July 24, 2025 • 44 mins
National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racers Ida Zetterström and Leah Pruett join Sarah to talk about recognizing their need for speed at a young age, why NHRA races are naturally co-ed events, how they handle the extreme toll racing can take their bodies, and the importance of having strong teams to ensure safety and aid success. Plus, a cowardly decision from the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, Venus Williams has still got it and one PWHL team has a new leader.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we are
absolutely tickled that Venus Williams is out here winning matches
at age forty five. It's not every day I get
to cover an athlete older than me still competing with
the best of them.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you, Venus.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
It's Thursday, July twenty fourth, and on today's show, we'll
be talking to National Hot Rod Association NHRA stars Ida
Zetterstrom and Leah Pruitt about the thrill and toll of
going over three hundred miles an hour racing with the
guys this weekend's Sonoma Nationals race and a fun collaboration
with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment, plus the worst kind
(00:35):
of caving, an admiral of a different kind, and a
reminder to leave the racing to the professionals. It's all
coming up right after this Welcome back slices. Here's what
you need to know today in Tennis news, forty five
(00:57):
year old Venus Williams became the oldest player to win
a singles match on the WTA Tour since Martina Navratalova,
then forty seven, did it in two thousand and four.
Venus eliminated fellow American Peyton Stearn's six three six four
on Tuesday at the DC Open, and the day before,
Venus and partner Haley Baptiste won their opening round doubles
match as well, winning on the pro tour at fourteen.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And forty five unreal.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Venus also one more fun fact, Venus recently got engaged
to Italian actor Andrea Pretti, who was in attendance to
watch her play for the first time. Everything's coming up, Williams.
Venus plays again today in the round of sixteen. Will
link to the full DC Open schedule in the show
notes to the PWHL. The Boston Fleet on Wednesday announced
(01:46):
that Chris Sparr has been hired as the team's new coach.
He succeeds Courtney Kessel, who led the team for two
seasons before she stepped down earlier this summer to take
over the Princeton Women's hockey team. Spar joined the Boston
Fleet following three years as an assistant coach with the
San Diego Gulls in the American Hockey League. In a statement,
Sparseti is thrilled to join the team, adding this is
(02:08):
an incredible opportunity to be part of a league that
has experienced remarkable growth and momentum in recent seasons. Boston
stands as one of the premier sports cities in the world,
and I look forward to building a program that is
capable of contending for a championship every season. End quote
to the World of Olympic Sports and News out of
the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, they have effectively barred
(02:30):
transgender women from competing in women's sports. The new policy
change was published on the USOPC website on Monday, with
the organization telling the national governing bodies under its purview
that it has quote unquote an obligation to comply with
the executive order issued by President Trump. That executive order,
signed in February threatened to rescind funding from organizations that
(02:52):
allowed transgender athletes to compete in women's sports.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Prior to this policy change.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
It was up to individual national governing bodies that includes
organizations like USA Swimming, USA Track and Field, USA Gymnastics
to determine their own policies regarding transgender athletes.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Friend of the Show Nancy.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Armour wrote a great column for USA Today criticizing the
usopc's decision to cave to Trump, which we'll link to
in the show notes to Oops. There are three WNBA
games tonight at seven pm Eastern. It's the La Sparks
at the Connecticut Sun on League Pass. Sparks coming off
a win over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday. Twenty four
points and fourteen boards from Deerka Hanby in that one.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Phew.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Also at seven eastern in the Las Vegas Aces are
at the Indiana Fever. You can catch that one on
Prime Video. Then at eight thirty Easter in the Seattle Storm,
pay a visit to my Chicago Sky you can catch
that one on League Pass. We'll link to the full
WNBA schedule in our show notes. Some more WNBA news,
this time on the investment side. Washington Commander's linebacker and
Super Bowl champion Bobby Wagner is the latest minority owner
(03:56):
of the WNBA Seattle Storm, the first active NFL player
to have equity in a WNBA team. In a statement,
Wagner said, quote, this is about more than basketball. It's
about investing in a legacy of excellence, empowering women, and
continuing to elevate the game for future generations.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
We got to take a quick break. When we come back,
we try not to bang the blower. With Da Zetterthrom
and Leah Pruitt stick.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Around joining us now.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
She's a Swedish drag racer who is named NHR twenty
twenty four Best New Talent after arriving in the States
to build on an incredible career overseas that included being
the twenty twenty three European drag Racing Champion. She dominated
competition across the B Bond, losing in an elimination round
just once in the entire season in twenty twenty three
and breaking the European record for the fastest race time.
She's still the holder of the women's European record for
(04:52):
super street bike drag racing. She's a fan favorite whose
autograph lines are longer than a CVS receipt.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's Da zetterthrom And joining her.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
A drag racer who debuted in Top Fuel in twenty thirteen,
got her first win in twenty sixteen and is finished
as high as fourth in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Overall, a twelve time Top Fuel national.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Event winner, she was the NHR sam Tech Factory Stock
Showdown Champion in twenty nineteen, the first and only female
champion in the short history of that event, and when
she went on maternity leave, her husband, famed NASCAR driver
Tony Stewart replaced her behind the wheel. The family that
speeds together stays together. It's Leah Pruitt, Thanks for.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Joining us, both of you, Nhi, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
You're together in Sonoma for the Sonoma Nationals Race and
the very first collaboration between the National hot Rod Association,
the NHRA and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment, which includes
a summit of the women of the NHRA and a
VIP track side experience with the sport's top female stars.
