Top Fuel’s Leah Pruett, like every other NHRA racer, fan, official, and Summit Racing Equipment Motorsports Park employee, waited out a day-long rain delay Friday.

And shortly before the late-night news came on the TV, she got her own big news that it soon would be time to fire up her Direct Connection Dragster for the long-awaited lone qualifying session of Day One of the Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.

That’s when, she said, she started to “kick into high gear” and feel her adrenaline start to surge.

Leah Pruett powered to the provisional No. 1 spot in Top Fuel on Friday, as the Tony Stewart Racing standout looks to pick up her second straight No. 1 qualifier of the 2023 season at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.

Ron Capps (Funny Car) also was a provisional No. 1 qualifier at the ninth of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Due to weather, only Top Fuel and Funny Car made qualifying runs on Friday. Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle are scheduled for two passes on Saturday.

Persistent Friday morning run cut short some Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series category qualifying, establishing fields shy of the scheduled completion.

Alex Laughlin, the drag racing equivalent of a Swiss Army knife, makes his Norwalk Funny Car driving debut on Friday, but only after adding another inclusion into his already extended skillset. He’s now experienced as a human catapult. 

Exactly how does one become a human catapult?

Nearly two months after coming off a high of capturing their fifth March Meet title in the last six years with driver Bobby Cottrell earlier this year, team Bardahl was struck with sudden tragedy.  

As the team was set to compete in the second race of the 2023 NHRA Heritage series season in Boise, Idaho, for the 52nd Ignitor held at Firebird Raceway, team owner Buck Austin's wife Julie passed unexpectedly, and the team responded by packing up, heading home and focusing on other things than drag racing. 

While winning a drag race will never fill the void of losing a loved one, it has brought some momentary relief, and that's what happened the past two weeks, first at the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at Bristol Dragway and last week at the Wally Parks NHRA Nostalgia Nationals in Bowling Green, Ky.  

So much for a learning curve in the Super Comp ranks.

Anson Brown, the 18-year-old son of three-time NHRA Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown, won his second career race in four starts in the class, and his win June 17 was a big deal.

Brown, competing in the TB Promotions Twin 50s event at World Wide Technology Raceway in St. Louis, won 10 rounds of racing, culminating with his final round victory over past Top Fuel world champion Shawn Langdon. For his performance, Brown earned $75,000.

Summit Raceway Park, formerly Norwalk Raceway Park, has now settled into its role as one of the premiere NHRA event hosts, but those in racing for a while can't forget where it all started

A little over two decades ago an enterprising drag strip owner wanted a national event, but there was a problem – no one was really interested in granting him one. He took his dream to the National Hot Rod Association and the powers that be in that organization flatly told him that they saw no reason to put an event in the Cleveland area when successful events in nearby Columbus, Ohio and Indianapolis were already on the schedule.

The significantly more compromising International Hot Rod Association considered the proposal, however, and reluctantly agreed on the stipulation that certain improvements be made. Those improvements, by today’s standards, would have been the equivalent of bringing in bulldozers to level everything and start over from scratch.

For about 1200 feet, Greg Stanfield said he's got as challenging of a race car as he's ever driven. For the record, 1200 is as far as he's made it down the track under power behind the wheel of the Rod Shop Factory X Camaro.

"We still have a ways to go," Stanfield admitted.

Stanfield will compete in the inaugural season of Factory X, driving a Rod Shop Camaro fielded by team founder Gil Kirk. He was the last driver Kirk hired during the legendary days of the Rod Shop mega-team.

Switzer Dynamics Pro Nitrous young gun Marcus Butner defeated reigning world champion Jim Halsey in the final round of the PDRA Fulton Racing Engines North vs. South Shootout presented by Penske Racing Shocks to claim his first career win in the class Saturday night at Maryland International Raceway. Ken Quartuccio (WS Construction Pro Boost presented by P2 Contracting and Ty-Drive) and Doug Nicholl (M&M Transmission Pro 632) also claimed their first career wins in their respective classes. 

There isn't a day that passes when I don't think about my father. I miss him that much.

My dad inspired me into being what I am today, even though he never drag raced.

I was the only son of three children. My father was my hero.

We were never rich. Dad’s education was no different than most young men growing up poor in South Carolina. He quit school in the eighth grade to help support his grandparents working in the Carolina textile mills.

That’s all he knew to do – work. When he got married, he worked hard, yet he made time for his only son, me.