Pritchett goes to semis, maintains Top Fuel points lead with Papa John's
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Solid weekend for Papa John's Pizza Top Fuel dragster ends in semis but Pritchett maintains Mello Yello points lead with new goals ahead TOPEKA, Kan. (May 21, 2017) - Leah Pritchett and the Papa John's Pizza Top Fuel dragster team didn't accomplish its primary goal Sunday of leaving the NHRA Heartland Nationals with their fourth win of the season, but holding on to the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series points lead was adequate consolation. Pritchett holds a 30-point lead over Steve Torrence, whose two-race winning streak was stopped by her Don Schumacher Racing teammate Antron Brown, who she lost to in the semifinals at Topeka, Kan. Her dragster tuned by crew chief Todd Okuhara and assistant Joe Barlam was strong throughout the weekend. They started in qualifying when her time of 3.667 seconds earned the No. 2 seed for Sunday's eliminations and later posted a career-best speed of 330.23 mph, her first over 330. On Sunday, the Papa John's team posted a 3.707 in the opening round, followed with a 3.708 in the quarterfinals and a 3.718 that narrowly lost to Brown's 3.715. "It's continuing to show how healthy this car is," said Pritchett, who leads Top Fuel with three wins this year. "For us, it's not only the consistency, but how healthy the car is. Our team is together on all aspects. This has been a weekend that we were looking forward to. I'm slightly disappointed in myself, I'm figuring out a few things I can improve at the starting line." The Mello Yello Series will be off next weekend to honor Memorial Day and returns the following week to begin June's four-race Eastern Swing on June 2-4 at Epping with races following at Englishtown, N.J., Bristol, Tenn., and Norwalk, Ohio. "We've made some headway. We have some things to test so hopefully we will see some type of significant difference for the next time we get back on the track. Not to say we're not happy with what we have delivered this weekend, but we have to get better. "From a points leader standpoint, it's much easier to be the underdog. It's much easier to race in the capacity of constantly chasing something. I've figured out that I've lately been sometimes operating with a fear of losing instead of the aggressiveness of chasing. I walk away from this weekend identifying what I personally need to work on and it's a mindset. And it's something that we will see come Epping." The following are results and standings after the NHRA Heartland Nationals: TOP FUEL Event winner: Antron Brown (Don Schumacher Racing) No. 1 qualifier: Tony Schumacher (Don Schumacher Racing), 3.660 sec.-career best, 327.90 mph LEAH PRITCHETT, Papa John's Pizza Top Fuel dragster Crew chief: Todd Okuhara; assistant: Joe Barlam Pro Qualified: No. 2 SUNDAY ELIMINATIONS First round: PRITCHETT (3.707 sec., 326.87 mph) def. Rob Passey (14.850, 35.15) Second round: PRITCHETT (3.708, 325.92) def. Doug Kalitta (3.731, 330.96) Semifinals: Antron Brown (3.715, 330.15) def. PRITCHETT 3.718, 329.34) QUALIFYING RESULTS FRIDAY: shut off at starting line, (Session 1); rained out, (Session 2) SATURDAY: 3.687, 330.23-personal best , (Session 3); 3.667, 329.83, (Session 4) Best Time, Speed: 3.658 sec.