LEAH PRITCHETT’S ROOKIE APPEARANCE IN FORMULA FORD EXCITING FOR DRAG RACER IN VARA RACING ACTION THIS WEEKEND

LEAH PRITCHETT’S ROOKIE APPEARANCE IN FORMULA FORD EXCITING FOR DRAG RACER IN VARA RACING ACTION THIS WEEKEND

Topics: Leah Pritchett

LEAH PRITCHETT’S ROOKIE APPEARANCE IN FORMULA FORD EXCITING FOR DRAG RACER IN VARA RACING ACTION THIS WEEKEND

Tom Blattler
October 9, 2015

Microsoft Word version

For Immediate Release

Gumout’s Top Fuel dragster driver takes to the road course competition

PAHRUMP, Nev. (Oct. 9, 2015) – Top Fuel racer Leah Pritchett took her first official road racing laps Friday when she made her Formula Ford debut Friday at the Spring Mountain Motorsports Resort Ranch and Country Club as part of the VARA Racing “Shootout at the Ranch.”

Pritchett, the 27-year-old driver of the “Gumout Lady in Red” Top Fuel dragster in the NHRA Mello Yello drag racing series, made impressive laps at 3.4-mile, 30-turn racing complex Friday just outside of Las Vegas as she prepares to compete in Saturday’s vintage Formula Ford main event.

“I have been extremely excited for this opportunity in the Formula Ford,” said Pritchett, runner-up in this year’s NHRA Southern Nationals. “Obviously, it’s much different from the Top Fuel dragster. At Willow Springs, I worked with their instructors on the proper apexes and lines through the corners. It was very enlightening for me. I have run shifter karts before but this a full-blown racing car. I have received a lot of assistance from the team too. It’s a different type of racing but it still takes a lot of concentration and commitment to do well. I couldn’t wait to get started.”

Now, Pritchett admits the change from the 325-mile per hour, nitro-burning dragster to the nimble Formula Ford road racer is dramatic but she feels the adjustment has been a good one.

“I’m getting acclimated to the road racing aspect,” she admits. “With the Top Fuel car, you have brute power and you have to control it. With the Formula Ford, you have to get a rhythm with the corners and power comes on slowly. It’s much different from what I am used to but I’m really enjoying it. Plus racing with a pack of drivers is much different than the one-on-one drag racing competition.”

Pritchett recorded the fifth quickest time Friday in the Formula Ford division with a two-minute, 50.202-second lap in the 1979 Van Dieman machine. Leah qualifies Saturday morning for the 30-minute feature set at 1:10 p.m. PDT.

“Everyone at the Spring Mountain Mountain Ranch has been so accommodating and helpful this week,” said Leah. “And several of the drivers have given me tips in my first road racing experience. If the Las Vegas Motor Speedway’s ‘Strip’ is the Bellagio of drag racing, Spring Mountain is the Bellagio of road racing. It’s just a spectacular facility to compete in the Formula Fords. I couldn’t ask for a better way to make my road racing debut. I’m improving with each session and I’m very anxious for the race now.”

Pritchett will drive her Gumout Top Fuel dragster for Dote Racing at the NHRA Toyota Nationals at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway “Strip” on Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Qualifications are scheduled Friday (Oct. 30) and Saturday (Oct. 31) with final eliminations set for Sunday (Nov. 1).

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Contacts: Tom Blattler, Sport Dimensions, Inc., 317-525-5692
Kinnon Marshall, Sport Dimensions, Inc., 805-701-1216