Leah Pruett
{{short description|American drag racer}}
{{about|the drag racer|the soccer player|Leah Pruitt}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Leah Pruett
| image = Leah Pritchett (cropped).jpg
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Todd Leduc|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Gary Pritchett|2013|2019|end=divorced}}|{{marriage|Tony Stewart|2021}}}}
| children = Dominic (1)
| image_size =
| caption = Pruett in 2018
| nationality = American
| birth_name = Leah Christine Pruett
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1988|05|26}}
| birth_place = Redlands, California
| relatives =
| module = {{Infobox racing driver |embed=yes
| current series = NHRA Mission Foods Series
| years active = 2013–present
| current team = Tony Stewart Racing
| car number = None (not racing this year)
| engine =
| crew chief = Neal Strausbaugh and Micheal Domagala{{cite web |url=http://www.nhra.com/drivers/leah-pritchett/886 |title=National Hot Rod Association - Leah Pritchett |work=National Hot Rod Association |date=14 December 2016 |accessdate=February 24, 2017}}
| spotter =
| former teams = Don Schumacher Racing
Bob Vandergriff Racing
Dote Racing
| starts =
| championships = 1 (Factory Stock Showdown)
| wins = 18 (12 Top Fuel, 3 Pro Mod, 3 Factory Stock Showdown)
| poles =
| fastest laps = {{ubl
| Best ET
| 3.631 seconds{{cite web |url=https://autoweek.com/article/nhra/nhra-saturday-qualifying-results-sunday-elimination-pairings-auto-club-final-ponoma |title=NHRA SATURDAY QUALIFYING RESULTS, SUNDAY ELIMINATION PAIRINGS FOR THE AUTO CLUB FINALS AT POMONA |date=November 10, 2018 |work=Autoweek |accessdate=February 11, 2019}}
| 11/10/2018 at Pomona, CA
| Best Speed
| {{convert|334.15|mph|abbr=on}}{{cite web |url=http://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2018/03/16/nhra-leah-pritchett-goes-for-3-different-wins-in-this-weekends-gatornationals/ |title=NHRA: Leah Pritchett Goes for 3 Different Wins in This Weekend's Gatornationals |last=Bonkowski |first=Jerry |date=March 16, 2018 |work=NBC Sports |publisher=NBCUniversal |accessdate=May 6, 2018}}
| 2/24/2018 at Chandler, AZ
}}
| best finish =
| year =
| last finish =
| prev series =
| prev series years =
| titles =
| title years =
| awards =
| award years =
| updated = May 27, 2024
}}
}}
Leah Christine Pruett{{refn|Although she married Tony Stewart in 2021, she continues to use Pruett professionally.|group=N}} (formerly Leah Pritchett, formerly Leah LeDuc born May 26, 1988) is an American semi-retired drag racer, who last drove an NHRA Top Fuel dragster for Tony Stewart Racing.{{cite web |url=https://www.nhra.com/news/2021/tony-stewart-racing-join-nhra-2022-two-full-time-entries |title=Tony Stewart Racing to join NHRA in 2022 with two full-time entries |publisher=National Hot Rod Association |date=October 14, 2021 |access-date=November 19, 2021}}
Racing career
Pruett debuted in Top Fuel in 2013 with Dote Racing after previously competing in Pro Mod and Nostalgia Funny Car.{{cite web |url=http://www.leahpritchett.com/pages/bio |title=Leah Pritchett, Biography |accessdate=August 6, 2016}} Her first career national event win on the professional level came February 28, 2016 at the Carquest Auto Parts NHRA Nationals in Chandler, Arizona, defeating Brittany Force in the first all-female final round in Top Fuel since 1982.{{cite web |url=http://autoweek.com/article/nhra/leah-pritchett-wins-all-female-nhra-top-fuel-final-phoenix |title=Leah Pritchett Wins All-Female NHRA Top Fuel Final in Phoenix |last=Wade |first=Susan |date=February 28, 2016 |work=Autoweek |publisher=Crain Communications |accessdate=August 6, 2016}} She finished seventh in points in 2016 with one win, fifth in 2017 with four wins, and fourth in 2018 (two wins), 2019 (one win) and 2020 (no wins). In 2021, she claimed one win.
=Awards=
On October 14, 2021, Pruett was announced as the Top Fuel driver for Tony Stewart Racing in 2022.{{cite web |url=https://www.nhra.com/news/2021/tony-stewart-racing-join-nhra-2022-two-full-time-entries |title=Tony Stewart Racing to join NHRA in 2022 with two full-time entries |publisher=National Hot Rod Association |date=October 14, 2021 |access-date=November 19, 2021}}
=Retirement=
She will step aside from racing in 2024, replaced by her husband, Tony Stewart, while they plan to start a family.
