Leah Pruett has never lacked confidence as an NHRA Top Fuel driver. She expects to win races and that’s what she did Friday night.
Pruett, piloting her Tony Stewart Racing dragster, clocked a 3.794-second elapsed time at 332.43 mph to outrun Shawn Langdon’s 3.852, 328.54 in the finals of the New England Nationals, which were postponed because of rain June 7. That pairing took place during Friday night’s qualifying session in Bristol, Tenn., the site of this weekend’s race.
This was Pruett’s 13th career NHRA Top Fuel Wally, and her first since claiming the title in Dallas in 2023 when she upended Steve Torrence.
Pruett did not race in 2024-25 while starting a family with her husband, Tony Stewart. Her E.T. against Langdon also was good for her to take the No. 1 provisional qualifying spot at Bristol.
“Overjoyed is for sure a word, and I mentally put myself in winning conversations and winning shoes with my team about what this would look like,” Pruett said. “Because then that doesn’t change your trajectory, but you’re just always in a positive mindset. I’m happier than I thought I would be because I didn’t let myself get to what exactly this feels like because I’ve been operating on a very even-keeled playing field, and we’ve seen it with how I’ve been driving a little bit better lately. And so now I finally get to take a breath and enjoy it. I really wanted to see my team before coming up here, and that steady, calm coolness is throughout the entire team.
“It’s one thing, right, to be up against cars of that kind, the Kalitta team that had just skyrocketed ahead of the class for a number of races, and for us to chip away at it. That gave us the confidence, right, throughout the week coming into the final. But then many people might think that, ‘Okay, we’re just waiting around through the rain, No.’ The [water] grains are moving up and down through the roof. We’re already stacked. The compression is set. There’s only so much variable you can have for overdrive, and there’s only so much you can do with a dragster different than a Funny Car and fuel-wise. We are going to err on the side of aggressiveness. That’s what it’s taken for us to get this momentum, and it’s where we’re at right now. I mean, the Diamond Wally is super cool, and this is incredible. But to see the smiles on my crew, my crew chiefs’ faces, that’s all-time.”
Pruett made it to the winner’s circle by stopping Scott Farley, Maddi Gordon and Billy Torrence in Epping, then Langdon in Bristol.
Langdon has been dominant this season in his Kalitta Motorsports dragster winning the last three races before Friday and four total for the season.
The verbiage of Pruett in her winner’s press conference sounded more like crew chief speak than driver speak, and she explained why.
“Because I’ve been on the sidelines for two years listening and working with them all. And it just has grown such an incredible greater appreciation for what they do and what other crew chiefs of teams do,” Pruett said. “But that’s why, man, yeah, I get to hoist that Wally, but I saw so many examples of teamwork this week and specifically today. You can say that Funny Car [driven by TSR’s Matt Hagan] and Top Fuel [driven by Pruett] can translate when you have the correct people that know how to communicate.”
After not competing for two years, Pruett knew it wasn’t going to be easy to just return to the driver’s seat and start winning.
“In the offseason, for sure, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s start out strong,’ but [I’ve been] preparing for this for years. And I found myself a couple of races in not really knowing how to collect my new self, emotionally manage myself, and also from a physical ability [standpoint]. I got pretty beat down.
“I don’t have to read the internet, but I have an incredible team that has that car performing. And so instead of me comparing to where I thought I would be at race three or race four, I took a step back and we said, ‘Let’s work on progression. Let’s work on hitting some marks that are obtainable for me and how I’m doing them, doing some right things, doing some wrong things. I’m in a better spot, not just because I just got a Wally down there, but I think I’m in a better spot than I’ve ever been as a driver because I have a systematic approach with a team that’s unwavering behind me, and the same thing for every member of the group. That’s why it’s very fulfilling, this race. It didn’t come by accident. It didn’t come by somebody falling short, smoking the tires, or anything, and you top it off with a No. 1 qualifier provisionally. We’re all going to at least sleep way better, I think, than we all slept all week.”
The importance of the victory – especially against the red-hot Langdon – also wasn’t lost on Pruett.
“I think it’s significant for ourselves and the pace that we’re on. I can’t speak for other teams. I know that they’re knocking on the door in their own way,” Pruett said. “I think going low for us right now is as significant as it has been for the No. 1 qualifiers in a 15-car field. You essentially get a whole entire extra run, right? You get a chance at the track on Sunday, and then that puts you one run ahead. So, by the time that I meet up with one of them in a semifinal, it’s all meshed in my head at this very moment. But they’ve done a good job. They have earned those opportunities to have that extra time with the track and be at the end of every session, all of that.”
Pruett did address all the changes in her life since she last won in 2023 and how she approached things then compared to now.
“I think when I was competing then and knowing that whole Countdown and only a few in our team knew everything that was going to go down, I was chasing something that I didn’t know when I would have an opportunity to do it again. I raced with no regrets,” Pruett said. “Comparatively, I’m super proud that I’m going to be able to go down there and hold our child and get this Wally in his hands because he’s been touching all Tony’s Wallys on our countertop the past two years.”
