NHRA JEGS Route 66 Nationals: Pritchett seeks big weekend in Joliet
After experiencing a successful first full season with Don Schumacher Racing, Leah Pritchett naturally had high hopes of doing better in 2018.
She finished with four titles and two second-place finishes and was the No. 1 qualifier six times as she finished in the top five in points in the NHRA's Top Fuel division a year ago.
Pritchett reached the semifinals in this year's fifth race at the SpringNationals and won her first title in race No. 7, the Southern Nationals. Those efforts place her among the top five point scorers in Top Fuel.
As drivers reached the one-third mark of the 24-race season and set their sights on this weekend's NHRA JEGS Route 66 Nationals at Route 66 Raceway, Pritchett has 489 points, which places her eight points behind Doug Kalitta in fourth and 50 points behind former Long Grove resident Tony Schumacher, her DSR teammate in third place and a five-time champion at Joliet.
Steve Torrence leads the Top Fuel division by a 664 to 569 margin over Clay Millican. Terry McMillen (432), defending Top Fuel world champion Brittany Force (428) and Antron Brown (423), her DSR teammate and a three-time Top Fuel champion at Joliet, round out the top eight on the leaderboard.
"What we've learned and what each team has learned up until this point needs to be put on the track," Pritchett said. "Yes, Atlanta was an incredible win, and it was needed for our race car and the race team and definitely needed for Don Schumacher Racing. And personally, it's started the momentum, and we can feel it.
"When we won at Atlanta, that was very much in a different capacity than how we've won before. When we had success last season, it was when we had cool conditions and a really fast race car and were able to put that power down. But this year from a strategy standpoint, we came out knowing that we were behind the eight ball with our hot track setup and focused on our weakness instead of making our strength stronger. The win from Atlanta is a pure product of strategy that finally was able to be executed."
Pritchett, who drives the Papa John's Pizza Top Fuel Dragster, will face off against "Papa" John Schnatter on Saturday in the Papa John's Charity Challenge, which benefits the Infinite Hero Foundation. Brown also will take part in the challenge.
As the lone DSR driver who has yet to win a title at Route 66 Raceway, Pritchett wouldn't mind giving her boss another victory on a track that the Mount Prospect native always enjoys coming back to.
Pritchett believes that the 20-year old facility in Joliet, which hosts qualifying Friday and Saturday and eliminations and finals Sunday, represents the best of the history and also the future of the NHRA.
"In the past, I always think that Chicago has been a race of adaptability," Pritchett said. "With the race moving up, I think that it will help everybody, including the fans. I'm looking forward to it and have always enjoyed when Chicago would be the last stop on the tour before heading out west. Maybe some fans have attended the race for a certain weekend for years and years, but I'd love for them to keep in mind that the race has moved up, so now they can kick summer off early.
"It's particularly been a lot of fun since Chicago does an incredible job of honoring and reviewing the history of the sport and our legends, the cars and technology," Pritchett said. "And at the same time, they understand where the future of this sport is going, and they do one of the best jobs of recognizing the history and the fans that we have who consider those the golden years and at the same time recognizing that we are currently creating some golden years for this next generation. Nobody celebrates that better than them."