NHRA Gatornationals
Event No. 1 of 22
Gainesville Raceway
Gainesville, Fla.
March 12-14, 2021
LEAH PRUETT
Mopar Dodge//SRT Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified: No. 3 (lane choice)
The Competition: No. 14 Mike Bucher
The Results:
Q1: 6.567 E.T. at 94.57 MPH
Q2: 3.863 E.T. at 314.53 MPH
Q3: 3.741 E.T. at 326.32 MPH (One bonus point for running third-quickest of the round)
Bonus Points: One
From Leah:
It’s amazing how one small tire shake situation very much humbles us. We didn’t get the start to the event that we wanted, but we immediately bounced back. We had a strategy in Q2 to lay down a very solid, honest pass so that we could pick away at it in Q3, and that’s exactly what we did. I’m so proud of this team and the authority that they’re taking. The car is reacting well; I’m driving well. Our test before this went great. Qualifying third in our HEMI dragster at this first event is fantastic. As I’ve said before, it doesn’t matter who we line up with, it’s just about taking it one round at a time. So far, things are working in unison, and we look forward to keeping it working that way, just as our Pennzoil oil keeps us running smoothly.
LEAH PRUETT
Mopar Dodge Challenger Drag Pak
Qualified: No. 13
The Competition: No. 4 John Cerbone
The Results:
Q1: 7.966 E.T. at 175.09 MPH
Q2: 7.892 E.T. at 173.49 MPH
Q3: 9.849 E.T. at 129.57 MPH
From Leah:
I think it's fair to say that our Dodge DSR team performed to its maximum of capabilities to get the car into competitive form with just a limited number of days with it before entering actual competition. We are definitely in the right direction. With the limited number of runs that we have had with it to really understand and get to know this car, where we're at has been in the positive progress domain. I wouldn't call it a conservative run out of the gate. It was more of a run to identify a baseline for this car, which we really didn't have before, so we're really tackling multiple things at one time. Qualifying with a 7.89 was fantastic. We thought we'd whip it up for the final session but unfortunately, lots of different factors played into the night. Running at 10:00 PM with an untouched starting line in over an hour, really did not work in anyone's favor. But that doesn't deter any of our focus and confidence. For tomorrow, we know we're going to be one of the first classes out. It's going to be cool (temperatures). We have the power for it. We're going to take as much knowledge of this car as we know to get it deep into the rounds.
Source: Don Schumacher Racing
