Pritchett #1 Qualifier going into Race Day, Millican Anchors Top Half of Field

Team Speed Society Racing driver and all-around badass Leah Pritchett wheeled her DSR Racing top fueler to the number one qualifying spot at the Mopar Mile High Nationals, held at Bandimere Speedway just outside Denver, Colorado. While the high altitude has played havoc for the tuners and drivers, Pritchett’s crew chief Todd Okuhara dove into the data and put together the perfect tune to send Leah streaking to the poll and a new track elapsed time record when she laid down a 3.733 at 326 MPH. Her Papa John’s Pizza dragster, wearing special Mopar livery in honor of the automaker’s 80th birthday, will face off with Troy Coughlin Jr in the opening round of eliminations as she looks to cut into the points lead of Steve Torrence.

A few spots down the ladder, fellow Speed Society Racing wheelman Clay Millican sits qualified #8, locking his Great Clips/Parts Plus dragster into the top half of the field heading into race day. Millican had a much more consistent qualifying effort, laying down a pair of low 3.90 runs, then a pair of 3.70 passes, with a best ET of 3.795. Crew chief David Grubnic seems to have a grasp of the thinner air atop the mountain at Banidmere and has Millican primed to take his consistency into eliminations to make a run at another race win. Millican sits in the #7 spot in the points chase, just 22 behind #6 Brittany Force. With another late round showing, Millican could overtake Force and set his sights on the top 5 as the Countdown to the Championship nears.

The third member of the Speed Society Racing team, pro stock ace Alex Laughlin, has elected to sit out the western swing, a grueling three-races-in-three-weeks swing up the west coast. Laughlin will rejoin the tour in Indianapolis for the US Nationals, held on Labor Day weekend at Lucas Oil Speedway.