PRUETT FOCUSED ON SELF THIS YEAR

by Susan Wade    Wed, 2021-03-17 11:03

 

 Armed with a new car and a new attitude, she said, Top Fuel threat Leah Pruett has been itching to get on the racetrack when everything counts. In preseason testing, she clocked the class’ best elapsed time on opening day (3.81.41 seconds), was No. 2 last Friday at 3.745, 321.42 mph, and was second Saturday (matching Doug Kalitta’s E.T. of 3.716 seconds but with a slower 320.20 mph to his 325.06). Overall, she posted the third-quickest time. But everyone was testing all kinds of aspects of their programs, and none of the numbers were official. Last weekend in Gainesville, she qualified third and reached the quarter-finals. 

Pruett is ready to make every run a step to her first Top Fuel crown.

Always ambitious, Pruett has a challenging set of goals this season. In addition to her Top Fuel commitment, she is scheduled to compete in the full eight Factory Stock Showdown line-up.

“I always have goals to win races and a championship. However, going winless in 2020 has made me set more specific incremental goals. I intend to win at least three national events this season. You can’t do that without being great and consistent. If we can win three, we are in a good spot for intense momentum, which leads to advancement on the field, and that is an intricate variable into winning a championship. Call it a goal, or bucket list, or dedication to whatever it will take this season, my goal is to win both a Top Fuel and Factory Stock Showdown national event title on the same day. We have eight opportunities to do so this year, and my intention after four years of perfecting the craft of competing in both is to solidify this goal.”

“I couldn’t be more thrilled about entering my sixth season with crew chief Todd Okuhara, and a third season with Neal Strausbaugh. This duo is one that has been magic in the making, and one that makes me proud to drive their dragster. The majority of our team has remained intact with a few new faces coming in on the crew, one of which was an intern we had a couple of years ago. For us to remain intact and continue to build with confidence and enthusiasm is important, as that is how you build a winning team. Performance-wise, we tested in West Palm this past week in similar conditions to competition atmosphere, so I believe starting the season in Gainesville will prove beneficial to consistency. Where we start is not super-important or meaningful to me, because it’s how we finish that really matters.”

Pruett shared with Competition Plus content-sharing partner WFO Radio and Florida’s own Joe Castello that her boyfriend, motorsports giant Tony Stewart, has been studying drag racing, “focused on the dynamic of being perfect.” As for whether the constantly busy driver and series, racetrack, and team ever will jump into arguably his last frontier of racing, Pruett said, “If he does end up pursuing it, I’m very scared for anybody who has to race against him.”

What’s significant about that is that Stewart’s influence has been a positive, maybe even career-pivoting, experience for her.

Not only has he given her a fresh perspective, she said, about the entire ecosystem of motorsports, but his singular focus has rubbed off on her. “My performance increased at the end of 2020 because I no longer cared who I was against in the other lane.” Focused solely on her own situation, she said, “I know what I need to do and what my team needs to do. And if we do that right – just as [NFL quarterback] Tom Brady said at the last Super Bowl: It’s just confidence in yourself and focusing on yourself. I’m starting the season like that.”

Pruett said, “I love Doug Kalitta. He’s so focused all the time. He’s got a business to run during the week. He flies in, he gets the job done, and he flies out. Drag racing isn’t his life. That’s maturity. Maturity goes through waves, and it’s about staying in your lane. I’m in a wave of maturity journey of drag racing.”

The question in Top Fuel is whether anyone can derail the Steve Torrence train and interrupt his head of steam as he plows toward a fourth consecutive championship. Pruett said, “If there’s anybody that can do it, we are definitely that team. We can’t outspend them, but I guess we can outwork them. We can outwork, outplan, outlast, and all those survivor things. That’s what it’s going to take. They’ve got all the great resources, but it’s not impossible. It can be done. It lies with heart. And the heart of Steve and the Laganas and all the guys there is incredible. But the Hawaiian Punch [Okuhara] and Neal [Strausbaugh] [are capable].”

One advantage Pruett and team have this season over last year’s program is the lack of what she called “distractions.” Referring to “what we went through last year, of creating a second team for Cory Mac [McClenathan] and bringing Tony Schumacher back,” Pruett said, “We had a lot of distractions that a lot of people don’t know of.” Her teams seemed to be Ground Zero for those mid- and late-season additions to the Don Schumacher Racing team. For her Mopar/Okuma team, it was a case of musical dragsters, yet she was able to finish fourth in the standings for the third straight season. So it’s a blessing, she said, to be able to begin this season with the chance to focus on just one car.

As for her challenge to earn her first Top Fuel title, Pruett said, “I don’t want to say, ‘Steve, we’re coming for you,’ because no, we’re going to stay in our own lane. But for the fans, this is going to be a great season to watch, I can guarantee you.”      

