Carol “Bunny” Burkett would have been perfect for the Top Fuel world. She had the looks. Her personality was unmatchable. Plus, she could drive, and in 1986, she became the IHRA’s first female world champion. Her Alcohol Funny Car series championship remains the only one amongst the major drag racing series attained by a female.
At the In-N-Out NHRA Finals, Burkett made her first runs in Top Fuel but not behind the wheel. Her iconic Bunny and the Boys logo, made famous by her Funny Cars of years gone by, was on the side of a Top Fuel dragster driven by Gary Pritchett.
Pritchett and Burkett were family, but not family of the blood type. It was the kinship of the heart type, as the Hall of Famer was Pritchett’s godmother.
Burkett was the reason Pritchett became a drag racer.
“She’s the reason we have all got our start out here,” said Pritchett, recognizing that Burkett gave him his first shot at drag racing along with brothers co-crew chief Adem Cave and Aaron Cave. “We’re out here because of her, and that’s why we figured we should pay a special tribute to her because in the IHRA days and all that, we didn’t secure a primary sponsor, and there was an open spot there. So why not do what made us all be out here anyway?”
Pritchett drove the Top Fuel dragster leased to him from Travis Shumake and managed by Mike Salinas’ Scrappers Racing in Pomona.
One of the foremost lessons Pritchett learned from Burkett was the value of winning and, more importantly, the value of showmanship. That’s why on Friday of the event, Pritchett was searching for a way to present the American flag in a direct tribute to Burkett, who often did eighth-mile burnouts in her Funny Car with an affixed flag waving in the wind and smoke.
“She was very patriotic,” Pritchett said. “We’re here to put on a show, that’s what she always did, and make it fun for the fans. I wanted to do an American flag on the burnout, but we probably shouldn’t do that here. But we’re going to do an American flag on the spill plates, and then we’re going to have one swinging from the wing stand towing up and towing back to show our inner Bunny Burkett in us, our showmanship and stuff like that.”
Pritchett’s first run down the drag strip delivered more go than show as he stopped the timers with a 3.750 elapsed time at 329.91 miles per hour. It would be his best run in qualifying.
What followed next was a clinic in consistency. Pritchett was one of the few drivers who got all three sessions of Top Fuel qualifying by running 3.752 and 3.769 in his three qualifying attempts.
Pritchett, who was a key part of four championship teams with Steve Torrence as a clutch specialist for 12 seasons, understood if he wanted a chance to win the team would have to step up from their mid-3.70s pace. Ironically, Pritchett faced Torrence in the first round.
He made his best run of the weekend, leaving on Torrence and leading him to the finish line with a 3.715-second elapsed time at 333.91 miles per hour.
Pritchett left on Tony Stewart in the second round, but his 3.761 elapsed time wasn’t enough to hold off Stewart.
Pritchett has been impressive in his ascension to fuel racing. Headed into his Pomona debut, he had five consecutive Top Alcohol Dragster regional final-round appearances, which led to a regional series runner-up.
And to think, he got his start in driving, piloting a second Top Alcohol Funny Car opposite Burkett in match races. He made the most of those opportunities in tribute to her, and he was still paying homage in Pomona.
“We have been living the dream, every second of it,” Prichett said. “None of this would be possible without the names on the side of this car. I was a crew guy before, and now I am out here with a chance to drive. I’m living the dream.”