Personal life
Pruett was first married to Todd LeDuc, off-road racer and Monster Jam truck driver. She met Gary Pritchett, a crew member for NHRA Top Fuel drag racer Steve Torrence, in 2011; they married in 2013.{{cite web | url=https://www.denverpost.com/2017/07/22/gary-leah-pritchett-top-rivals/ | title=Gary and Leah Pritchett: Husband and wife – and top rivals in NHRA Top Fuel racing | date=23 July 2017 }} Pruett filed for divorce from Pritchett on July 31, 2019, in Hendricks County, Indiana.{{Cite web|url=https://public.courts.in.gov/mycase/#/vw/CaseSummary/eyJ2Ijp7IkNhc2VUb2tlbiI6IlptRXlNRGN4T1RFNU1URXhPamc0TWpBeE9UWXpOamM9In19|title = Indiana Supreme Court public access case search - MyCase}} She was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct in Hendricks County, Indiana, on October 21, 2012; the terms of a pre-trial conversion agreement were met on February 7, 2014.{{Cite web|url=https://public.courts.in.gov/mycase/#/vw/CaseSummary/eyJ2Ijp7IkNhc2VUb2tlbiI6InV0OGZhNkxyOWg2bnp4cmp5N2htbGpldi1QVFdHV1pzSWJkcVB2RDJLZlExIn19|title = Indiana Supreme Court public access case search - MyCase}} She and former NASCAR driver Tony Stewart announced their engagement through simultaneous Instagram posts on each of their accounts on March 18, 2021.{{Cite web|title=Tony Stewart Engaged To Pro Drag Racer Leah Pruett, Massive Diamond Ring!|url=https://www.tmz.com/2021/03/18/tony-stewart-engaged-pro-drag-racer-leah-pruett/|access-date=2021-03-19|website=TMZ|date=19 March 2021 |language=en}} They married on November 21, 2021 in Los Cabos, Mexico.{{cite web |first=Joseph |last=Srigley |url=https://tobychristie.com/2021/11/21/nascar-hall-of-famer-tony-stewart-and-nhra-winner-leah-pruett-officially-married/ |title=NASCAR Hall of Famer Tony Stewart and NHRA Winner Leah Pruett Officially Married |website=TobyChristie.com |date=November 21, 2021 |access-date=November 22, 2021}}
Pruett and Stewart welcomed a son named Dominic in November 2024.{{Cite web |last=Horner |first=Scott |title='An emotion that I’ve never had before': Tony Stewart, Leah Pruett celebrate birth of son |url=https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/2024/11/18/tony-stewart-leah-pruett-celebrate-birth-of-first-son-dominic/76402889007/ |access-date=2025-03-17 |website=The Indianapolis Star |language=en-US}}
She is not related to former stock car racing, open-wheel racing and sports car racing driver Scott Pruett.
Career results
=Highlights=
- Claimed the NHRA SAMTech Factory Stock Showdown championship in 2019, DSR's first series championship in their first year in the class. Pruett is also the only female champion in the short history of the class.
- Pruett also won the 2010 Nostalgia Funny Car title in the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series
- Has earned 14 total event wins (11 in Top Fuel, 3 in Pro Modified)
- Has a career best E.T. of 3.631 seconds, and a best speed of 334.15 miles per hour{{Cite web|last=Brown|first=Obrey|date=8 October 2020|title=Speed? Redlands' Leah Pruett battling for NHRA title|url=https://www.highlandnews.net/sports/speed-redlands-leah-pruett-battling-for-nhra-title/article_32518a4c-0978-11eb-8dcf-4bb268884287.html#:~:text=Pruett%20has%20sizzled%20to%20a,years%20of%20ups%20and%20downs.|access-date=7 April 2021|website=Highlandnews.net}}
=Season results=
; Top Fuel
- 2013: 15th (no wins)
- 2014: 14th (no wins)
- 2015: 14th (no wins)
- 2016: 7th (1 win at Chandler).
- 2017: 5th (4 wins at the Winternationals, Chandler, Houston and Brainerd).
- 2018: 4th (2 wins at Atlanta and Denver).
- 2019: 4th (1 win at Brainerd).
- 2020: 4th (no wins)
- 2021: 7th (1 win at the Winternationals)
- 2022: 11th (1 win at Denver).
- 2023: 3rd (2 wins at Norwalk and Texas).
References
{{reflist|group=N}}
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://leahpruett.com/ Leah Pruett official website]
- [http://www.shoeracing.com Don Schumacher Racing]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pruett, Leah}}
Category:Female dragster drivers
Category:American female racing drivers