Tony Stewart shared a Thanksgiving post that pointed to his plans for the 2026 NHRA season. His message was filled with gratitude, featuring pictures of his family and details about his next ride.In the post, Stewart thanked his family, his team and Elite Motorsports for giving him his new ride for 2026. This lines up with earlier information reported by FloRacing in September 2025.At that time Elite Motorsports owner Richard Freeman shared that Tony Stewart would drive the Elite Motorsports Top Fuel dragster once funding was secured. The plan was part of a larger effort to grow Elite’s presence in the NHRA. The post was captioned,“Thankful today and every day for my family, my teams, @EliteMotorsLLC for my new ride next season, and @RLCarriers for being part of the journey. 🦃”FloRacing had already reported that Freeman purchased the Top Fuel operation from Josh Hart and wanted Stewart in the seat once the financial side was complete. Freeman also planned for Erica Enders and Aaron Stanfield to test and license in the dragster as Elite expanded its efforts.Their marketing alliance allowed Stewart to continue racing while still remaining involved as an owner at Tony Stewart Racing. Leah Pruett is set to return to her own seat in 2026, something Stewart had said from the start.Tony Stewart is entering his third Top Fuel season in 2026. His first two seasons were strong. He won Rookie of the Year in 2024, won his first Top Fuel race in 2025 in Las Vegas, later took a second win and also won the 2025 regular season championship. He ended the Countdown in a tight battle for the title.Autoweek added that Elite Motorsports hired veteran crew chief Mike Green to lead its Top Fuel program built around Tony Stewart. Green left Justin Ashley’s team to join Elite. He has championship experience and will debut with Elite at the 2026 Gatornationals. Freeman also bought the R+L Carriers dragster that Hart was driving.Tony Stewart remembers his first paycheck while preparing for 2026In a 2015 USA Today interview Tony Stewart talked about his first official paycheck. He was in high school and worked as a light and sound technician. USA Today quoted Stewart saying,"My first official paycheck came from the Bartholomew County School Corporation. I worked at the school auditorium and it was like 12 dollars and 70 cents for working a show."USA Today also quoted him explaining the job:"Lighting and sound. I'd have been probably a junior in high school....It was just a job while I was in school. Actually I'd had jobs before that, but that was the first job where I got an official paycheck."The NHRA driver was born in 1971. He started racing go karts early and won a championship in 1980. He later became the only driver to win both IndyCar and NASCAR championships.Stewart first stepped in for his wife Leah Pruett. In 2026 they will compete against each other. Tony Stewart will race for Elite Motorsports and Pruett will continue with Tony Stewart Racing Nitro.