LEAH PRITCHETT PRESENTED 2016 MIKE AIELLO AWARD

CONCORD, NC – NHRA Top Fuel driver Leah Pritchett, who earned a spot in the Countdown to the Championship this September for the first time in her career by unexpectedly having to race for three different team owners and a revolving door of sponsors, is the 2016 recipient of CompetitionPlus.com’s Mike Aiello “Spirit of Drag Racing” Award.

CompetitionPlus.com publisher/editor Bobby Bennett presented the trophy Sunday to Pritchett at zMAX Dragway during pre-race ceremonies for the NHRA Carolina Nationals.

The Mike Aiello Award honors the Houston native and standout college athlete at Texas Tech University who was a longtime drag-racing fan and former NHRA Pro Stock crew member. Aiello spent his final years confined to a wheelchair after a workplace injury. Despite physical hardship and severe mobility limitations, he not only attended drag races but made dozens of friends among racers, crew members, and media with his positive outlook and unselfish behavior. Aiello passed away December 29, 2006, at age 39, at Santa Monica, Calif.

The honor commonly is referred to as “The Spirit of Drag Racing Award” and is presented to someone who has persevered and remained positive in spite of hardship.

Said Bennett, “Big Mike was the greatest drag-racing fan ever. He had all the odds stacked against him, and he never quit smiling.”

Pritchett has shown that same disposition since Bob Vandergriff, her first boss this season, abruptly retired April 11 and shut down the team, only 43 days after her historic and career-first Top Fuel victory in the CARQUEST Auto Parts Nationals at Phoenix. She defeated Brittany Force at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in the first all-female Top Fuel final round in 34 years.

Said Pritchett at the time, “I only know how to pick that ball up, no matter how heavy it might be, and run with it. Whatever strength I have, when the chips are down, I am never going to lift off of the throttle. At the end of the day, no one will print the money for me. I’ve got to make it or find it some way. I’m still on the gas like never before. I have to keep moving forward, because there is no other option. I want my fans to know even if I do miss some races, I am not giving up. if you know me . . . you know I won’t lift.”

Pritchett was back on track, at the NHRA’s first stop of the year at zMAX Dragway, competing in the Lagana Family’s Nitro Ninja Dragster with primary sponsorship from FireAde 2000 and associate backing from Boninfante Friction and Aerodine Composites Group. In her self-described quest “to stay relevant in the NHRA Mello Yello Series championship standings,” she put her marketing skills to excellent use and has ensured her participation for the rest of the 2016 schedule.

The Laganas covered three races, including those at Epping, N.H., and Norwalk, Ohio. Don Schumacher Racing partnered with FireAde at Atlanta; Englishtown, N.J.; and Bristol, Tenn. Pritchett has represented Don Schumacher Racing since the Joliet, Ill., event, with funding from Albrecht’s Fast Track at that suburban Chicago race and Mopar-Pennzoil at Denver and Sonoma, Calif. By the Seattle event in early August, Pritchett had secured a three-race marketing partnership with Papa John’s Pizza.

She will drive for Don Schumacher racing in all six Countdown races. FireAde will sponsor her dragster at Charlotte and the season finale at Pomona, Calif. Mopar-Pennzoil will be back onboard for the Reading, Pa., and Las Vegas races. At St. Louis and Dallas, Pritchett will be DSR-funded.

By a single point, Pritchett squeezed into the Countdown, edging Terry McMillen for the 10th and final spot.

“I got to stand on the shoulders of so many people to be here. We get to focus on a championship, and I can’t tell you how incredible that feels and the weight lifted off not just my shoulders but [of] so many people that helped make that happen,” Pritchett said at Indianapolis two weeks ago.

“I definitely have had to reset my brain, but it’s all for the better,” she said. “Our new goals are to challenge for a championship to the best of our ability.

“I think what we’ve learned about our team is adaptability and having each other’s back,” Pritchett said. “This was a new team at the beginning of the year and we learned that absolutely anything is possible if you don’t give up on each other. That’s something we’ve seen happen before our eyes. I’ve learned to embrace some leadership skills I’ve never thought I’ve had, as well as being a student of a team. From a driving standpoint, it comes back to adaptability and doing whatever it takes to help the team succeed.

“We just have to focus on doing what we know how to do. We’ve been slightly off, but I think we’ve found our footing on the balance beam. We just need to stick the landing. I feel good about it,” Pritchett said.

Pritchett is the first female to receive the Mike Aiello Award. Her current boss, Don Schumacher was last year’s honoree. Funny Car champion Jack Beckman (2011) and two-time Top Fuel champion Antron Brown (2013) – her colleagues at DSR – also have received the trophy.

Longtime NHRA crew chief John Medlen received the inaugural Mike Aiello Award in 2007, followed by Funny Car driver Tim Wilkerson (2008), Pro Stock’s Mike Edwards (2009), and International Hot Rod Association racer and journalist Michael Beard (2010). Former IHRA President Aaron Polburn was the 2012 recipient. Brown shared the 2013 honor with Top Alcohol Dragster’s Shawn Cowie. Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Steve Johnson was the 2014 recipient.