All signs were pointing to Top Fuel driver Leah Pritchett missing the Four-Wide Nationals April 22-24 in Charlotte, N.C.

That’s not the case any more.

On Wednesday morning, it was announced Pritchett will be competing at zMax Dragway driving the Nitro Ninja Top Fuel dragster owned by the Lagana family at the Four-Wide event presented by Lowes Foods.

The dragster will be primarily sponsored by FireAde 2000, with associate backing from Boninfante Friction and Aerodine Composites Group.

Pritchett began the season driving for Bob Vandergriff Jr. Racing and was having great success highlighted by her first career Top Fuel victory at Phoenix, Feb. 28 when she beat Brittany Force in the finals. Pritchett, who is 10th in the point standings, lost her seat when Vandergriff closed down his team’s operation April 11.

“It has been a whirlwind of a week, but continuation of my pursuit to compete in Top Fuel has been made possible by FireAde 2000, with joint efforts of longtime partners Boninfante Friction, Aerodine Composites, and of course the Lagana family,” Pritchett said in the press release. “Having partners able to come in clutch at the last moment enables me to enter one more race at this time, and will help me stay relevant in the NHRA Mello Yello Series Championship Point standings,” said Pritchett. “This will also buy me a bit more time to work on sufficient funding for the rest of the season to compete with a readily available team.”

Originally, Dom Lagana was going to pilot his family-owned dragster at the Four-Wide race, but he was glad to step aside for Pritchett for this one-race deal.

“It’s pretty cool,” Lagana said. “It’s an honor for us to have a recent event winner, and points chaser  drive the car. Leah and Brittany (Force), in my eyes, are the most popular drivers right now in NHRA, so to be able to keep her (Pritchett) out there for a race is pretty cool.”

Lagana and veteran John Stewart will serve as the crew chiefs on the dragster driven by Pritchett. Pritchett also acknowledged she will have “a couple of my former crew members from my BVR dragster driving down and working on the car with me this weekend.”

The Lagana dragster most recently competed at the Gatornationals March 17-20 with Tripp Tatum driving. Tatum qualified 10th with a 3.873-second pass at 317.05 mph. Tatum proceeded to defeat Pritchett in the first round before his day ended with a second-round loss to eventual race winner Brittany Force.

“We had a real good weekend at Gainesville,” said Lagana, who keeps his race car operation in Norwalk, Ohio. “It was Tripp’s first race and he brought a deal to drive and it worked well. Now, we are just trying to step up the performance more with the dragster.”

Pritchett began her partnership with FireAde 2000 when it signed on to be a multi-race sponsor of Pritchett’s BVR dragster for 2016.

Although circumstances have changed, the manufacturer of innovative, and environmentally friendly firefighting, tank cleaning, and dust control products have stepped up to support Pritchett for this unique NHRA event. 

“Just as the FireAde products continue to surpass industry standards, whether fighting blazing wildfires on the land, in the oil fields, or with a can of FireAde 2000 that should be in every garage or household, they continue to exceed my expectations,” Pritchett said in the press release. “FireAde is helping me get through this high temperature of a time, and as a dedicated partner, I look forward to representing them as best I can for as long as am I able to.”

Ron Thames, CEO and Founder of FireAde is also excited about this weekend.

"In a short time Leah has proved to be an incredible ambassador for our company, on and off the track, and we are pleased to be able to continue our partnership with her and support her efforts during this time,” said Thames in a press release.

Pritchett is grateful for the opportunity to race this weekend in Charlotte and not let her many fans down who have supported her at a track. Pritchett has four career NHRA Pro category wins, three coming in Pro Mod – two at Charlotte in the fall race in 2011 and the spring race in 2012 and the fall race at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in 2011.

“Beyond working alongside and being close friends with the Laganas, I feel fortunate to bring the proper resources to their operation to compete at this event,” Pritchett said. “Experiencing this portion of my journey with people I know, respect, and trust, makes this quick turnaround of a time, that much more rewarding.”

The NHRA Four-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Foods gets underway Friday with the Nitro qualifying sessions at 4:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. (EST.) Television coverage will be on FOX Sports 1 with qualifying coverage on Saturday at 10 p.m. and eliminations Sunday at 4:30 p.m. (EST.)