Famed racers Tony Stewart, left, and Leah Pruett enjoyed their first look at the finished 2021 Supra SL550 wake surfing boat Pruett custom-designed with Mark Richards, right, owner of Pro Wake Watersports. InkFreeNews photos by David Hazledine
By David Hazledine
InkFreeNews
NORTH WEBSTER – Over 100 racing fans from all over northern Indiana were on hand Saturday, Feb. 20, at Pro Wake Watersports, 4780 N. SR 13, to see NASCAR legend Tony Stewart and NHRA drag-racing star Leah Pruett unveil the first of two Supra speed boats the couple personally designed to facilitate their wake surfing hobby.
The second unveiling, of Stewart’s boat, took place at Pro Wake’s Noblesville store on Sunday.
Pruett said she “fell in love with being on the water” around four years ago with friends while learning to wake surf, a sport utilizing a boat capable of producing a wake enabling one to “surf” behind the boat without holding on to a rope.
The hobby, she explained, provides a rest from their high-adrenaline professions; in her case, driving drag racers at speeds exceeding 330 mph, and for Stewart, winning multiple world championships and owning a NASCAR team.
“Sometimes we just want to relax and do something outside of that realm,” she said. “That realm,” in Pruett’s case, involved a high speed crash in October 2020 in St. Louis, from which she walked away without injury.
The couple, who spend time on a ranch outside Columbus, Stewart’s hometown, met Mark Richards, Pro Wake owner, over the summer of 2020. “Mutual friends hooked us up,” said Richards, who specializes in custom designing boats, including Supras. Over ensuing months, they test drove three boats and chose interior ergonomics and color.
Pruett’s blue-sparkle SL550 came with tan and grey interior. The surf system can quickly load up with 1,000 pounds of ballast, allowing her to “maximize my time on the water,” she said, an important feature for someone facing a busy racing schedule.
Pruett pronounced the SL550 her “dream boat” and commented it would be available for sale in 18 months.
Following the unveiling, Pruett and Stewart met with fans, including Curtis Shoemaker, who lives “two miles up the road” from Pro Wake and follows both Pruett and Stewart online. Justin Creech drove from Fort Wayne after finding out about the unveiling on Facebook. “I’ve been following Tony since I was a little kid,” he exclaimed.
The full story of the design of Pruett’s 2021 Supra SL550 and Stewart’s SA550, “The Journey,” can be viewed on Youtube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUUFaFBVgzg.
For more information, visit www.prowakewatersports.com.
Justin Creech, left, drove to Pro Wake Watersports’ SR 13 location outside of North Webster to see racing couple Leah Pruett, center, and Tony Stewart.