Leah Pruett – NHRA Photo
NHRA Arizona Nationals March 20-22
NHRA ARIZONA NATIONALS RACE RECAP:
LEAH PRUETT REACHES FINAL ROUND
LEAH PRUETT
Rayce Rudeen Foundation Top Fuel Dragster
Unofficial Points Standing:
4th, 157
* 12-time NHRA National Event Winner
* Finished 2023 runner-up in championship points
* Two previous wins at NHRA Arizona Nationals (2016, 2017)
* 2016 victory was her first professional Top Fuel win
* Lined up against husband and team owner Tony Stewart for the first
time in the first qualifying session on Friday morning
QUALIFYING
No. 2; 3.788 seconds at 325.92 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 4
Q1: 4.148 at 216.65
Q2: 3.997 at 297.22
Q3: 3.788 at 325.92
Q4: 4.307 at 199.46
Race Results
E1: 3.827 at 327.74 def Cameron Ferre 4.670 at 178.47
E2: 3.887 at 319.52 def Josh Hart 4.081 at 275.62
Semis: 3.887 at 316.52 def Doug Kalitta 3.629 at 314.75
“Our goal is always to start the weekend off qualifying well. So being
No. 2 and in our opinion we even missed it a little bit. We had the
expectations that we could have had something that could have been No.
1. That attitude and confidence in our program, really showed throughout
the entire weekend of having a good handle on our horsepower level. So,
besides the final round win, honestly, I couldn’t be more happy with my
team, especially in these conditions. I am so grateful. I could harp on
things that I need to work on, but this weekend was a great testament to
my team and my crew chiefs who really carry the team. I feel 10 times
better than I did in Gainesville, and I didn’t think that that was
possible.
“We’re competitive and we’re happy with our consistent runs and being
quick given the conditions. But that doesn’t mean that we’re not allowed
to take a moment and be a little bit bummed and upset about a final
round that we all wanted really bad. Some changes were made in the car
for the first time this weekend, and it didn’t react in the direction
that we thought it was going to. The car speed just fell off throughout
the entire run, all the metrics showed it.
“It’s wild, Neal Strausbaugh was being really hard on himself for a
moment, but our crew chiefs got us there. He and Mike Domagala, and the
guys doing their job, expectations were met this weekend. Our crew
chiefs were darn near perfect. And that’s what we build on. That is
momentum.
“The Rudeen family was out here, XXI Martinis, JHG, Pellera, Rinnai, X
Insurance, Rico and the TSR Sprint Car team — this weekend was true
unity in every way. From the car’s performance, to the entire
organization of TSR. Everyone really came through this weekend. And we
came up short in the final round, but that’s not gonna knock any type of
momentum for going into Pomona.”
MATT HAGAN
Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car
Unofficial Points Standing:
5th, 135
* Four-time world champion (2023, 2020, 2014, 2011)
* Finished 2025 season runner-up in the championship points standings
* Previously won at the NHRA Arizona Nationals in 2015, 2017, 2019
* Five final round appearances
* No. 1 qualifier at the event in 2015, 2020, 2022
Qualifying:
No. 4; 3.998 seconds at 321.04 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 1
Q1: 3.998 at 321.04
Q2: 4.467 at 207.94
Q3: 4.384 at 209.46
Q4: 4.753 at 175.07
Race Results:
E1: 4.031 at 322.34 def. Cruz Pedregon 4.100 at 299.53
E2: 4.621 at 189.71 def. Jordan Vandergriff 4.650 at 181.86
Semis: 4.211 at 286.92 lost to Spencer Hyde 4.185 at 292.65
“It was a super tricky weekend. Obviously, the air temperature was
super hot, triple digits, as well as hot track. I’m really proud of my
TSR guys. They put a great race car underneath me. If we were in the
right lane, I think it’s a totally different situation, and we would
probably have been in the finals. But that just wasn’t what we got.
There was a bad bump in the left lane and trying to navigate that bump
with the heat was tough. When the car goes over that bump, it wants to
spin the tires. It’s trying to slide down through there, it kind of puts
cylinders out because these motors like to be loaded. With what we had
in front of us, I was really proud that our guys were able to get me
down on the track. In the second round, the crew clicked off the motor,
and, in third round, I clicked it off myself off because I was over next
to the wall due to some holes out. But we lost by less than half a car
length. We’re not beating ourselves, we are giving ourselves an
opportunity to go down there and turn win lights on. JHG was here, owner
Jason Johnson, his wife Nikki, and cousins, those guys are always
amazing. They do a lot with the Elite team as well. Having all the folks
out here that support this effort, X Insurance, XXI Martinis, Pellera,
Rinnai, it was a good weekend. I just will try to turn some more win
lights on and get some wins before we get too far into this season.”
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