Leah Pruett | |||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Born | Leah Christine Pruett May 26, 1988 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | American | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouses |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Leah Christine Pruett [N 1] (formerly Leah Pritchett, formerly Leah LeDuc born May 26, 1988) is an American semi-retired drag racer, who last drove an NHRA Top Fuel dragster for Tony Stewart Racing. [1] [4]
Pruett debuted in Top Fuel in 2013 with Dote Racing after previously competing in Pro Mod and Nostalgia Funny Car. [5] Her first career national event win on the professional level came February 28, 2016 at the Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Chandler, Arizona, defeating Brittany Force in the first all-female final round in Top Fuel since 1982. [6] She finished seventh in points in 2016 with one win, fifth in 2017 with four wins, and fourth in 2018 (two wins), 2019 (one win) and 2020 (no wins). In 2021, she claimed one win.
On October 14, 2021, Pruett was announced as the Top Fuel driver for Tony Stewart Racing in 2022. [7] She will step aside from racing in 2024, replaced by husband, Tony Stewart, while they plan to start a family.
Pruett was first married to Todd LeDuc, off-road racer and Monster Jam truck driver. She met Gary Pritchett, a crew member for NHRA Top Fuel drag racer Steve Torrence, in 2011; they married in 2013. [8] [6] [5] Pruett filed for divorce from Pritchett on July 31, 2019, in Hendricks County, Indiana. [9] She was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct in Hendricks County, Indiana, on October 21, 2012; the terms of a pre-trial conversion agreement were met on February 7, 2014. [10] She and former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart announced their engagement through simultaneous Instagram posts on each of their accounts on March 18, 2021. [11] They married on November 21, 2021 in Los Cabos, Mexico. [12]
She is not related to former stock car racing, open-wheel racing and sports car racing driver Scott Pruett.
Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most commonly 1⁄4 mi, with a shorter, 1,000 ft distance becoming increasingly popular, as it has become the standard for Top Fuel dragsters and Funny Cars, where some major bracket races and other sanctioning bodies have adopted it as the standard. The 1⁄8 mi is also popular in some circles. Electronic timing and speed sensing systems have been used to record race results since the 1960s.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a governing body which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorsport sanctioning body in the world.
Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appearance vaguely approximating manufacturers' showroom models. They also have the engine placed in front of the driver, as opposed to dragsters, which place it behind the driver.
Shirley Muldowney, also known professionally as "Cha Cha" and the "First Lady of Drag Racing", is an American auto racer. She was the first woman to receive a license from the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) to drive a Top Fuel dragster. She won the NHRA Top Fuel championship in 1977, 1980, and 1982, becoming the first person to win two and three Top Fuel titles. She won a total of 18 NHRA national events.
John Harold Force is an American NHRA drag racer. He is a 16-time NHRA and 1 time AHRA Funny Car champion driver and a 22-time champion car owner. Force owns and drives for John Force Racing (JFR). He is one of the most dominant drag racers in the sport with 156 career victories. He graduated from Bell Gardens High School and briefly attended Cerritos Junior College to play football. He is the father of drag racers Ashley Force Hood, Brittany Force, and Courtney Force. His oldest daughter Adria Hight is the CFO of JFR.
Ashley Corinne Force Hood is a former NHRA Funny Car drag racer for John Force Racing. She is the daughter of 16-time NHRA Top Fuel Funny Car national champion John Force and Laurie Force. She is married to Daniel Hood, who works for John Force Racing. She was on hiatus from racing in 2011 as the couple expected their first child. Since their child's birth, Force Hood has announced her retirement from competitive racing.
Don Prudhomme, nicknamed "the Snake", is an American drag racer.
Conrad "Connie" Kalitta is an American businessman and former drag racing driver, nicknamed "The Bounty Hunter." Kalitta is the CEO of Kalitta Air and the owner of Kalitta Motorsports.
William Tyler Jenkins, nicknamed "Grumpy" or "The Grump", was an engine builder and drag racer. Between 1965 and 1975, he won a total of thirteen NHRA events. Most of these wins were won with a four-speed manual transmission. In 1972 he recorded 250 straight passes without missing a shift.
Larry Dixon Jr. is an American professional drag racer in the NHRA. Larry is the son of Larry Dixon Sr., who won Top Fuel Eliminator at the 1970 NHRA Winternationals.
Don Nicholson was an American drag racer from Missouri. He raced in the 1960s and 1970s when there were few national events. The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) estimates he won 90 percent of his match races. As of 2002, he held the record for the most number of categories in which he reached a final round : Funny Car, Pro Stock, Super Stock, Competition Eliminator, Stock, and Street. He was nicknamed "Dyno Don" after he was one of the first drivers to use a chassis dynamometer on his cars in the late 1950s, a skill that he learned while working as a line mechanic at a Chevrolet car dealer.
Tom McEwen was an American drag racer who was a winner of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals. His racing career spanned 45 years. He is ranked at number 16 on a list of the 50 most significant drivers of NHRA’s first 50 years.
Roland Leong was an American drag racer from Honolulu, whose "Hawaiian" brand cars achieved many victories. He later went on to act as crew chief in Funny Car races.
The NHRA Winternationals are an annual drag racing event held by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) at In-N-Out Burger Pomona Dragstrip in Pomona, California.
Alexis DeJoria is an American drag racer who competes in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Funny Car category. She previously drove a Toyota Camry for Kalitta Motorsports, sponsored by Patrón Spirits Company. She will return to competitive racing in 2020 with a new team led by crew chiefs Del Worsham and Nicky Boninfante. As of 2019, she was the third richest female athlete in the World, and as of 2022 the second richest with a net worth of $100 million.
Brittany Leighton Force is an American NHRA drag racer and 2-time NHRA Drag Racing Series Top Fuel dragster champion. She is the daughter of drag racer John Force and the sister of fellow racers Courtney Force and Ashley Force Hood.
The 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Season was announced on September 5, 2015.
Howard Johansen is an American gasser drag racer. He won the first ever National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) C/Gas national title, at Great Bend, Kansas, in 1955,.
Shirley Shahan is a pioneering American woman drag racer.
Willie Borsch, nicknamed "Wild Willie", was an American AA/FA and funny car drag racer.