Event Recap
Leah Pruett, driver of the Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
- Earned No. 7 provisional qualifying position in Q1 on Friday (3.756 ET at 318.62 mph)
- Fell to No. 8 provisional qualifying position in Q2 on Saturday (3.979 ET at 234.98 mph)
- Secured No. 9 qualifying position in Q3 on Saturday (3.736 ET at 331.94 mph).
- Advanced to Round 2 on Sunday:
- - Round 1: 3.742 ET at 33.02 mph, defeated Steve Torrence (8.456 ET at 100.72 mph)
- - Round 2: 4.411 ET at 252.61 mph, lost to TJ Zizzo (3.804 ET at 316.08 mph)
- Currently fifth in the championship standings, 34 points behind Top Fuel leader Steve Torrence.
Leah Pruett, Driver of the Dodge Direct Connection Top Fuel Dragster:
If there was one word to describe this Dodge Direct Connection team and our experience at Route 66 Raceway, it’s adaptability. Coming into this race, it’s a lot different having 21 hard-hitting cars on a new racetrack with new conditions. It accelerates the competition before you even get into competition. By qualifying ninth, on the other side of the field for the first time this season, it disrupted our qualifying average. We committed to a new tune-up program going into Charlotte last race. We have very few runs with it and are continuing to learn in these various conditions. It’s very science and math-based developed by our crew chiefs. When your calculations are off just a little bit, you’ll get results that don’t go down the racetrack. Leaving here strong in points has everything to do with being consistent and making it down the race track when other cars have not. That is what has propelled us moving forward into the rounds. That’s due to our resilience, which is different than being relentless. Resilience is how we move forward and not just the will power to move forward. I’m very proud of my team and their continued development of our ‘how.’ Ultimately, we’re setting ourselves up for consistency and success for when it counts in the countdown. We’re preparing for that now, as well as Epping around the corner.
The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series made its first visit to Route 66 Raceway since 2019.
In six starts this season, Pruett has finished runner-up once (Circle K NHRA Four-Wide Nationals), as well as advanced to the semifinals in two other events (NHRA Gatornationals and NHRA Four-Wide Nationals).
Next up: The next event on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series schedule is the NHRA New England Nationals June 2-4 at New England Dragway.
