Leah Pruett-LeDuc arrived at the drag strip early on Sunday morning.

The driver of the Plueger and Guyger Nostalgia Funny Car was as pumped as she has ever been for a drag racing. She rolled through the gates essentially a cinch for the 2010 Heritage Series championship at the final event of the season, the 19th annual California Hot Rod Reunion hosted by Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield.

All she needed to do was win the second round and the crown was hers. She performed the feat by getting the best of Mike Halstead.

“I was pumped because we didn’t do a good job qualifying the car,” she admitted.

Pruett-LeDuc opened the weekend by losing her first qualifying run. She rolled into the water box and nailed the throttle for the burnout only to experience parts failure, sending the engine well into the redline rpms.

Leah Pruett-LeDuc arrived at the drag strip early on Sunday morning.

The driver of the Plueger and Guyger Nostalgia Funny Car was as pumped as she has ever been for a drag racing. She rolled through the gates essentially a cinch for the 2010 Heritage Series championship at the final event of the season, the 19th annual California Hot Rod Reunion hosted by Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield.

All she needed to do was win the second round and the crown was hers. She performed the feat by getting the best of Mike Halstead.

“I was pumped because we didn’t do a good job qualifying the car,” she admitted.

Pruett-LeDuc opened the weekend by losing her first qualifying run. She rolled into the water box and nailed the throttle for the burnout only to experience parts failure, sending the engine well into the redline rpms.

According to Pruett-LeDuc, the engine broke a fuel pump, which in turn lifted the supercharger, it then came down and caught the throttle stop. The end result was wide open throttle on the burnout.

“The fuel pump’s broken and I’m swishing in my own nitro,” she explained with a grimace. “We’ll just say I said Holy mackerel.”

Shortly after the miscue, she and the team called an impromptu meeting where there were pats on the backs and reassurances they were the team to win the championship.

“We just all got together and I reminded the crew how they were a championship team and it was their time to shine,” Pruett-LeDuc explained. “I was trying to get the car stopped before it headed down the track. We blew everything up. We broke as many parts as you could break.”

In addition to the aforementioned calamities, the engine also kicked out seven rods and pistons.

“I was thinking, of all of the times for this to happen,” Pruett-LeDuc said. “It just goes to show you that even the best of teams can have a terrible problem. In my mind, I was grateful we had one more shot to go. I have been in situations where I had one shot to get in the field and we didn’t make it.”

Just getting into the field was a challenge as she only had one shot to prove her championship worth. The NHRA’s Heritage Series affords their nitro classes only two sessions, one on Friday and a final on Saturday, followed by one round of eliminations.

“Our backs were really up against the wall,” she admitted. “There was a lot of pressure. I’m on top of the world now after that run. We came here to win a race but when it’s all said and done, we really came here to win a championship.”

Ever since Pruett-LeDuc left the junior dragster class, her plan was to race Nostalgia Funny Car as a means of preparing for a future of NHRA Full Throttle nitro drag racing. For now, the Nostalgia Funny Car arena works just fine and the family atmosphere it projects is a bonus.

“I consider this as training for the big show,” she said. “This is as close as you’re going to get to the Top Alcohol Funny Car division. This is my training ground for the big show. I am trying to hone my driving skills. I want to learn as much as I can about driving and the cars if the chance for a big show ride presents itself.”

And with a championship to her credit now, she has a championship resume and the experience to overcome adversity, as well.

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