So before we get to that event and this weekend,
I want to talk about how you both learned that
(05:50):
you had the need for speed, because Leo, you actually
started at the age of eight, officially on the dot
on your eighth birthday, you joined the NHRA Junior's drag
Racing youth racing program.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
So tell me how you got interested in it at
that young age.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Well, sure, and you'll find that Eda and I both
have a lot of similarities. We both started when we
were eight. My parents they were not in drag racing.
My father was a land speed racer at Bonneville. So
he had just an insatiable need for speed and however
fast he can make his car.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
He had two girls.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
He wanted two boys, but you know life, life happens
that way, and he wanted to do motorsports with them.
So the Junior Drag Racing League at that time you
could start when you were eight. Now you can start
as young as five years old, and families can go
out and run together and learn sportsmanship, learn mechanics of
the car. And so for me, I raced regionally in
southern California, then Division seven West Coast, and then nationally.
(06:44):
And as I'm going to a national event, you know
with a big dogs racing with got Eddie Hill, you
got John Forrest, and you're watching them rip over three
hundred miles an hour, and then they might be blowing up,
and then they go into the pits and you see
their crew members tear down and re build these engines.
And I was like the little leaguer watching the big leagues,
and I said, I want to do that. I can't
(07:06):
not become a professional race car driver. This is what
I've been doing as a kid. So I catered my
entire life, my education, my work ethic experience to getting
myself into a spot to represent some of the best
brands in the world that wanted to follow my dream
of being a world champion in funny car or top fueler,
whatever I could get my hands on and coming to it,
(07:27):
you know, as of lately in twenty twenty two, with
Tony Stewart creating TSR Nitro and Matt Hagan on the
Dodge side, and myself created a two car team with
Tony and we Field a Nitro funny car and a
top Field Dragster. And yes, to your point, I'm not
in the seat at the moment. Yeah, did tear off
to have a child and right now I am a
really busy supporting figure.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Well, I want to touch on that quick because you've
done it all. I'm reading and it's Nhrrace hot Rod
Heritage Racing Series, the Nostalgia funny car category, the Pro.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Drag Racing Series.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I don't know what any of these are, So can
you explain it to us, like we're five, how many
different kinds of NHR categories and cars are there?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
And how different are they from each other?
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I've done to a fantastic question, I believe there's just
about two dozen categories, and it depends on what series
you are. So this weekend as we're getting ready for
the NHR Mission Foods Drag Racing Series that is the
highest level to pinnacle, and you have four professional categories
Top Fuel, funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro stock Bike. Now
below that we have sportsman categories, and it's really it's
(08:35):
kind of like what flavor of ice cream do you like?
Do you like jocolate, vanilla, whatever? In drag racing, it's
what type of car, what type of speed, what type
of budget are you able to do? You know what
you what are you attracted to maybe that you've done
with your family. So for me stepping out of junior dragsters,
the best form of competitive racing that we could afford
(08:56):
was the Nostalgia series. And that's basically where you have
a nostalgia funny car where it's period correct, where the
engine placement, the single magneto, single fuel pump, all with
period body style correct to the seventies or early eighties.
That way you're not having you're not running at those
national events and speeds that take millions of dollars to run.
(09:19):
Got it and then into a pro mod which is
a it's really the world's fastest door car in the world.
It's suspension four link, very difficult to drive, very gnarly.
There's many racers out here that will drive anything but
a pro mod because they're scary and they're also awesome.
So's there's many different ways to go.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
That happened to be my path.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
And then what Da has come up through I would
not do, but I'll let her talk about that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So Itda.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, you started in junior races when you were eight
years old as well. Your dad also played a big
role in this need for speed, So tell us about
your start.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, very similar to Leah.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
My childhood kind of was our own speed, you know,
being at the racetrack. My dad kind of worked with
different race team throughout my whole childhood, so I kind
of started being at the racetracks I was.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
A few weeks old. Fell in love with the sport
very early. It's a very.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Family friendly sport, you know, not just for the teams
that are competing, but for the fans and the pits.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It's an open pitch.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
You can actually come out, you can see the teams
work on the cars, you can talk to the drivers anything,
from the eight year old you knew drives to drivers
to the top fuel drivers that me and Lee are
doing today. So being there in the atmosphere of racing
caught me very early and it was something I knew
I wanted to be part of. And then obviously getting
into a race car when I was eight years old,
you love the feeling of speed. If you are like us,
(10:40):
you know that's addicting that feeling.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
But then the more I raced and the better you
got at it.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
It wasn't just the feeling of speed that kind of
dragged me into it and made me so hooked.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
It was the.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
Caroaderie, the team effort that it takes, but also being
the best at it, Like I wanted to win right now. Yeah,
we both go three hundred and thirty miles per hour plus,
but that is not what gives me adrenaline kicks. My
adrenaline kicks comes when that wind light come on by
the end of the track and you actually were able
to pull off the wins with your team. That is
(11:13):
like the highest of highs, and that's what we're chasing.
Going really fast and having those quick eties, that's part
of it, and that's something that's definitely on our list
of chases, but it's winning on Sunday that matters the most.
