Top Fuel’s youngest competing driver, Leah Pritchett, returns to NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series action this weekend (May 23-25) at Heartland Park Topeka when she unveils a “new look” Dote Racing Top Fuel dragster at the NHRA Kansas Nationals.
Leah Pritchett
Pritchett, the former Nostalgia Funny Car world champion, comes back to the NHRA national tour with her Doug Kuch-led Dote Racing crew after five races with the popular Gumout livery beginning at Pomona, Calif., in February. The bright red Gumout/Dote Racing livery will return for Pritchett at the 60th annual U.S. Nationals in Clermont, Ind., the granddaddy of all drag racing events.
The personable 25-year-old will drive the Dote Racing Top Fueler at a track that saw her advance to the semi-finals last year with wins over past race winners Antron Brown and Doug Kalitta.
“We are excited to get back at the NHRA Mello Yello Series this weekend at Topeka,” Pritchett said. “Gumout is still a very large part of our program and only continues to grow. They have helped us expand our race schedule to 15 events for this season, however we knew from the beginning of the year that these next couple of races we would not be running the bright red dragster.
“I really like the look for the Dote Racing dragster paint too, which has actually been literally sitting under wrap until now. We have been learning more with the car this year and I’m anxious to get to Topeka and try to advance in the rounds like last year.”
The unique Dote Racing dragster paint will be at the next five NHRA national events including Topeka, Englishtown, Bristol, Epping, and Norwalk.
“At our last race in Houston, we were able to advance in eliminations and I think we have improved the engine and car combination for Topeka,” said Pritchett. “The entire Dote Racing team is ready to get back into action this weekend.”
This story was originally published on May 20, 2014. 
