Yahoo Autos Pruett, Alexander, Hartford, Arana Jr. win NHRA Summit Nationals in Norwalk
Leah Pruett wrapped up her impressive weekend with her first Top Fuel victory of the season for Tony Stewart Racing, knocking off points leader Justin Ashley in the final round on Sunday at the 17th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals at Summit Motorsports Park.
Blake Alexander (Funny Car) Matt Hartford (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana Jr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) also won at the ninth of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season.
Pruett, who was also the No. 1 qualifier, powered to a run of 3.761s at 326.79mph in her 11,000-horsepower Dodge Direct Connection dragster in the finals, driving past Ashley to earn her 11th career win and first at Summit Motorsports Park. Pruett also jumped to third in points with the victory, snapping Ashley’s streak of 11 straight round wins. To get there, Pruett had to get past Kyle Wurtzel, defending event winner Mike Salinas and Austin Prock. She also jumped to third in points with the fantastic showing, giving her plenty of momentum heading out to the NHRA Western Swing.
“You always love coming into race day from the No. 1 position, but we were coming off of a final qualifying day that wasn’t going super well for us. But we dug deep and put together what we thought was going to be a good program,” Pruett said. “The day started off stressful, we had some system malfunctions in the first round, but thankfully we got past that.
“Going into the final round, all of the systems we thought we had fixed…well, different ones came up — things we’d never seen before — and we only had 30 minutes. So it was roll the dice, blow on them, and shoot. Neal Strasbaugh said, ‘This round, you’re going to have a race car that’s going to win.'”
Ashley advanced to his fifth final round – and third in a row – by defeating Clay Millican, Steve Torrence and defending world champion Brittany Force. It’s also the 16th career final for the points leader.
Things came together at the perfect time for Alexander in Funny Car, as he defeated points leader Matt Hagan in the final round, going 3.935s at 321.96mph in his 11,000-horsepower Pronto Ford Mustang. Not only was it Alexander’s first win since 2018, but he also earned his first career Funny Car victory. He picked up two victories in Top Fuel five years ago, including a 2018 triumph at Summit Motorsports Park, but had yet to find the winner’s circle in Funny Car.
That all changed on Sunday after he defeated Tim Wilkerson, Alexis DeJoria and No. 1 qualifier Bob Tasca III to reach the final round. He went 3.924s to defeat Tasca and then drove past Hagan with a stellar showing a round later, picking up his third career victory. He also becomes just the 18th driver in NHRA history to win in both Top Fuel and Funny Car.
“I woke up today and I saw my wife and my son, and I knew I was in the right place and I was supposed to be here – I just didn’t know what was going to happen today,” Alexander said. “But everything went well, and I’m very blessed to work with the people I work with and have the sponsors I have. I put in a lot of work to get here, but you have to drive the car well and do everything else well once you show up. I could feel it today.
“I haven’t won one of these in five years. I try hard because the people I compete against have made it so that you have to be better. If you don’t want to get better, you’re going to get beat out here. I tried to get better and I needed to get better once I started racing Funny Car.”
Hagan knocked off Dale Creasy Jr., Robert Hight and J.R. Todd to reach the final round for the fourth time in 2023 and the 83rd time overall. Hagan jumped back in the points lead and he currently leads Ron Capps by four points.