And I also went through different classes moving up. I
have not done traumad or nostalgia like Lea did, even
though I find them incredibly fascinating.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
But just like she talked about the fact.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
That you might not be able to afford the highest
class even though you wanted to.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I mean, you could watch videos of me being eight
years old.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Saying when I'm eighteen, I'm gonna run top fuel, and
then you make it to eighteen and you realize that
there's no way I can get into a car like that.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Right now. I don't have that funding, I don't have
that knowledge of how to get there.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
So, just like Lea, I dedicated all my life to
finding a way to get to where I wanted to be.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
And for me, a class that I could race was.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
At the top level in Europe and one of the
fastest growing classes.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
A really cool class with a good mix up the
build of the vehicle.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
The team effort that goes into it, and the driver
was a class called super street bike. It is not
a class that is apparent in any tray. It's a
class that we raced over in Europe and it's also
in other drag racing series outside of any tray. But
it's basically seven hundred and fifty horsepower turbo sharched bikes
that we run on a normal street tire.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
We don't have any really bar so we call them.
It kind of looks like those low.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
Training whins almost behind them, but we don't really have that.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
So that class is also just like promo very normally.
You know, you can have really high wheelies. They're really
hard to drive.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
It takes a lot of skills and a lot of teamwork,
and it was a class that I loved personally racing
and you learned so much and for the price that
it took to race that class, it was such a
high level and I was able to win two championships
in that class before I had kind of worked my
way up and found the right partners and made myself
(13:10):
a name and.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
A sport to the level where I could step.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
It up and get my license for top fuel and
start you know, working at the growing my name in
that class and eventually making it to the pinnacle drag
racing which is NHRA, and where we're at right now,
you know.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I think you're both crazy, But I love it too.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I love meeting people that have this like drive and
intensity for something that I just can't imagine trying, especially
at that age.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
It's so wild, Leah.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
One of the cool things about NHR drag racing is
that men and women have been competing head to head
for decades, and women have thrived in the NHR ranks
one hundred and ninety six national wins.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Why is it such a natural co ed event.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
I believe it's because where NHA started that the entire
premise of it is who has a vestor vehicle? We've
all done it, who's going to You're going to be
on a foot race? Be quicker, who's you know, tea buckets?
Who had the fastest one? So it's inherent for all
of us to have competition, and that does not you know,
the men, females, all of that is the same. But
(14:12):
early in the in the seventies, there were female racers
that they did punch through that ceiling and they did
take the big brunt of stereotypes and and then they
paved the way, so to speak, so that Eda and
I we could look at Melanie Troxel or Bunny Priquette.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Or Laurie John's and go, wow, they're doing it. Now.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
We don't know the hardships that they've been through because
of the thirty year gap, but we knew that it
was possible, so they made it a little easier. We
still have some different types of challenges today, and we
also have different opportunities. But I would say drag racing
as a motorsport in general, especially in nature a is
male prevalent, but it's not male dominating. You know, the
(14:56):
fastest person in the world in drag racing is a female.
She's not just the fastest, and it doesn't happen to
be Eta or I on the call right now, Yeah,
one day we're very close. From a driver's perspective, the
car doesn't make a difference. But I do want to
point out what we do in order to make a
five hundred cubic inch engine running on up to ninety
(15:16):
percent nitromethane having twelve thousand horsepower.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
You're asking for.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
A recipe, a recipe of like extreme volatile destruction or
extreme speed. So what we do with our team and
our crew chiefs are the ones that really put in
the tune up and make sure that everything operates in
a healthy manner to have a good run. We call
it competitive problem solving. Yeah, what we do every week,
(15:42):
every week in track conditions. So when you look at
it that way, there's no difference between male or female
because we all are able to do it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Itta, what are some of the effects of a race
on your body when you're going that fast? What are
the sensations you feel during the race and after.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Yeah, that's it's a very good question, and it depends
from race weekend to race weekend. I mean some race
weekends might be easier on our body. You might have
had lower temperatures me that I mean, I'm from Sweden.
We have over short summer. We're not used to racing
in ninety five plus degrees and humidity, so stuff like
that takes an extra toll on my body. A lot
(16:20):
of people think that it's used a short amount of
time that you are in the car when you're racing,
you know, three point seven seconds, but that is not
what takes.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
The biggest toll of you. Obviously.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Yes, we do have about seven g g forces on
as and when we do pull parachutes to slow down,
it's like about of negative six G. It's a big
variation there, and that is talking nothing happening during a round.
You can also have severe tire shake, for example, if
you have gotten to tune up a little bit wrong,
and that can really take a toll on you because
we don't have any suspension like you're doing a normal car.
(16:52):
Your tires are basically your suspension, and when the tires
starts flapping around like that, it goes straight into your
body and it kind of feels like it goes up,
you know, through your core and it can make you
get a really bad headache and you can feel it
in your body, get a.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
You know, sore back or so on.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
You can also have, you know, a big engine explosion
that can take a toll on your body because it
deaccelerates so quickly and you get a big like spike
of those G forces that go way beyond you, just
the seven G we talked about earlier, and you know
you can see maybe a spike up to twenty g's
in each direction. So stuff like that can really take
(17:29):
a toll on you. But it isn't just that. It's
also sitting strapped into the car before you run on
a normal rund, you might be getting strapped in you know,
ten fifteen minutes before you run, but then it might
be something happening on the track. There might be a
delay or something. You might end up sitting in the
car for forty five minutes. And it's very hard to
breath when you're actually sitting in that. Because since this
(17:52):
is such a kind of a flamable things can go sideway.
So we take all the precautions we can, and that
means that our safety gear we are you know, twenty
layers in and you have a helmet that has no ventilation.
We also have a helmet skirt that goes into our suit.
We also have you know, a base layer under or helmet.
We have so many layers to basically be able to
(18:14):
be on fire in case the worst scenario would happen.
