NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS RACE RECAP: LEAH PRUETT WINS POSTPONED NHRA NEW ENGLAND NATIONALS

New England Nationals Top Fuel Winner: Leah Pruett (Photo Courtesy TSR)

By: Tony Stewart Racing

BRISTOL, Tenn. (June 12, 2026) – After rain postponed the NHRA New England Nationals Top Fuel final round from being completed at New England Dragway, Leah Pruett and the Dodge Top Fuel dragster team picked up their first win of the season Friday at Bristol Dragway when they defeated points leader Shawn Langdon.

Pruett, who last won at Dallas in 2023 before stepping out of the driver’s seat to start a family, handled her Dodge dragster to a 3.794-second pass at 332.43 mph defeating Langdon’s 3.852 at 328.54 for the 13th Top Fuel victory of her career.

“I’m happier than I thought I would be. Now I finally get to take a breath and enjoy it. This race didn’t come by accident. It didn’t come by somebody falling short or smoking the tires. We earned this,” Pruett said. “To see the smiles on my crew and my crew chiefs’ faces — that’s all-time. The Diamond Wally is super cool, but seeing what this means to my team means even more. We’re chipping away at it and that’s what gave us confidence coming into this final round.

“When the season started, a couple races in, I found myself not really knowing how to collect my new self, not knowing how to emotionally manage myself and I got pretty down. But I have an incredible team behind me so we took a few steps back, and worked on hitting marks that were obtainable for me. We had a plan, a systematic approach with a team that is unwavering behind me. That’s why this win is so fulfilling. I think I’m in a better spot than I’ve ever been as a driver.”

En route to the finals, Pruett took down Scott Farley, Maddi Gordon and Billy Torrence before rain persisted and forced the finals for both Top Fuel and Funny Car to be postponed to the second qualifying session of the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway.

-TSR-