- Tony Stewart Racing (TSR) pilot Leah Pruett drove her Dodge Power Brokers dragster from the No. 3 qualifier position to the winner’s circle at the Dodge Power Brokers National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mile-High Nationals to earn the team’s first Top Fuel Wally trophy
- Pruett’s win was her second at Bandimere Speedway, the first with her new team, and the tenth of her Top Fuel career
- Pruett’s drive to victory at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals propelled her from a previous tenth place position to sixth in the Top Fuel championship standings
- After securing the No. 1 qualifier position, TSR teammate Matt Hagan had a rare first round exit when his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car lost traction early in first run ending his chance to defend his 2021 win at Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals
- Despite the early exit, Hagan remains second in the Funny Car championship standings and 95 points behind the leader
July 17, Morrison, Colorado — Leah Pruett drove her Dodge Power Brokers dragster from the No. 3 qualifier position to the winner’s circle in front of a full house at Bandimere Speedway to earn Tony Stewart Racing’s (TSR) first Top Fuel Wally trophy at the 42nd annual Dodge Power Brokers National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) Mile-High Nationals.
“Congratulations to Leah Pruett on powering her Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel dragster to her 10th career win and Tony Stewart Racing’s first Top Fuel victory at our headline event,” said Tim Kuniskis, Dodge Brand Chief Executive Officer – Stellantis. “Leah’s victory today demonstrates the hard work, dedication, and tenacity that she and her team put into every race, the kind of performance that Dodge//SRT is known for, and what enthusiasts can expect from Dodge Power Brokers and Direct Connection.”
Pruett’s victory, her second (2018) at the picturesque dragstrip known as Thunder Mountain, was her first with her new team and solidified her place in the Top Fuel Top-10 by jumping from tenth to sixth place in the championship standings.
Pruett began her drive to conquer the mountain from her third place position on the eliminations ladder and a solid opening round win over No. 14 seed Antron Brown. She went on to turn on win lights in the quarterfinals after both she and No. 6 qualifier Clay Millican hazed the tires at midtrack.
In the semifinals, Pruett had a lightning fast reaction time of 0.015 seconds against No. 2 qualifier Justin Ashley on her way to recording her quickest run of the day with a 3.879-second elapsed time run at 317.94 mph to advance to her first final elimination this season and the 19th of her career.
What could have been an exciting final round battle against No. 12 seed Shawn Langdon turned into a solo run after her opponent’s dragster broke on the burnout. Pruett, however, opted to demonstrate her Dodge Power Broker dragster’s performance and show fans just how much progress the team has made this year with a stout 3.884 second elapsed time run at 316.38 mph to leave no doubt in her team’s ability to win.
“This is everything,” said Pruett of the Wally trophy she held in her arms. “This being the Dodge Power Brokers (MIle-High) Nationals we brokered that Dodge power all week long. My crew has been flawless all weekend long and couldn’t be more proud to do this in front of these Denver Fans. I’ll say two things; this view never gets old. Also, this is the first Top Fuel win for Tony Stewart Racing and that will also never get old.”
TSR Funny Car driver Matt Hagan, who has three wins of his own this season aboard the Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat, came into the weekend looking to repeat his 2021 performance at Bandimere Speedway when he powered from the No. 1 qualifier position to his first coveted win at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals. The defending winner looked poised to do that after topping three of four qualifying sessions on his way to securing the No. 1 qualifier position for the second consecutive year and his fourth of the season.
In the opening round of eliminations, Hagan lined up his Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat next to No. 14 seed Jack Wyatt and was first off the starting line when his ride began to lose traction. While he attempted to pedal it, he wasn’t able to regain control quickly enough and saw his hopes of advancing go up in tire smoke.
Despite the rare first round loss, Hagan remains second in the Funny Car standings and within 95 points of his rival Robert Hight who won the 2022 Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals event title.