But that means that it's not easy for us to
breed when we sit in that, and that means that
our body, you know, it gets very hot if it's
hot out. And then you add to that that you're
strapped in, and when you're strapped in, you basically get
strapped in so tight it's hard to make full you know,
big movements when you breed, so it's almost like you're
(18:36):
not using full long capacity.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
And I mean both main LYA we work out a lot.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
We want to be in.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Good shape to be able to do this out here,
and that means that stuff like this won't take as
big of a toll of you that it would if
you weren't being good shape. But then it comes to
the other part of it, and that is everything MAINLYA
does in between the runs that people don't think about.
Some drivers don't do everything on their car the same
way we do. Both me and Lea we mix our
on fuel fuel. I mean you know this better, Leah,
(19:04):
how much nitro waste. But nitro it's a heavy fuel.
It's so much heavier than water. So when you are
basically fueling your car two three times a day, and
every time you're fueling this car, it takes about fifteen
gallons of nitro and then very warm up it's another.
Speaker 6 (19:21):
Five gallons of nitro. There's a lot of heavy lifting
in the pit and all of this is kind of
an unpleasant angle to hold. You know, these jugs where
you're lifting them up high, and you're doing this a
lot of the same movements all the time. You can't
really change and do you know, half to the right,
half to the left, those things take a bigger toll
(19:42):
on your body, in my opinion than the actual three
point seven seconds that you're in the car.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah, I would.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
I'd like to add to that ita from a mental
standpoint again, where yes, the times from starting line to
finish line three point six three point seven seconds, three
hundred and thirty five miles an hour from the time
start up the car to we make the turnoff is
about two and a half minutes. So we strive to
be perfect within our race car. There's a lot of
(20:09):
things we could do to mess it up, but we
actually can't make it go any quicker than it's set
up to do. But the mentality that we have to have,
whether we are freezing and it's forty eight degrees outside,
or it's one hundred and two at ninety eight percent
humidity at one hundred and forty grains and you're absolutely sweating,
you still need to have reaction times that are the
(20:30):
quickest in the world. That you are focused on the
stage bulb, you are focused on what your car is
doing that you hit that light. Because we could have
a slower car, but if you are a quicker reacting driver,
you can win that race. And for me, I'm an
intense person. I know Eda is as well, and we
thrive on that adrenaline. And you make a run. Okay,
you won that round, You go, you service the car,
(20:52):
and you keep that hype up. But then there might
be a delay in the day by half an hour,
forty five minutes, and now your peak adrenaline is coming
back down, but you know in another forty five minutes
it needs to come back up. So I think over
time we all have learned ourselves and how do we
just stay up there all day? And that's great, That's
what I like to do. But I cut on Monday.
(21:14):
I'm on trash. Yeah, I'm austin mentally and physically from
a day and those that's what I want is Monday
that I went. I gave it everything I had for
twelve fourteen hours straight and we're gonna enjoy that trophy hopefully.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Okay, I have some follow ups really quick. So seven
G fours basically means that it feels like seven times
your body weight is pushing on you.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
That is correct.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
So at the hit of the throttle we're at zero
G forces, you're at a standstill, and you accelerate very quickly,
almost instantaneously, to four four and a half geese and
the car continues to accelerate. So for the next two
to three hundred feet you have this rate that you're going,
depending on how great the run is. But to five,
five and a half, six, six and a half gees seven.
(21:59):
I bet there are there's cars out there just reaching seven.
And this is within two and a half seconds from
the time that you hit. So you've got four to
four and a half and it continued like this linebacker
is shoving you back. But you're prepared for it. And
I think that's an important key. You're prepared for it.
Now about half track, once the clutch and the RPM
have met together and they have the same and they're
(22:20):
basically we call it almost welding. Then you taper off
and you're only pulling about two g's. You're still accelerating speed,
but you're not having those same g forces. You get
to the finish line, you're going three hundred and thirty
five miles an hour, you have those g's. You take
your hand off the steering wheel, you throw the parachutes,
you come out of the come out of the throttle,
hit the fuel, and you turn your switches off, all
(22:42):
within about a half of a second. While you're de
selling in, your body has been thrown forward and your
eyes almost try and meet the windshield.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Inside the car.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
So the exhilarating rush is amazing, but you have to
be prepared for it.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
And Leah, how come some competitors don't mix their own
fuel and some do? And what does it mean to
mix your own fuel?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
We both came from teams that did not have enough personnel,
and we drove the rigs, we washed the rigs, we
service the car, mixed in the fuel and as you
go into higher stages in the cat in the series,
there's enough people budgets and they go, it's okay, just
just drive the race car. Well, that's not what we
(23:23):
have been grown up doing, and we like to be
involved in knowing what number it needs to be and
how to cut that nightro with methanol. We have beakers
and hydrometers and we love the science of it. We
continue to do that, especially when the team they need
extra hands on the car, because not every time that
it just goes down the track, is it nice? And
you drain the fuel and you change the heads and
(23:44):
some you know, the clutch pack. There are sometimes when
the entire engine is demolished and you know, waters have
been burned from the car and it needs extra attention.
So we're able to pick up on places that we
can to help make sure we make that turnaround in
time for the next And for TV and other drivers, A,
they just never did it. B they have a different
(24:05):
work ethic.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Not sure, we'll have to ask them.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
But men are such divas they don't want to do
their instance, you know, and I get it.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
I'd say I don't want to take away.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
There's definitely many men that do, and many men that
are in tune with the car. I would say about
half of our competitors are very intelligent and physically work
hard and get their fingers dirty, and then there's probably
another half of the field that maybe can't spell top fuel.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
On Itita, I want to ask you about the training
that you do, whether it's video games or simulations. You
talk about how much goes into the racing that we
never see.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
What does it look like to get ready to go
that fast?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
And how do you practice for this maybe earlier in
your career or even what you still do now to
stay sharp.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
I think it's probably a personal preference for many drivers
what they like to do. Some ve they like to run.
