Mustang Sally Strikes Again!
Leah Pruett raced to her first victory of the season in the NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by ProCare Rx portion of the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals presented by Super Start Batteries…..
Pruett also claimed her second victory in three final round appearances at zMAX Dragway, as well as her third career victory by outrunning Mike Knowles in the final round. With the victory she moves to fourth in the points standings.
“It feels phenomenal,” Pruett said. “To think that the three times I’ve been here in this car, I’ve reached the finals all three times and won twice. At the beginning of this race, I had a good feeling about getting to the final round and back in the winner’s circle.”
Pruett, who qualified ninth in her ProCare Rx Ford Mustang (affectionally known as Mustang Sally), raced to early round wins over team owner Roger Burgess, top qualifier Don Walsh and Kevin McCurdy. In the final she powered her Mustang to a winning performance of 5.936 seconds at 246.44, while Knowles shut off his ’68 Camaro near mid-track.
“That final round was one of the edgiest passes I’ve had in this car in a long time,” Pruett said. “If it would have been anything but a final round, there would have been a little bit of lifting going on. It was pretty gnarly. All I knew was that I didn’t see him, which means I was in front of him. All that meant I had to keep going. That would have been the worst feeling in the world to see someone go flying by you.”
Mike Castellana advanced to the semifinals and maintained his series points lead over second place Rickie Smith, who lost in the first round.
Event Essentials: ProCare RX Pro Mod Challenge (Sep. 14-16th, 2012) Concord NC
ProCare RX Pro Mod | NAME | ET | MPH | CAREER WIN |
Winner: | Leah Pruett | 5.936 | 246.44 | 3rd |
R/UP: | Mike Knowles | 9.080 | 102.78 | |
Low ET: | Don Walsh | 5.868 | ||
Top Speed: | Don Walsh | 254.81 | ||
Bump Spot: | 6.434 |
Photos by: Dave DeAngelis