-world record ( 2017 Phoenix); 330.23 (2017 Topeka) Career at Topeka: Wins 0; Runner-ups 0; Poles 0 2017 NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES STANDINGS (Official after Topeka; 8th of 24 events; wins in parenthesis; DSR drivers in CAPS) Top Fuel 1. LEAH PRITCHETT (3) 721 ----- 2. Steve Torrence (2) 691 -30 3. ANTRON BROWN (2) 680 -41 4. TONY SCHUMACHER (1) 673 -48 5. Doug Kalitta 539 -182 6. Clay Millican 433 -288 7. Brittany Force 405 -316 8. Terry McMillen 333 -388 9. Troy Coughlin Jr. 327 -394 10. Scott Palmer 276 -445 #WeAreDSR ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ABOUT PAPA JOHN'S PIZZA INTERNATIONAL INC. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, Papa John's International, Inc. is the world's third-largest pizza delivery company. For 15 of the past 17 years, consumers have rated Papa John's No. 1 in customer satisfaction among all national pizza chains in the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Papa John's is the Official Pizza Sponsor of the National Football League, the Official Pizza of Major League Baseball and the Official Pizza Partner of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). For more information about the company or to order pizza online, visit Papa John's at www.papajohns.com [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001cmR_EJq5Le8Jk9ZsOJLF6F1xdVdTZ8G4MaXHEd4PG_1If0CEJByLswe6r5Cxnf2O3-a1FDL6ZLLYviG2r1bZwgJvA3lMjBXXQJQsdZLN4bdYiKAiJqcD-RX3Juny3hy3ZgrtFpWAO0Gnvvpz_ZPqyk8p3ZRF4IToh2RmEuAojSg=&c=BzmULrXbtgAmEUQyoWf4FTXYyPrfMfkY068LZU1J41A6qL1L-89IhQ==&ch=LQIl6n8pe0j9mm362Z22N_tz8ZsoHpvhRouyKYgwk-5v21oCF3SZcA==]. 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Looking to be a part of something Better? Join the Papa John's Pizza Family at www.papajohns.com/careers/ [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001cmR_EJq5Le8Jk9ZsOJLF6F1xdVdTZ8G4MaXHEd4PG_1If0CEJByLswe6r5Cxnf2OEye6WYTztKbSxltuSocVvThKEkpcplhcPPfFOgTuZb5elf8-dki_j9FykmlEkJ5wApvmQPCqErdkwdDW0YKnN5otC6wffS0ajZnWYSL15QyOnIBauYGQLNsnbTfk8yWx&c=BzmULrXbtgAmEUQyoWf4FTXYyPrfMfkY068LZU1J41A6qL1L-89IhQ==&ch=LQIl6n8pe0j9mm362Z22N_tz8ZsoHpvhRouyKYgwk-5v21oCF3SZcA==] and www.papajohns.com/franchise [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001cmR_EJq5Le8Jk9ZsOJLF6F1xdVdTZ8G4MaXHEd4PG_1If0CEJByLswe6r5Cxnf2OCRncDbybH_MOvwuyBcfAtHAit0b--o6XFtnUyVQZv44Aih_UpQT8EH7ob57FhkqeCiKKdjnTy_UQYArTqPSm8FfA6Tg9qX9_jrcd-4xj7rVpvLqIR0l85D3N5ME6hYWM&c=BzmULrXbtgAmEUQyoWf4FTXYyPrfMfkY068LZU1J41A6qL1L-89IhQ==&ch=LQIl6n8pe0j9mm362Z22N_tz8ZsoHpvhRouyKYgwk-5v21oCF3SZcA==] ABOUT DON SCHUMACHER RACING Don Schumacher Racing, headquartered near Indianapolis in Brownsburg, Ind., fields seven professional NHRA teams in the Drag Racing Series. In Top Fuel, Leah Pritchett in the Papa John's dragster, the U.S. Army dragster driven by eight-time NHRA world champion Tony Schumacher and the three-time Top Fuel world champion Matco Tools/U.S. Army dragster driven by Antron Brown. In Funny Car, two-time world champion Matt Hagan in the Mopar Express Lane Dodge Charger R/T, 2012 NHRA world champion Jack Beckman in the Infinite Hero Foundation Dodge, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Dodge driven by 2016 Funny Car champion Ron Capps and the Make-A-Wish Dodge driven by Tommy Johnson Jr. DSR has won 306 NHRA national event titles and 16 world championships. Follow Don Schumacher Racing at ShoeRacing.com, on Twitter at @shoeracing and Facebook.com/shoeracing ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Wolf (wolfj@shoeracing.com), 702.524.1368 Leah Vaughn (vaughnl@shoeracing.com), 618.516.1988 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Forward This Email to a Friend http://ui.constantcontact.com/sa/fwtf.jsp?llr=5uv7snbab&m=1101041391262&ea=$submit@theautochannel.com$&a=1128003856328 This email was sent to submit@theautochannel.com by wolfj@shoeracing.com. 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