Some drivers, you know, they like to go hit the gym.
Some drivers they really play a lot of video games.
I've never been a big video gamer, so that was
not Maybe I should have been, because I've heard it's
a you know, good thing to do when I really
(25:15):
shore op reaction times. But for me, part of it
has been to be in good shape, like that's what
I feel like. You know, when we talked about G
forces and everything, Leah mentioned it is not just G
forces on your shift, that is also G forces underneath
your right you know leg that are trying to push
your leg off that pedal and you basically need to
keep it pinned because that is also an issue. You know,
(25:36):
if you start coming off the trottle. That is not
what these cars are set up to do. They're set
up to be run hard and be run on full
trottle and slam that pedal. So that is an important
part for me being strong out here, feel like I'm
always in control of the car, working on the card
your side. Just to be able to feel like even
though it is ninety five and humid out. I can
(25:57):
work in these conditions when it comes to reaction time,
and I have several things I do. I have actually
done a reaction time program over the of the winter
over in Indy. Not something that is, you know, specifically
done for drag racing, but just in overall working with
your eye and your mind. A lot of it is
you know, what can you take in in your peripheral
(26:18):
vision and kind of widening your peripheral.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Vision at the same time.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
Maybe you know you're looking at your tree, but you
can also be able to see what's happening when you're
staging and also not letting it mess you up, because
that is one part of it that Leah touched on too,
like the mental side of it and how much that
goes into it, how much it drains you. And I
feel like that is also part of like why we
work out to kind of clear our mind, kind of be.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Ready for what's to come for this weekend.
Speaker 5 (26:45):
We also have reaction time, like I practice tree Basically,
I have.
Speaker 6 (26:50):
Something set up in one of my cars that I
can sit in in the shop.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
I have one at home. I have a small one
I can have with me on the plane. Everything you
do there is basically you look at it. We call
it a Christmas tree, like that's what we start at.
So this is all Christmas trees in different sizes versions.
And what you do is, you know, when you see
that yellow bulb, come on because many people think we
leave on green, but if it's green, then we should
(27:15):
have already.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Left the Christmas tree.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
For those who are wondering, is basically this electronic starter
system that is a pole with different colored lights on it,
and you're looking for the light that says go essentially yellow,
like you said, so that by the time it gets
to green, you're already hitting that throttle and on your waist.
So you have practice versions of that or simulations of
that that you can practice.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
It absolutely and on that we can see it exactly
what our reaction time is. And with that you can
also start you know, dabbling and trying different things. I
know when I started in top few and I went
from racing a bike and you know, reacting with my
hand dropping the clutch and you know, doing that, and
then all of a sudden going into the top few,
I could start seeing you know, does it make a
(27:58):
difference if I do this right off? I've done a workout.
Does it make a difference if I take a power
net before? Does it make a difference if I have
a coffee before? You know, all of those things that
we don't have the chance to try when we're at
the track because these cars, it's not like we can
just roll them out and have all these test sessions
whenever we want.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
We basically learn and test when we're.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
At the track and racing and have you know, millions
of people watching us what we do and see exactly
how our reaction time is and how our run was.
So we do everything we can to prepare beforehand so
that we can actually do our very very best when
we get out there.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Lea, we were talking about g forces and appropriately one
of the best NHR racers is Britney Force, named perfectly
for the event, had the fastest run in NHR history
earlier this week three hundred and forty one point eighty
five miles per hour in the quarter mile. You've got
a best I think of three thirty four fifteen ida
in the three thirties as well.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
So new goal to hit for you, Leah.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Do you see that from Britney Force and think like, okay,
that's the thing I'm putting out there for myself when
I come back.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
So I want to say congratulations to her and her
team and being able to accomplish that not just once
but multiple times. But I have to say, in our sport,
it is the lapse time that wins the race. Yeah,
So for those that go to a drag race, you'll
see a scoreboard at the end of the track, one
for the left lane, one for the right. Usually the
top numbers the lapse time that the car ran time
(29:26):
for A to B and then the bottom number would
be the mile an hour.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Could be three twenty two, three eighteen, could be two
fifty six, it could be three forty one.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
That's just the number for the speed trap that that's
not the dictator of the race, so to speak. So
would it be great to go that fast. I would
love to know what that feels like. Absolutely, But my
focus is definitely more on getting car speed. And when
I say as a whole, whether it's I'm driving Tony's Matt,
we work as a group together for how our dynamics work.
(29:56):
So basically, you cannot have fast top end speed without
having early car speed because they have to. It's like
a relay race of tuning mechanisms after each other, and
they need to connect properly. Those those dominoes of tuning
have to connect in order for that top speed to
get there.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
You know.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Doug Coletta last week in Seattle ran a three sixty
two eight to time for the world's quickest elapse time. Now,
I don't know if he went three forty or three
forty one. He also went very fast, but the lapse
time is what is what we're after.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Got it.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
My quickest time was three sixty three and I held
that record for three years and then Brittany.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Had broke it.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
And that is what we're focusing on, is more of
the front end versus the back end, because it almost
equals the same thing.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Totally makes sense.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
It's the win, not how you got the win, and
how you get it is both the speed and like
the reaction and how you start everything else ITDA. I
want to talk about the trust part of it, because
both of you have talked about it's a team.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
You need the car to be tuned just.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Perfectly, you need the fuel to be mixed right, you
need everything to work perfectly so that when you get
in the car and you hit the throttle, you trust
that your team has set you up not just to win,
but to be safe. Ye did it take a while
to get there? And how young were you when you
had to be taught to understand how important every detail
(31:18):
it was and how important it was to have the
right team around you.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Oh, it's a great question, the importance of having a
great team around me. I feel like I understood that
at an early age, not from being told so, but
you see it, you feel it when you're in the pit.
