Monday notes from post CSK Nationals testing at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. 

AH LEAH! AGAIN - Less than 24 hours after Jack Beckman’s Sunday Funny Car triumph in the Checkers Schuck’s Kragen Nationals, the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge he drove to victory was sitting in the staging lanes at Firebird Raceway.  But ‘Fast Jack’ wasn’t in the driver’s seat.

Hey, it’s the NHRA “Monday Nationals”, the traditional test day following a national event, and team owner Don Schumacher was fulfilling a commitment made to 19-year-old Leah Pruett-LeDuc, an aspiring Funny Car driver.  Pruett-LeDuc, married just a week, is from Cherry Valley, Calif., and while her last name is new, her driving ambition has been with her for 11 years. 

Monday notes from post CSK Nationals testing at Firebird International Raceway in Phoenix, Arizona. 

AH LEAH! AGAIN - Less than 24 hours after Jack Beckman’s Sunday Funny Car triumph in the Checkers Schuck’s Kragen Nationals, the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge he drove to victory was sitting in the staging lanes at Firebird Raceway.  But ‘Fast Jack’ wasn’t in the driver’s seat.

Hey, it’s the NHRA “Monday Nationals”, the traditional test day following a national event, and team owner Don Schumacher was fulfilling a commitment made to 19-year-old Leah Pruett-LeDuc, an aspiring Funny Car driver.  Pruett-LeDuc, married just a week, is from Cherry Valley, Calif., and while her last name is new, her driving ambition has been with her for 11 years. 

Rick Cassell and Tommy DeLago, the car’s mechanical brain-trust, said three passes were on the docket with the intent of preparing her for Nostalgia Funny Car competition next month in Bakersfield, Calif.  Her first two attempts, however, were about six months apart.  The first came at Indianapolis in August, and both can best be described as short and shaky.  She was, however, able to compare various degrees of tire shake.

“I was in the car in August and I had a much more violent shake (in her first attempt Monday) than I had back then,” she said.  “It was pretty much what I expected, but I have a lot of things to fix before we go out and run again.  They are things I need to do to help the crew.”

After eight years in NHRA JR Dragsters (ages 8 to 16), she spent the next three years in the California Independent Funny Car Association (CIFCA) driving seven-second alcohol-fueled Funny Cars.  She recently earned her Nostalgia Funny Car driver’s license and plans to drive a car owned by her father in the Heritage Series this year, starting with the 50th annual March Meet in Bakersfield, Calif., March 7-9. 

How long will it be before she joins Ashley Force and Melanie Troxel in the POWERade Series? 

SCELZI PLEASED WITH TEST - Gary Scelzi ordered it and collaborated with Seattle-area chassis builder Brad Hadman on construction of his new, updated Funny Car that made its on-track debut Monday.  Late in the afternoon, Scelzi was very enthusiastic about the results.

“We don’t want to give up the numbers or anything, but tell everybody that it was outstanding,” he said.  “We are very happy with it.”

Race fans will get their first look at the new Mopar-Oakley Dodge at Gainesville. 

AMONG OTHER THINGS - Melanie Troxel was very happy to get more seat time, even if it was on Monday.  The newcomer to Funny Car said she only had three passes “to the finish line in my name this year” in Mike Ashley’s Pro Care Rx Dodge.  “It doesn’t hurt to get more passes.  We have a whole bunch of them from half-track and a little past that, but just getting some full runs is good for all of us.” . . . Del and Chuck Worsham and the Checkers Schuck’s Kragen Funny Car team were searching for ways to break out of their two-race doldrums, i.e., non-qualifying efforts.  “We’re trying to get the car set-up right and the results here today have been good,” Chuck Worsham said.  “We started last year the same way, then went on to qualify at all 21.” . . . Alan Bradshaw’s chiropractic patients in Odessa, Texas, were without their chiropractor Monday. He was making test laps in Dexter Tuttle’s Vis Viva Top Fuel entry after failing to qualify for Sunday’s race.  “My patients will get my full attention on Tuesday,” he said. “We got some good data and the car ran better.”  Added crew chief Tony Shortall, “We could go one way or the other on the tune-up, and we kept going the other way.  Now we just turned it around and got really good numbers.” . . . Jim Oberhoffer, Kalitta Racing team manager, noted Hillary Will’s car picked up its performance Monday after installation of new clutch discs from her car owner Ken Black’s Friction Unlimited clutch disc shop.  “She ran 4.63 (seconds) at 266 (mph) shutting it off early. The only thing we changed was the clutch disc pack.”