After having earned a spot in the top half of the Funny Car eliminations ladder in every event this season with his Snap-on Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, Cruz Pedregon had a bit more of a challenging time on Thunder Mountain through qualifying and landed in the ninth spot to start his race day. The two-time Funny Car event winner at the Dodge Power Brokers Mile-High Nationals lined up next to No. 6 seed J.R. Todd for his opening round pairing but had a cylinder out that ended his day prematurely. Pedregon drops one spot to sixth in the Funny Car points battle with five more events remaining before the “Countdown to the Championship” playoffs series begins.
The next stops on the NHRA’s three consecutive event western swing are at Sonoma Raceway in California for the Sonoma Nationals July 22-24 and then Pacific Raceways for the Northwest Nationals near Seattle, Washington, July 29-31.
ADDITIONAL NOTES and QUOTES:
Leah Pruett, Dodge Power Brokers Top Fuel Dragster
(No. 3 Qualifier – 3.771 seconds at 322.50 mph)
Round 1: (0.076-second reaction time, 3.910 seconds at 308.50 mph) defeats No. 14 Antron Brown (0.072/4.189/231.79)
Round 2: (0.102/4.059/251.77) defeats No. 6 Clay Millican (0.066/4.192/236.17)
Round 3: (0.015/ 3.879/317.94) defeats No. 2 Justin Ashley (0.059/4.091/303.64)
Round 4: (0.078/3.884/316.38 ) defeats No. 12 Shawn Langdon (no time)
“This is absolutely everything. We have the best fans in the entire nation. This is my favorite track. I’ve been trying to be emotionless all day just to do my job, but this is for Neal Strausbaugh (crew chief), Mike Domagala (co-crew chief), Ryan McGilvry (car chief), and my entire Dodge Power Brokers crew that has been flawless all weekend. I told you guys a long time ago it was coming and I couldn’t be prouder than to do it at a place like this. Thank you, Bandimere. This is the first Top Fuel win for Tony Stewart Racing, so hearing those words will never get old. For those that don’t know, Tony won his SRX race last night. We wanted to keep the wins in the family and get another win, so that was great. What you guys are seeing here is pure gratitude for my team and the belief that Tony has had in us. We’ve had a tough season so far, but the team is optimistic and this is deserved long-term goals and you’re seeing the short-term results of it.”
Matt Hagan, Dodge Power Brokers Charger SRT Hellcat Funny Car
(No. 1 Qualifier – 3.908 seconds at 323.12 mph)
Round 1: (0.095-second reaction time, 4.913 seconds at 210.97 mph defeats No. 14 Jack Wyatt (0.109/4.182/279.73)
“We had a really great race car this weekend. It was nice being able to qualify No. 1 on the mountain. Going into the first round, we really weren’t expecting to smoke the tires like that. We really tried to pull things back to make things favorable for the race car. Obviously the mountain had a different idea about how things were going to go up here. We smoked the tires and I gave it a good peddle job for a while and gave up the ghost up there. Jack Wyatt is an underdog that you cheer for, so it’s nice to see him go some rounds. We hate it because we wanted to get Dodge a win, with this being their race. We were in a great position to do that, but the racing gods didn’t have it in store this weekend. We’ll make some adjustments and move on to Sonoma and Seattle.”
Cruz Pedregon, Pedregon Racing Snap-on® Tools Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
(No. 9 Qualifier – 4.038 seconds at 306.74 mph)
Round 1: (0.087-second reaction time, 4.351 seconds at 226.09 mph) loss to No. 6 J.R. Todd (0.060/4.014/317.87)
“These cars are finicky and we just never got on the right track. We’re fighting cylinder dropping and I don’t have any answers mechanically, but I’m confident that (crew chiefs) John Collins and Rip Reynolds will look at it and figure some things out. My goal is to test up here before next year. I just want to make some runs cause it’s so different up here than at sea-level.
“Every run could be the run to get us back on track, but it just wasn’t meant to be today. I’ve come up here and had the body in ten pieces and four or five motors laying on the ground, so there’s a silver lining and that’s that we get to race again in a few days. I’m confident we’ll get back on track.”
