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GILBERT SUN NEWS | FEBRUARY 20, 2022
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NHRA’s Leah Pruett loves racing in the Valley BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI GetOut Editor
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op Fuel driver Leah Pruett and the Valley have a mutual love. She has won the NHRA Chandler event twice and recently joined Tony Stewart Racing’s new drag racing team. “Phoenix is in my top three racetracks and races,” said Pruett, who married Tony Stewart in 2021. “There’s always an extra amount of excitement. Phoenix fans have always made me feel like I was their champion. “A lot of it has to do with winning. I won in 2016. When you go to a track only one time a year, that’s why they remember. If you have a repeat winner, it creates a big buzz. The next year, when I go back there, it’s like I never left. That’s a really cool feeling they definitely instill.” The NHRA Arizona Nationals are set for February 25 to February 27 at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park. The NHRA Arizona Nationals traditionally serve as the second event on the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series tour. The facility has seen record-breaking performances and is a fan-favorite of the circuit. “With over 35 years of NHRA racing history at the Motorsports Park, we are eager for the Arizona Nationals to return to Wild Horse Pass and the Gila River Indian Community,” said General Manager Henry Moreno. “We are dedicated to making the event the best possible experience for the fans and racers alike.” “We missed the NHRA Arizona Nationals in 2021,” adds Glen Cromwell, NHRA president. “We are thrilled to return to Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park and put on a great show for the Phoenix fans.”
out at the Sandbar in Chandler and Radford Racing School, formerly known as Bondurant. She “keys up” there to form a road course perspective and get a feel for the high horsepower car. “It’s usually what I do on Thursday,” she said. “I get some horsepower time in there. It puts me in the zone.” The same goes for a little gift she sees along the I-10 and Loop 202. “For the second or third year, they’ve had billboards along the freeway with my car Top Fuel driver Leah Pruett can’t wait to put her peddle to the metal at the NHRA Chandler event next weekend. and I on it,” she said with a laugh. (Special to GetOut) “I think that really helps drive the fanUpdates for 2022 include free event “The hardest thing about my job base. It’s seen for two months, and they parking at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports right now is making sure that I haven’t get to see me until I get there. There’s Park with the purchase of an NHRA Ar- dropped any balls,” she said. “We want extra enthusiasm by the fans because izona Nationals ticket. to hit the scene running as a new team I’ve been in their face for two months. The Redlands, California, native, while not looking like a new team. We It’s totally weird. At least I’m not up started racing when she was 8. Her fa- want to look like veterans, experience there pimping attorneys at law. I’m tryther, Ron, who died in early 2021, was a championship caliber team. ing to help people know about drag racland street racer and a street racer but, “For me as a ‘professional racecar es.” she’s quick to add, not a drag racer. driver,’ I want to be the best in the He wanted Pruett and her sister to world. That’s what I think is the most start something “safe.” So, Pruett ven- challenging.” tured out on her own and built cars. To maintain levity, she’s living in a NHRA Arizona Nationals “It was my father who put the me- motor home in the parking lot of the When: 7:30 a.m. Friday, Feb. 25, to Sunday, chanical aptitude within me,” she said. race shop. Pruett, who otherwise reFeb. 27 From there, she sat behind the wheel sides in Lake Havasu, Arizona, works Where: Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park, to drag race. She said she enjoys her ca- with her team daily to order parts and 20000 S. Maricopa Road, Chandler reer because her job description chang- take care of other maintenance and orCost: Tickets start at $44 for adults; $20 for es. Previously it was “just,” she said, a ganizational issues. juniors ages 12 and younger racecar driver. Now she’s a team manPruett said she’s ready for “a fresh Info: nhra.com/schedule/2022 ager and in business development. breath of Phoenix air,” and hanging
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