You know, the greatest teams are usually the teams that
you see performing the highest at the track, and it
doesn't matter that they had the best tuner or the
(31:41):
best driver or the most money. It's when it all
comes together as a team and you're able to perform
with the right people, the right pieces, everything coming together,
and you can see that on track. So I've actually
never struggled with trusting my team. And it's funny when
someone mentioned that, because I've had times. You know, when
I came over here to America, I didn't know anybody
(32:03):
that I worked with. That was the first time I
was introduced to, you know, my cru chief, the guy
that was strapping me into the.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Car when we went my first test sessions.
Speaker 6 (32:11):
The guys that worked on the engine, the guys that
did everything, they never questioned me being.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
A good fit for driving the car or you know,
me being able to mix the fuel when I They
knew what I could do from what I had seen,
what I could do and what I told him I do,
And it was the.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Same the other way around.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
I trust them with my life literally, you know, getting
into the car, and I just feel like there's nobody
that's out here on this level that doesn't take it
seriously and doesn't know how much that goes into it.
And everybody wants the same thing, and that's the win.
Everybody wants to be the best out here, and everybody
knows how important that is.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
You can't be slacking on the job out here, no
matter if you're a driver or a cruise chief or
a crew.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Right, it's life and death.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Absolutely, It is not about just about you know, those
thousands on track. It is what can go go wrong
in these situations. And I do think that everybody really
understands that and have that you know, understanding of what
we can do together and the stripe to go there.
Speaker 6 (33:12):
And when I raced with the bike for example.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
I mean I had a family around me when we
raised but we also had like our tuner for example,
I never met him before. We found him online because
he was good at what he did. He came out
and he helped us, and he was so incredibly great
at what he did. He was such a big part
of how we came, you know, found the success we
did in that class. And then it's about working together
(33:36):
because if everybody, even though everybody is the best at
their particular job, if you're not working together, you don't
have that communication that you need and that trust, you
won't get there. Like with the cru chief driver relationship,
it's very important to be able to understand each other,
trust each other, and communicate because the first thing you
do when you get back you give feedback of how
(33:58):
stuff felt, if there was anything that's differently, you know,
if you felt something on the track those differently. When
I raced the bike, we weren't as relying on like
sensors for different data points as we are in the
top field car, so then it was me and my feelings.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
I kind of had to explain. I could come in
and I could.
Speaker 5 (34:17):
Say, hey, it didn't reely and you know, carry the
front end as much as we wanted it to do
in fourth gear, give it more boost we can add
it there, or tell them that, hey, I could barely
get it in second gear. It was way too high up.
We gotta calm it down in the start and I
could do that. Or hey, can we lower the RPMs
for when we shift the gears because I couldn't do
it fast enough.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
I need a little more time to see it. All
of those things were.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
A driver cruise sheaf or like a driver tuner communication.
And if you don't have that, and you don't you know,
rely on that part, it's gonna take you so much
longer to get to where you are. And it's the
same with the crew guys. Yeah, amall thing they see
when they're assembling something that they raise awareness and talk
to a cruise sheef for, talk to car shechief someone
(35:01):
around them, because that might be a parts male function.
It might be something that you know, you got to
look at it. It's not like you know when you're
building Ikea furnitures and you can have that kind of.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Yeah, we have extra screw. Every little detail is so important.
We're running out of time.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Here. I have a couple last questions for you, Leah.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
I know you're on a break from the track after
having your first son, Dom with your husband Tony. How
has it been being out of the car, Because I
was reading your bio, you are literally married to the game.
Your first husband was an off road racer and a
Monster Jam truck driver, your second was a crew member.
Now Tony Stewart a legend of racing. You are literally
so tied to racing as both a competitor and the
(35:41):
rest of your life. So has it been a nice
escape from that to have this break and focus on
being a mom or you just like itching watching him
race instead of you.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
Well, there's there's been a lot of positives that have
come out of it, and of course I know that
I have just an incredible need for speed and the
competition side. I'll touch on the motherhood part real quick.
I didn't have any expectations coming in. I think I
held one baby ever in my life, so.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Didn't know how they worked.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
And when I it was a very difficult decision to
make to step out of the seat.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
For that, I'm very happy that I did.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
And the second difficult decision was staying out of the
seat this second year with a newborn in breastfeeding and
I'm eight months and continuing to breastfeed, and what the
dynamics look like at the track. But I knew that
being out of this seat that I might have an
identity crisis complex. How am I going to deal with that?
So I took courses at MIT for decision making machine
(36:41):
learning and have been working with Converge Technology Solutions on
some programs for our team to help our performance optimize tuning.
So I worked very closely with the team as well
as our partnerships Alliance. I live, travel, work, race, have
fun with my husband day and day out. So I
don't feel that I'm missing Really, I don't feel like
(37:04):
there's this wild void because I'm so ingrained in it.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Uh And I think, just like anything, if you're.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
A player and you're injured and you're on you're on
court side, you see the game and in a whole
new way, you're able to pick out point out improvements
for yourself for others. And that's how I feel. I'm
eager to get back in the car. I did test
a couple of weeks ago and it went very well.
