Leah Pritchett can distinctly remember her first award at Pomona.

Just eight-years-old, learning the ropes of the sport she would grow to love behind the wheel of a Junior Dragster, Pritchett vividly recalls receiving a plaque in front of an empty grandstand with just her and her friends there to celebrate the accomplishment.

“When we would win, we didn’t get trophies, we got plaques,” Pritchett recalled. “And we would line our Juniors up right in front of this very tower and there would be two people watching and we would host our own ceremonies.”

Now, 20 years later, Pritchett will be the star of the show on the biggest stage of them all.

With friends and family cheering her on at the very track where she grew up racing, Pritchett rocketed to the top of the Top Fuel charts with a career best run to earn her second career No. 1 behind the wheel of the Papa John’s dragster Saturday at the 57th annual NHRA Circle K Winternationals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

And when Sunday rolls around, she won’t be walking out on that stage alone anymore.

“From articles in my local paper to the entire world tuning in and watching, what I consider, one of the most prestigious races in the world, is amazing,” Pritchett said. “This is not just my home track where I first went down the dragstrip, it is where it all began for me.”

Sitting third entering the fourth and final qualifying session of the weekend, Pritchett drove her machine to a new track record ET of 3.672-seconds at 327.90 mph to unseat Doug Kalitta, who lead through three rounds. Kalitta qualified second with a 3.686 at 329.58 mph. Antron Brown qualified third with a 3.695 at 328.06 mph.

“The run before this one the car was doing fine until we shook a bit, got to 330, and the clutch just absolutely welded,” Pritchett said. “After that I knew we were going to throw more at it, fix the problems, and I was going to hang on no matter what. When Todd (Okuhara) tells me to ‘hang on,’ I was ready to give it everything I’ve got. I was determined to get every ounce out of this run.

“When I left I felt like I had a good light. We had a little bit of a quiver about 250 feet, nothing substantial at all, and it felt like a 65 run. It felt like our test run from Phoenix. I knew it was fast. The first thing I said on the radio was what was the number because I knew it was a good run. What I have learned is the really, really fast, quick runs are some of the smoothest. And that was a smooth run.”

Pritchett’s run was also just one thousandth of a second off of the national record set by Steve Torrence in July of 2016.

“I know how close we were to that world record, but we have 23 more races to go after that,” Pritchett added.

While the excitement of a top qualifier award was apparent, with a short field on hand in the Top Fuel category, that excitement quickly shifted to focus with a bonus round of testing ahead on Sunday as Pritchett aims for her second career NHRA victory.

“We are a little light on field, so the number one spot is even more important because tomorrow we have a bye run and, more than that, we have another test session to make up for Friday,” Pritchett said. “This is a testament to the things I saw in the offseason. We don’t have more parts than everybody else. The meticulous work that my team has done in the offseason, the attention to detail, the power we have been able to create, we put it on the track. I could not be more excited.”

When racing does get finally get underway on Sunday, Pritchett will find herself matched up against either Steve Torrence or Troy Buff to advance to the semifinals. And if she finds herself in that position and, perhaps, hoisting that second trophy, Pritchett admits that it would mean more to her than any win before, or after, in her career.

“This would probably, for me, rank above a U.S. Nationals win,” Pritchett admitted. “It would mean everything, but that is tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do.”