NHRA Mello Yello Series Top Fuel points leader Leah Pritchett on Saturday was quick to correct a social media post made moments after being instructed by NHRA's official starter to shut off her Papa John's Pizza dragster during Friday night's only qualifying session of the Heartland Nationals.

Pritchett, who has won three titles this year for Don Schumacher Racing, posted on Facebook.com while riding with her team back to the pit area why she believed she was shut off. She was not aware the attempt to make the run was aborted due to a fuel line leak that later was confirmed by crew chief Todd Okuhara.

"Right as I was about to stage, (a) placard from the Christmas tree flew off right in front of my lane,'' she posted. "You can't have 11,000 horsepower just blow by a big piece of plastic on the track. That's not safe. That's not cool. So we got shut down."

The post was accurately reported Friday night by the Topeka Capital-Journal on-line (cjonline.com) and in Saturday's printed edition.
She saw a plastic sign get blown off the illuminated Christmas Tree starting system and radioed to her crew to alert that it could have been under her dragster.  She held back from staging the car at the starting line for what she believed was debris that could have led to a cut tire and worse.
 
She didn't know that soon after the sign was dislodged, NHRA pointed out a leak to Okuhara who informed her to shut off the car.
 
"I apologize for not knowing why I was shut off and not posting accurate information," she said. "I'm always honest with fans who follow me on social media. I made the post while riding with my team in our Durango tow vehicle and none of us knew about the problem with the fuel line until we got back to the pit and I already had posted it. I took (the post) down as soon as I knew the whole story.
 
"I definitely won't make that mistake again. I'm thankful to NHRA for seeing what could have been a big problem with the fuel line had we made the run. I would never drive one of these 330 mile an hour racecars if I didn't have complete trust that NHRA and our Papa John's team always looks out for my safety."