NHRA Carolina Nationals
Event 15 of 20
Countdown Event 2 of 7
zMAX Dragway
Concord, N.C.
Sept. 17 - 19, 2021
LEAH PRUETT
Driver of the Okuma Top Fuel Dragster
Qualified: No. 11 (3.804 E.T. at 321.50 MPH)
The Results:
E1: 3.890 E.T. at 303.78 MPH defeated by Justin Ashley 3.731 E.T. at 327.59 MPH
Race Recap:
Aboard the Okuma Top Fuel dragster, Leah Pruett and her opponent Justin Ashley were the first pair of drivers to hit the track on Sunday morning at the NHRA Carolina Nationals. Pruett and Ashley clocked identical reaction times, and both were on good runs until Pruett’s machine dropped a cylinder as it neared the top end and she slowed to a 3.890 E.T. while her challenger clocked his quickest pass of the weekend for the win.
Pruett departs zMAX Dragway occupying the fifth spot on the Top Fuel leaderboard
From Leah:
As the Countdown to the Championship continues, we’re leaving the second playoff race with a disheartening finish with that first-round exit, but it hasn’t demoralized the team. We’re definitely down on power and trying to find out where we’re missing about 500-horsepower in our combination. We’re gaining clarity on that right now and feel confident we’ll get that sorted out before St. Louis. Our Okuma team had a runner-up finish in Sonoma, and that first-round exit here in Charlotte at their headquarters is not ideal. I hate that for all of their wonderful customers and employees that came out here to root our Okuma team on. This team has so much potential, and there is enough time left in the season for us to live up to it, and execute, and that’s exactly what we plan to do. But, to say that this was one of our favorite days, it definitely was not. As a driver, running up against Justin Ashley, I think I’ve raced against him more than anyone else this year. I’m impressed with myself for being able to leave the line with him. Our team has been doing a phenomenal job but unfortunately, we have a current missing link, and we’re doing everything we can to fix that. There’s still a lot of racing left, and we’re focused on gaining wins before the season ends.
Source: Don Schumacher Racing
