Leah Pritchett’s Track Record leads Top Fuel Qualifying, Antron 4th, Millican at 8th

Speed Society Racing’s very own Leah Pritchett set the pace in qualifying at the NHRA Toyota Sonoma Nationals with a blistering 3.669 elapsed time that shattered the previous track elapsed time record by nearly half a tenth. Amazingly, as evidenced by her unusually low 304 MPH trap speed, Pritchett’s engine let go well short of the thousand foot mark. In fact, the Papa Johns-sponsored dragster’s on-board data acquisition software showed the pass would have almost certainly resulted in a new world ET record had the power plant survived the trip to the finish line intact, but the team was more than pleased with the pass, despite the carnage resting between the frame rails just behind Leah’s enclosed cockpit. The stellar run earned Leah her seventh pole of the season and lines her up against #16 qualifier Terry Haddock for the first round of eliminations Sunday morning.

The newest member of Team Speed Society and Pritchett’s DSR Racing teammate Antron Brown sits at #4 after laying down a solid 3.70 elapsed time. Brown, the three time and reigning series champion will face Troy Buff in the opening stanza from the scenic Sonoma Raceway. Brown, who has been filming with Top Gear America, welcomed a special guest in his pits on Saturday. The show’s secretive Stig spent the day in Antron’s pit, checking out the 11,000 horsepower Matco Tools rocketship that has carried propelled Brown to the second place in the 2017 points standings.

Anchoring the top half of the field, fan favorite Clay Millican dropped a killer 3.72 ET in the very first session that proved good enough to earn him the eighth position going into eliminations. Millican’s Great Clips/Parts Plus sponsored fueler is carrying a special Shark Week themed wrap for this week in honor of the weeklong Discovery Channel event. Clay will face off with a familiar opponent in the first round in Terry McMillen, who has found himself opposite Clay more times this season than chance should allow. Assuming they both turn on their win lights, Leah and Clay will face each other in the second round, with the winner potentially facing Antron in the semifinals. Eliminations kick off at 11am PST with the finals slated to air on FS1 from 4:00 to 7:00pm EST.