Leah Pritchett’s Top Fuel victory over final-round opponent Blake Alexander in Sunday’s Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway underscored the NHRA’s “Women of Power” initiative this month – particularly considering she shared the podium with Funny Car winner Courtney Force.

But for Pritchett, the real “girl power” was her bond with a Make-A-Wish guest named Lucy. Together they were Lucy and Ethel. Pritchett turned out to be Wonder Woman for the awed youngster. Or maybe it was the other way around as Pritchett shone for the first time since the 2017 Brainerd race.

“That has been a minute,” Pritchett said with a grin.

In recording her sixth victory and Don Schumacher Racing’s first Top Fuel victory since that same Minnesota event last August, Pritchett forged a bond with her new friend.

“This win, it means a lot – and to have it, to do it, with Lucy here. There’s a young lady, Lucy. Make-A-Wish granted a wish for her. Her one wish was to spend a weekend with us racing, and that’s what she got,” Pritchett said.

Lucy had the run of Pritchett’s DSR pit – going “everywhere, in the pits, with the tow vehicle, with the guys from first thing in the morning ’til the end,” Pritchett said.

That’s outside Pritchett’s routine, for on race days, she usually likes keeping to herself: “On race day, I have a lot of solitude. I don’t touch my phone. I don’t talk to anybody.” But Lucy changed that Sunday, and Pritchett won.

“She’s my sister in there, and we’re going round after round after round and I’m like, ‘Girlfriend, this is a wish, and this is my wish, too, that we can win together,’” the driver of the FireAde Dragster said.

“Actually, you want to talk about attitude – she has carried the attitude for this entire weekend,” Pritchett said. “For her to be upbeat and positive about her condition and be out here in this heat when her condition is about swelling - and I think I’m hot right now. She has to deal with her body swelling to life-threatening situations. For us to win with her in Hotlanta, this one is for her and the Ronnie Thames Foundation.”

Her winning 3.874-second elapsed time at a speed of 322.42 mph on the 1,000-foot course at Commerce, Ga., was automatic, as Alexander disqualified himself with a foul start.

In this showdown between Pritchett and her former Bob Vandergriff Racing team, the two youngest Top Fuel drivers and Jr. Dragster graduates were going for a first Wally statue, her first of the year and his first ever.

After tuning guidance from crew chief Ron Douglas that produced round-wins against Antron Brown, Brittany Force, and Steve Torrence, Alexander launched the Pronto Service Center Dragster for Bob Vandergriff Racing just six-thousandths of a second too early in his first final-round appearance. That was his 28th NHRA start; some of his races have come in the Funny Car category.

Many would say Pritchett and crew chiefs Todd Okuhara and Joe Barlam were stuck in neutral, having a rough patch or a slump.

“Everybody kind of says that, right? They call it a slump, and they call it a drought. I think you’re talking somewhat to the wrong person because I waited 20 years or so, 19, to get my first Top Fuel win. When you have that glimpse of victory and you continue and you chase and you drive and you encourage each other even more, then you gain more victories, and that’s what we have at Schumacher,” Pritchett said.

“So we know that we’re capable and that’s what we live off of. I think [I have] a completely positive mindset, and that’s the culture that our Top Fuel team and Schumacher live within: not letting non-wins for a certain number of races get us down. Don [Schumacher] is there and he’s letting us know. But it’s really that drive, determination, advancement, and the never willing to give up. That’s what this team put on the track.”

She said she really didn’t feel any weight on her slender shoulders.

“When you have seriously that amount of support behind you it’s really not that heavy,” Pritchett said of any burden. “I’ve watched Antron and Tony and other DSR teams carry that weight before and get it done, and I feel like when we say we’re racing one round at a time, that is seriously that mindset - instead of . . . you can believe the exact opposite and put everything on you.”

Pritchett has been a blur all season, racing in other classes and exhibitions and dashing about nearly every racetrack like a flea. But she said he doesn’t look at those responsibilities as liabilities.

“I believe that I’m blessed with so many opportunities, to be a part of so many different industries. I mean, on Friday I get to speak about STEM to students and encourage the 150 careers that the Army offers for what their passion is in life to the science behind making pizzas to high-performance accessories for Mopar to flavored water that’s making girls’ dreams come true,” Pritchett said. “All of those things, you can look at it two ways: It could be a distraction, or an extreme blessing. And I have an opportunity to condition my mind in a way that none of my competitors do. So I take that and look at it with a positive light and think I’m going to give 150 percent across the board at all times. And then that 150 percent I think will turn into what is your status quo of 100. That’s just the way I go about it. We want to be great at everything and with the greatest team (I consider) on Earth, and I’m trying to live up to their standards.

She credited Okuhara and Barlam for navigating the tough, ever-changing elements this weekend.

“I mean, the conditions out there were varying all weekend long, and that’s why my hat’s off to Joe and Todd for continuously finding what was right and wrong and adjusting to it and overcoming what we had in the right lane.”

As for being one of two female winners Sunday, Pritchett said, “I think that’s pretty cool. I would have much rather seen Matt Hagan win for my Mopar guys, Mopar muscle. I’m true to my people, and that Mopar team has supported us very heavily. We’re super-closely aligned. I don’t think it’s the month of the woman, so to speak, or of the year. I think what NHRA has done with the fans have not only absorbed but encouraged and gotten behind is strengthening us, so I don’t think we’re here for a small amount of time. We’ve got a lot of incredible people that believe in us. We just happen to be women doing the things that other guys have been incredibly great at.

“I look at it from a ratio standpoint,” she said. “What is the ratio of women in that particular category? It’s very small. So that is why I consider it a big deal. Not necessarily because we’re women. But say there were two red coins in a sea of black coins, and the two red keep popping up on top. Like, what are the chances of that? Well, there’s something to it. What’s to it are our partners, the people that believe in us. But it starts with believing in yourself. And I know that Courtney and Brittany [Force] and Erica [Pro Stock’s Enders] and the other women believe real hard in themselves. And that is very infectious. Believe in yourself and you get people that believe in themselves, too, and you put it together, and man, on a Sunday you get a Wally.”

Man. And that reminds of Alexander, who was making his 28th start, some of which have come in the Funny Car class.

In the semifinal, Alexander put the brakes on Steve Torrence, who was seeking his fourth victory in seven events. He denied Torrence his second straight and third overall Atlanta victory.  

However, as the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series moves to Topeka for the Menard’s Heartland Nationals in two weeks, Torrence stretched his lead over No. 2 Tony Schumacher in the Top Fuel standings from 77 points to 120. It’s the 17th time in 21 races that Torrence has led the dragsters.

“We let that one get away, and I hate that,” Torrence said, “But that’s why we hit the gas. You never know what’s going to happen. We started to spin [the tires], and that gave Blake the opening he needed.  I just wish he’d have gone ahead and taken out Leah in the final. Still, we’re leaving with a bigger lead than we had coming in here, and we know we’ve got a bad-ass race car for Topeka.”

Top qualifier Clay Millican lost in the quarterfinals to Mike Salinas. But the Parts Plus/Great Clips Dragster driver came away with low E.T. and top speed of the meet (3.758, 331.12 in qualifying).