Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) has announced a significant partnership with Elite Motorsports, forming a powerful alliance aimed at reshaping the business landscape of NHRA drag racing. This collaboration, revealed in September 2025, merges the sales, marketing, and hospitality operations of both organizations to enhance sponsorship opportunities and team resources across multiple racing categories.
The partnership seeks to elevate the competitive and commercial aspects of drag racing by creating a unified front that offers greater value to partners and fans alike, positioning both teams for broader success on and off the track.
Enhancing Impact Across NHRA’s Top Racing Classes
By joining forces, Tony Stewart Racing and Elite Motorsports are consolidating their strengths to build what they call a “super team” within the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. This collaboration extends their reach to several prominent classes, including Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Mountain Motor Pro Stock, Competition Eliminator, and Pro Mod.
The combination of assets allows the teams to offer sponsors a wider scope of involvement, unlocking new marketing platforms and hospitality experiences. This offers significant potential for expanded visibility and partnership growth within the drag racing community.
#TSRnitro and @EliteMotorsLLC are forming a sales, marketing and hospitality alliance in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. The partnership will allow both teams to combine assets, offering partners additional opportunities within the Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Mountain Motor Pro Stock, Competition Eliminator, and Pro Mod classes.
—Tony Stewart Racing Nitro (@TSRnitro)
Combining Strengths to Build a Competitive Super Team
The alliance enables the two organizations to pool resources to better fund their race cars and expand sponsor benefits. Tony Stewart highlighted that the collaboration is based on more than business, emphasizing his personal connection with Richard Freeman, Elite Motorsports’ owner.
Stewart described the partnership as unique and focused on creating a strong alliance that maximizes what each team can offer:
“Our partnership with Elite Motorsports and Richard Freeman and his group is unique. It’s taking all of our assets that we have with TSR and Elite Motorsports … and creating a situation where we have a lot to offer partners and potential partners down the road. We will be pooling our assets together and working together to try to fund these race cars.”
—Tony Stewart, Co-owner
He further shared that his friendship with Freeman laid the foundation for the alliance, underscoring the importance of strong relationships in successful partnerships.
“Richard and I have a great friendship, and I think that’s what great partnerships start out as. He has a great organization with great people, and I feel like putting our two teams with our great people together is just going to make for a very strong alliance and a partnership that will be beneficial to both organizations.”
—Tony Stewart, Co-owner
Similarly, Richard Freeman expressed enthusiasm about the collaboration’s potential to create comprehensive sponsor packages that neither team could deliver alone.
“This alliance just makes so much sense. Tony and I have become good friends, and we’ve realized that we’re a lot alike. We have similar visions and share a desire to build basically a super team that can offer our partners the most and best options. Being able to offer the most to our partners, that’s really what it’s about.”
—Richard Freeman, Owner, Elite Motorsports
Immediate Benefits and Future Outlook for the NHRA Season
The alliance took effect immediately in the 2025 NHRA season, allowing both teams to leverage their combined strengths for the rest of the campaign. This timely partnership is expected to boost resource utilization, enhance sponsor engagement, and increase competitive performance.
Looking ahead, the collaboration sets the stage for deeper integration and stronger results in future racing seasons, with the goal of dominating drag racing through shared expertise, assets, and relationships.
