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NHRA WINTERNATIONALS QUALIFYING: LEAH PRUETT PROVISIONAL NO.1 QUALIFIER FRIDAY

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By: Tony Stewart Racing (Photos Courtesy TSR)

LEAH PRUETT
Rinnai Tankless Water Heaters Top Fuel Dragster

Qualifying
No. 1; 3.724 seconds at 329.75 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 3
Q1: 3.808 at 325.85
Q2: 3.724 at 329.75

  • 12-time NHRA National Event Winner
  • Finished 2023 runner-up in championship points
  • Two previous wins at NHRA Winternationals (2017, 2021)
  • Was No. 1 qualifier in 2017
  • The last time Pruett was in the driver’s seat at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip was the 2023 NHRA Finals in a winner-takes-the-championship final round. She finished runner-up in the race and third in the championship points standings.
  • Originally from Redlands, California.

“The cohesiveness of this team, whether we’re Rayce Rudeen last weekend, Rinnai this or Dodge next, the collaboration that has happened over the last year and a half, how competitive the car was last year with Tony [Stewart] driving, the team has jelled so well and worked really, really hard. What was significant about this Q2 run tonight is, as the sun is setting you don’t really know exactly when you’re running. So there are major changes happening in the staging lanes to accommodate the temperature and how much sun is on the track,” Pruett said. “I feel like we have established a really good meat and potatoes hold on our tune-up overall. This was an opportunity for us to work on our dessert feature, right? Like, we need to be able to run quicker, more often. We had a 3.69-second set up for the car and it ran a 3.72. I think overall we expected the whole session to be quicker. Definitely not complaining the track is fantastic and continuing to give us what we need to go down.

I couldn’t be more proud of this team. You look at where Neal Strausbaugh was 10 years ago, five years ago, being a rookie lead crew chief with me at TSR and now to continue the momentum that we have, I’m a lucky individual to be with him.” Pruett continued. “We are excited about what we’re doing right now, and today, and where this team is going, and the pace that we’re going at, and the development in the clutch that we did, and worked hard in the offseason, and with Pellera and with tech. That’s been my pet project with the crew chiefs the past two years. To see our results, to be in the cockpit of the car after having a hand in the entire team operation, it is fulfilling in a way that I would never even have dreamed of before I’d gotten out of the car in 2023. So for me, yeah, this is absolutely fantastic, the provisional success we’re having. But it really, in my opinion, is just a preview of what’s to come, I hope.”

MATT HAGAN
Johnson’s Horsepowered Garage Dodge//SRT Hellcat Funny Car

Qualifying:
No. 5; 4.037 seconds at 324.75 mph
Bonus Qualifying Points: 0
Q1: 5.007 at 152.61  
Q2: 4.037 at 324.75 

  • Four-time world champion (2023, 2020, 2014, 2011)
  • Finished 2025 season runner-up in the championship points standings
  • Previously won at the NHRA Winternationals in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2023
  • Five final round appearances
  • No. 1 qualifier at the event in 2017, 2018, 2020, 2024
  • Winningest active Funny Car driver at In-N-Out Pomona Dragstrip with seven victories total at the facility, second overall only to legend John Force who has 17
  • Winternationals is one of five events in which he has won at least 30 rounds of racing (along with Charlotte 2, Las Vegas2, Dallas and St. Louis)