NHRA CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS STANDINGS:
Following the Dodge Power Brokers NHRA Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway
FUNNY CAR (season wins in parentheses)
1. Robert Hight 1050 (5)
2. Matt Hagan (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat): 955 (3)
3. Ron Capps: 884 (2)
4. John Force: 736
5. Bob Tasca III: 575
6. Cruz Pedregon (Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat): 593
7. J.R. Todd: 563
8. Alexis DeJoria: 523
9. Tim Wilkerson: 488
10. Chad Green: 440
TOP FUEL (season wins in parentheses)
1. Mike Salinas: 877 (3)
2. Brittany Force: 867 (3)
3. Justin Ashley: 785 (2)
4. Steve Torrence: 744
5. Josh Hart: 509
6. Leah Pruett (Dodge Power Brokers): 540
7. Austin Prock: 538
8. Shawn Langdon: 529
9. Clay Millican: 519
10. Doug Kalitta: 492
DodgeGarage: Digital Hub for Drag Racing News
Fans can follow all the NHRA action this season at DodgeGarage, the one-stop portal for Dodge//SRT and Mopar drag-racing news. The site includes daily updates and access to an online racing HQ, news, events, galleries, available downloads and merchandise. For more information, visit www.dodgegarage.com.
@DodgeMoparMotorsports on Instagram
The @DodgeMoparMotorsports Instagram channel continues to share content capturing Dodge//SRT Mopar drivers on the track. Fans can see action from the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series and NHRA Sportsman grassroots racers, competing in classes such as Factory Stock Showdown, Stock and Super Stock, as well as additional motorsports series.
Dodge//SRT
For more than 100 years, the Dodge brand has carried on the spirit of brothers John and Horace Dodge. Their influence continues today as Dodge shifts into high gear with muscle cars and SUVs that deliver unrivaled performance in each of the segments where they compete.
Dodge drives forward as a pure performance brand, offering SRT versions of every model across the lineup. For the 2022 model year, Dodge delivers the drag-strip dominating 807-horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock, the 797-horsepower Dodge Charger SRT Redeye, the most powerful and fastest mass-produced sedan in the world, and the Dodge Durango SRT 392, America’s fastest, most powerful and most capable three-row SUV. Combined, these three muscle cars make Dodge the industry’s most powerful brand, offering more horsepower than any other American brand across its entire lineup.
In 2020, Dodge was named the “#1 Brand in Initial Quality,” making it the first domestic brand ever to rank No. 1 in the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS). In 2021, Dodge brand ranked No. 1 in the J.D. Power APEAL Study (mass market) — making it the only domestic brand ever to do so two years in a row.
Dodge is part of the portfolio of brands offered by leading global automaker and mobility provider Stellantis. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.
Mopar
This year marks the 85th anniversary of Mopar.
A simple combination of the words MOtor and PARts, Mopar offers exceptional service, parts and customer-care. Born in 1937 as the name of a line of antifreeze products, Mopar has evolved over nearly 85 years to represent both complete vehicle care and authentic performance for owners and enthusiasts worldwide.
Mopar made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era with performance parts to enhance speed and handling for both on-road and racing use. Later, Mopar expanded to include technical service and customer support, and today integrates service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance customer and dealer support worldwide.
Complete information on Mopar is available at www.mopar.com. For more information regarding Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), please visit www.stellantis.com.
Follow Dodge, Mopar and Stellantis news and video on:
Company blog: blog.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Media website: media.stellantisnorthamerica.com
Dodge brand: www.dodge.com
Mopar brand: www.mopar.com/
DodgeGarage: www.dodgegarage.com
Mopar blog: blog.mopar.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/dodge and www.facebook.com/mopar
Instagram: @Dodgemoparmotorsports, @dodgeofficial and @officialmopar
Twitter: @Dodge, @OfficialMopar and @StellantisNA
YouTube: www.youtube.com/dodge, https://www.youtube.com/c/mopar and www.youtube.com/StellantisNA
