Stewart completed his first season of Top Fuel this year. He won the regular season championship, earned two Wallys, and his Funny Car driver, Matt Hagan, was a championship contender. Not much you can complain about if you’re Smoke.

Still, it’s disappointing for the season to end on a rainout. The year is over now.

“Yeah, but I think, you know, midway through the season, they weren’t really in a position anyway,” Stewart said when asked about the season by Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports. “So, I mean, I think they’re happy with where they ended up. For us, I mean, all I wanted at the beginning of the season, the goal was just to see the needle move the right direction.

“So, I think with two wins and a regular-season championship, I think we definitely saw the needle move the right way. Hard to be disappointed with that. Obviously, would have liked to have performed better in the countdown, but like I said, I just keep referring back to you know, we just wanted to see improvement with the team, and we definitely did that for sure.”

Tony Stewart gives it up to Mother Nature

When it comes to the weekend at Pomona, it was a wash. Tony Stewart has been around racing a long time. Still, there are new things he is experiencing in the NHRA. Weather-related issues are among those new lessons learned.

“The only thing undefeated is Mother Nature in life,” Stewart said. “You know, it’s different than any other form of motorsports that we’ve been a part of. You think of a pavement track that as soon as you get dry, you start racing, and unfortunately, there’s way more to it than that. It’s the glue, it’s the dragging tires, and the sand trap at the end is like a concrete block right now; it’s really hard. So, safety-wise it’s not conducive to us running.

“There’s kind of a 70-degree benchmark of the surface of the track, the track temp needs to be at least 70 degrees [Fahrenheit]. So, it’s different than what we’re used to, you and I both, but at the same time it’s the parameters that you’ve got to be in, and unfortunately, just the way the weather’s worked out this week, it’s just not conducive to doing that.”

Drag racing has to have certain conditions. On the track, grip levels are important for safety. As someone who doesn’t follow NHRA very closely, the mention of the sand trap was interesting. That is something I hadn’t considered. But Stewart makes a great point. Wet sand would be horrible to crash into.

Tony Stewart had an up-and-down season this year. The regular season was great. He went above and beyond expectations. However, he was bested in the Countdown. That’s NHRA’s version of playoffs. No show in Pomona this week. Unfortunately, that’s all for now. Until next season, that is.

Doug Kalitta won the Top Fuel championship. That is his second title at the age of 61. Other champions named in the post below:

NHRA officials have made the unfortunate decision on Sunday to cancel this weekend’s In-N-Out Burger #NHRAFinals at @PomonaDragstrip due to persistent and adverse weather and unsafe track conditions.
 
After an exhaustive effort from the NHRA Safety Safari and following close… pic.twitter.com/dD5A8BFD8d

— NHRA (@NHRA) November 16, 2025