You know, my button my eyes. They were all connected
(37:30):
and felt felt the tire shake, smoke everything else and
it was disgustingly hot.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
So that was a good way to get back in.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
So yeah, I I guess married to the game all
the way and we're fully invested.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
You know, this drag racing is my life.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
I'm very unfortunate that Tony, after his you know, retirement
from cup, continued to race sprint cars, went and raced
alcohol dragsters, prepared for top fuel when the opportunity came,
and we're planning people, you know, we just because of
the race, are faster. You don't make fast decisions and
that's part of you know, as you guys will see
probably in the near future, what the next decision will be.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Oh okay, nice tease, Okay, before we go, I want
to do a speed round of fun NHR terms again.
Act like you're talking to a five year old here
and quickly, Leah, what does bang the blower mean?
Speaker 4 (38:21):
That means that the supercharger, which is the powerhouse of
shlving fuel into the engine, it has had too much
pressure and the burst panels have come out or you've
actually exploded imploded the blower case right there. So it's
a violent term and you feel it from inside the
race car because that percussion goes.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Okay it it What is a whole shot win?
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Good question? So whole should win is?
Speaker 5 (38:50):
You know when Leah talked before about if you start
before the other person, you can actually win even though
they were faster. That is basically what it means. You
left the starting line before the other person, you can
be able to make up on time by the end.
So even though the other person you ran next to
had a quicker lapse time, you still got the wind
light to turn on in your lane because you ultimately
(39:11):
came there first, like you crossed the finish lane first.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Okay, that's when we as drivers love Leah.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Wheelie bars.
Speaker 4 (39:20):
So wheellybars are They could be steel, titanium, aluminum rods
two three four pieces that come and they meet a
small wheel behind the race car. They're attached to the
frame or attached to the rear end housing that as
the car launches because there's a car, but there's so
(39:40):
much torque, it makes the car bike want to go
like this go off. So you have these long frames
so to speak, in the back that do not pivot.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
They they keep.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
The front end up over here from going sky high.
They're used in two really two main ways.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
One to keep the.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Vehicle from tw being back all the way over and
then two it's actually a tuning mechanism for uh skin
box hitting the track and whatnot tires. But yes, it's
the long skinny things that are behind the vehicle.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
All right, da lip sync for your life. Oh, I'm sorry,
that's actually from RuPaul's drag race. That is a totally
different thing.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
You don't do that one.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Okay, all right, last question for both of you. We've
got the Sonoma Nationals event this week. Leah, you're gonna
watch Tony compete. Itta, what's the goal for you?
Speaker 5 (40:31):
Well, it looks like water conditions are going to be
really great out here. I heard, you know, people talking
about it's gonna be a little colder out here.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
We love that.
Speaker 5 (40:39):
The cars love that, and not to speak about like
the naturally aspirated cars out here, They absolutely love that.
But anyhow, that's a good way to start the weekend
for us, and to be able to find a baseline
and push on that. We want to get some personal
records come in. We really want to break into that
three point six seconds, So on that we have not
been since we started, so that is definitely a goal
(41:00):
we keep working on. But ultimately we want to keep
qualifying higher. You know, when you qualify higher on before
you come into race, data ultimately sets you up in
a better way. And it's something that we keep working towards.
And then the biggest goal of all is to go
as many rounds as possible on Sunday. That is exactly
what we're going to try it to do.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
And Leah, what do you want to make sure people
take away from the summit that you speak at.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
Well, I would love for them, if they're able to
go to the race, for them to understand exactly what
these vehicles do and what the experience is like. So
the summit, I would like will use all the words
that it's exhilarating, and you feel it in your heart
and in your ear lobes and in your toenails, and
you smell the nightro it makes your eyes water.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
You can say all the things.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
So I hope that they take away from the summit
that wow, you know, that is an experience that myself,
my partner, my my husband, my kids, even my young toddlers.
It's all an experience that they can enjoy safely, and
you can go one too or all three days, and
then I also would like them to take away if
they can't go to the race, that we are on
(42:05):
Fox Sports and Fox Sports One, and there's many places
to watch us. And we give we as in an
entire series, give a lot of great content that I
think is very relatable.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
I agreed, I love it well.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
I'm excited for y'all to kick off this partnership with
Deep Blue and excited for more people to learn about
the badass women of the NHR.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
So thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Thank you Sarah, awesome, Thank you Sarah.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Thanks to Ida and Leah for taking the time.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
That was fascinating. I still couldn't, you know, do an
oil change, but I liked learning about it. We have
to take another break when we come back. You're not
as cool as Leah and Ida, bro. Welcome back, slices.
(42:54):
We love that you're listening, but we wanted to get
in the game every day too, So here's our good
game play of the day. Follow Leah and Ida on
social media. We'll link to their Instagram accounts in the
show notes, and if you're anywhere near Sonoma, California this weekend.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Go drink a bunch of wine for me.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
Oh sorry, Go watch Ida and Leah's husband Tony compete
at the Sonoma Nationals.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
We'll link to the event website in the show notes too.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
We always love to hear from you, so hit us
up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or
leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh
four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Rate and review, y'all. It's real easy.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Watch people who fancy themselves amateur drag racers on the highway,
rating one hundred to one hundred and ten miles per hour.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Review. All right, I'm a speed demon, y'all. I'm not
gonna lie. I've been known to blow by the speed
limit a time or twenty, but.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
I'm talking like ten fifteen miles over and only when
I've got wide open space in.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Front of me and it's safe.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
These jerkofs go on one hundred plus weaving in and
out of traffic are giving leadfoots like me a bad name.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
The highest highway speed.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Limit in the United States is eighty five You guys,
this isn't the Autubahn speed responsibly.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
Good Game, Eta, Good Game, Leah You Highway drag Racing Wannabes.
