Photo courtesy NHRA/National Dragster

Top Fuel ace Leah Pritchett says her team, led by crew chief Todd Okuhara and assistant Joe Barlam, found additional horsepower in their Mopar/Dodge dragster in the offseason, and if her speed in testing is any indication, not only do they have it, but they’ve figured out how to use it.

Pritchett clocked the fastest unofficial speed in the 1,000-foot era of Top Fuel racing on Saturday at Phoenix, Arizona’s Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park with a 334.73 mph blast. Pritchett paired the speed with a 3.664-second elapsed time — the quickest pass of the four day pre-season nitro test session that preceded this weekend’s season-opening NHRA Winternationals at Pomona, California.

Because the speed was recorded during a test session and not during competition, it not recognized by the NHRA. Nevertheless, it provided Pritchett and her team the utmost in confidence heading into the new year.

“It’s incredibly huge,” said Pritchett, who won four times and finished inside the top five in her first full season driving for Don Schumacher Racing.

“I had a smile from ear-to-ear. 250-feet into the run it had a nice little chatter to it. That’s the first real indication that it’s going to be on a full pull from the tune-up standpoint.

I had a smile from ear-to-ear. 250-feet into the run it had a nice little chatter to it. That’s the first real indication that it’s going to be on a full pull from the tune-up standpoint.

“It took us three days to be able to formulate a new tune-up for the additional amount of power this Mopar Dodge team was able to find in the off-season. On our fourth day of testing, we were able to lay it down, and man we needed that. That run right there was what we needed as a team to go into Pomona hot.”

Barlam shared Pritchett’s sentiment.

“It’s always good to run fastest,” said Barlam, who assisted crew chief Todd Okuhara in tuning Pritchett to the second quickest E.T. (3.640-secs) in NHRA history in 2017. Of course it’s just testing, but it’s good to go into Pomona knowing we’re able to run those numbers. Hopefully, it’ll go faster yet.”

Pritchett set the Wild Horse Pass track record one year ago with a 3.658-second pass en route to capturing the Arizona Nationals crown — her second victory in a row to start the season (a feat only Gary Ormsby and Gary Scelzi had accomplished in Top Fuel previously). Officially, her career best speed is 332.75 mph, which ranks among the Top 10 Top Fuel speeds in the 1,000-foot era. Her 3.640-second elapsed time in 2017 is second-best all-time.

Tony Schumacher still holds the NHRA’s all-time Top Fuel speed mark at 337.58 mph, while Dom Lagana clocked the non-competition mark at 338.35 mph in Michigan last September. Robert Hight maintains the outright standard at 339.87 mph, clocked in Sonoma, California last July.