Leah Pritchett heads to the mountaintop in 4th DSR dragster for first nitro run in Mopar Mile-High Nationals near Denver
BROWNSBURG, IN – The last time Leah Pritchett raced in a dragster on “the mountain” it was powered by a five-
horsepower Briggs & Stratton engine in a chassis less than 150 inches long.
This time instead of being a teenager competing in the NHRA Jr. Dragster youth program at Bandimere Speedway near Denver, she will be in a 10,000-horsepower, 300-inch Don Schumacher Racing Top Fuel dragster.
Pritchett will drive Don Schumacher Racing’s fourth dragster for the fifth time this year in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series with crew chiefs Mike Guger and Joe Barlam.
Her last race with DSR was a semifinal finish on July 12 at the NHRA event just outside of Chicago that strengthened her hold the No. 10 ranking despite missing one of 13 Mello Yello races this year.
Pritchett, 28, is in her 20th season of NHRA racing. The first 10 were in the Jr. Dragster program and led to winning five NHRA Wally trophies. She was 9 when she won her first at the facility near Denver in team competition with Shawn Langdon, current DSR driver and 2013 Top Fuel world champion.
“At beginning of the year when I was going to run the full season, Bandimere Speedway was at the top of the list of tracks that I was looking forward to racing,” said Pritchett, who won this year’s second race in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series.
“Bandimere holds a special place in my heart because it’s the very first place where I won an NHRA Wally when I was 9 years old. I’ve only raced Jr. Dragsters at Bandimere. I’ve been a spectator at Bandimere national events and worked on a Nitro Funny Car (Melanie Troxel) there in 2011.
“I’ve made a lot of hits on that track (in Jr. Dragsters) and to be able to finally get back on that track means a lot. I thought that opportunity wasn’t going to happen, but now I feel like I’m on top of the mountain by getting to race on the mountain.”
Pritchett also will join her fellow DSR teammates in Golden, Colo., for the 15th annual Mopar Block Party that kicks off the Mopar Mile-High Nationals.
The Mopar Mile-High Nationals will be her fifth race since she joined DSR in mid-May near Atlanta.
Pritchett, a Southern California native and graduate of Cal State San Bernardino, already has committed to race with DSR for FireAde 2000 Personnel Fire Suppression Systems in the prestigious NHRA U.S. Nationals over Labor Day Weekend near Indianapolis.
Pritchett and DSR are optimistic they will team for additional races this year.
She began the year with Bob Vandergriff Racing in what was to be her first full-time Top Fuel season. But after four events, including a win in the year’s second race, team owner Bob Vandergriff abruptly retired upon the death of a primary sponsor and close friend. She put together financial backing for another race before joining the independent Lagana Brothers team for three more.