 

 

 

PRUETT FOCUSED ON SELF THIS YEAR – Armed with a new car and a new attitude, she said, Top Fuel threat Leah Pruett has been itching to get on the racetrack when everything counts. In preseason testing, she clocked the class’ best elapsed time on opening day (3.81.41 seconds), was No. 2 last Friday at 3.745, 321.42 mph, and was second Saturday (matching Doug Kalitta’s E.T. of 3.716 seconds but with a slower 320.20 mph to his 325.06). Overall, she posted the third-quickest time. But everyone was testing all kinds of aspects of their programs, and none of the numbers was official. Starting this Friday, it all counts.  

And Pruett is ready to make every run a step to her first Top Fuel crown.

Always ambitious, Pruett has a challenging set of goals this season. In addition to her Top Fuel commitment, she is scheduled to compete in the full eight Factory Stock Showdown line-up.

“I always have goals to win races and a championship. However, going winless in 2020 has made me set more specific incremental goals. I intend to win at least three national events this season. You can’t do that without being great and consistent. If we can win three, we are in a good spot for intense momentum, which leads to advancement on the field, and that is an intricate variable into winning a championship. Call it a goal, or bucket list, or dedication to whatever it will take this season, my goal is to win both a Top Fuel and Factory Stock Showdown national event title on the same day. We have eight opportunities to do so this year, and my intention after four years of perfecting the craft of competing in both is to solidify this goal.”

“I couldn’t be more thrilled about entering my sixth season with crew chief Todd Okuhara, and a third season with Neal Strausbaugh. This duo is one that has been magic in the making, and one that makes me proud to drive their dragster. The majority of our team has remained intact with a few new faces coming in on the crew, one of which was an intern we had a couple of years ago. For us to remain intact and continue to build with confidence and enthusiasm is important, as that is how you build a winning team. Performance-wise, we tested in West Palm this past week in similar conditions to competition atmosphere, so I believe starting the season in Gainesville will prove beneficial to consistency. Where we start is not super-important or meaningful to me, because it’s how we finish that really matters.”

Pruett shared with Competition Plus content-sharing partner WFO Radio and Florida’s own Joe Castello that her boyfriend, motorsports giant Tony Stewart, has been studying drag racing, “focused on the dynamic of being perfect.” As for whether the constantly busy driver and series, racetrack, and team ever will jump into arguably his last frontier of racing, Pruett said, “If he does end up pursuing it, I’m very scared for anybody who has to race against him.”

What’s significant about that is that Stewart’s influence has been a positive, maybe even career-pivoting, experience for her.

Not only has he given her a fresh perspective, she said, about the entire ecosystem of motorsports, but his singular focus has rubbed off on her. “My performance increased at the end of 2020 because I no longer cared who I was against in the other lane.” Focused solely on her own situation, she said, “I know what I need to do and what my team needs to do. And if we do that right – just as [NFL quarterback] Tom Brady said at the last Super Bowl: It’s just confidence in yourself and focusing on yourself. I’m starting the season like that.”

Pruett said, “I love Doug Kalitta. He’s so focused all the time. He’s got a business to run during the week. He flies in, he gets the job done, and he flies out. Drag racing isn’t his life. That’s maturity. Maturity goes through waves, and it’s about staying in your lane. I’m in a wave of maturity journey of drag racing.”

The question in Top Fuel is whether anyone can derail the Steve Torrence train and interrupt his head of steam as he plows toward a fourth consecutive championship. Pruett said, “If there’s anybody that can do it, we are definitely that team. We can’t outspend them, but I guess we can outwork them. We can outwork, outplan, outlast, and all those survivor things. That’s what it’s going to take. They’ve got all the great resources, but it’s not impossible. It can be done. It lies with heart. And the heart of Steve and the Laganas and all the guys there is incredible. But the Hawaiian Punch [Okuhara] and Neal [Strausbaugh] [are capable].”

One advantage Pruett and team have this season over last year’s program is the lack of what she called “distractions.” Referring to “what we went through last year, of creating a second team for Cory Mac [McClenathan] and bringing Tony Schumacher back,” Pruett said, “We had a lot of distractions that a lot of people don’t know of.” Her teams seemed to be Ground Zero for those mid- and late-season additions to the Don Schumacher Racing team. For her Mopar/Okuma team, it was a case of musical dragsters, yet she was able to finish fourth in the standings for the third straight season. So it’s a blessing, she said, to be able to begin this season with the chance to focus on just one car.

As for her challenge to earn her first Top Fuel title, Pruett said, “I don’t want to say, ‘Steve, we’re coming for you,’ because no, we’re going to stay in our own lane. But for the fans, this is going to be a great season to watch, I can guarantee you.”      

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