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
(44:31):
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,
and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Our associate producer is Lucy Jones.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Production assistance from Avery Loftis and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain
Welcome to Good Game with Sarah Spain, where we are
absolutely tickled that Venus Williams is out here winning matches
at age forty five. It's not every day I get
to cover an athlete older than me still competing with
the best of them.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
Thank you, Venus.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
It's Thursday, July twenty fourth, and on today's show, we'll
be talking to National Hot Rod Association NHRA stars Ida
Zetterstrom and Leah Pruitt about the thrill and toll of
going over three hundred miles an hour racing with the
guys this weekend's Sonoma Nationals race and a fun collaboration
with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment, plus the worst kind
(00:35):
of caving, an admiral of a different kind, and a
reminder to leave the racing to the professionals. It's all
coming up right after this Welcome back slices. Here's what
you need to know today in Tennis news, forty five
(00:57):
year old Venus Williams became the oldest player to win
a singles match on the WTA Tour since Martina Navratalova,
then forty seven, did it in two thousand and four.
Venus eliminated fellow American Peyton Stearn's six three six four
on Tuesday at the DC Open, and the day before,
Venus and partner Haley Baptiste won their opening round doubles
match as well, winning on the pro tour at fourteen.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And forty five unreal.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Venus also one more fun fact, Venus recently got engaged
to Italian actor Andrea Pretti, who was in attendance to
watch her play for the first time. Everything's coming up, Williams.
Venus plays again today in the round of sixteen. Will
link to the full DC Open schedule in the show
notes to the PWHL. The Boston Fleet on Wednesday announced
(01:46):
that Chris Sparr has been hired as the team's new coach.
He succeeds Courtney Kessel, who led the team for two
seasons before she stepped down earlier this summer to take
over the Princeton Women's hockey team. Spar joined the Boston
Fleet following three years as an assistant coach with the
San Diego Gulls in the American Hockey League. In a statement,
Sparseti is thrilled to join the team, adding this is
(02:08):
an incredible opportunity to be part of a league that
has experienced remarkable growth and momentum in recent seasons. Boston
stands as one of the premier sports cities in the world,
and I look forward to building a program that is
capable of contending for a championship every season. End quote
to the World of Olympic Sports and News out of
the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, they have effectively barred
(02:30):
transgender women from competing in women's sports. The new policy
change was published on the USOPC website on Monday, with
the organization telling the national governing bodies under its purview
that it has quote unquote an obligation to comply with
the executive order issued by President Trump. That executive order,
signed in February threatened to rescind funding from organizations that
(02:52):
allowed transgender athletes to compete in women's sports.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Prior to this policy change.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
It was up to individual national governing bodies that includes
organizations like USA Swimming, USA Track and Field, USA Gymnastics
to determine their own policies regarding transgender athletes.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Friend of the Show Nancy.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Armour wrote a great column for USA Today criticizing the
usopc's decision to cave to Trump, which we'll link to
in the show notes to Oops. There are three WNBA
games tonight at seven pm Eastern. It's the La Sparks
at the Connecticut Sun on League Pass. Sparks coming off
a win over the Washington Mystics on Tuesday. Twenty four
points and fourteen boards from Deerka Hanby in that one.
Speaker 2 (03:32):
Phew.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Also at seven eastern in the Las Vegas Aces are
at the Indiana Fever. You can catch that one on
Prime Video. Then at eight thirty Easter in the Seattle Storm,
pay a visit to my Chicago Sky you can catch
that one on League Pass. We'll link to the full
WNBA schedule in our show notes. Some more WNBA news,
this time on the investment side. Washington Commander's linebacker and
Super Bowl champion Bobby Wagner is the latest minority owner
(03:56):
of the WNBA Seattle Storm, the first active NFL player
to have equity in a WNBA team. In a statement,
Wagner said, quote, this is about more than basketball. It's
about investing in a legacy of excellence, empowering women, and
continuing to elevate the game for future generations.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
End quote.
Speaker 1 (04:16):
We got to take a quick break. When we come back,
we try not to bang the blower. With Da Zetterthrom
and Leah Pruitt stick.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Around joining us now.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
She's a Swedish drag racer who is named NHR twenty
twenty four Best New Talent after arriving in the States
to build on an incredible career overseas that included being
the twenty twenty three European drag Racing Champion. She dominated
competition across the B Bond, losing in an elimination round
just once in the entire season in twenty twenty three
and breaking the European record for the fastest race time.
She's still the holder of the women's European record for
(04:52):
super street bike drag racing. She's a fan favorite whose
autograph lines are longer than a CVS receipt.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's Da zetterthrom And joining her.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
A drag racer who debuted in Top Fuel in twenty thirteen,
got her first win in twenty sixteen and is finished
as high as fourth in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
Overall, a twelve time Top Fuel national.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Event winner, she was the NHR sam Tech Factory Stock
Showdown Champion in twenty nineteen, the first and only female
champion in the short history of that event, and when
she went on maternity leave, her husband, famed NASCAR driver
Tony Stewart replaced her behind the wheel. The family that
speeds together stays together. It's Leah Pruitt, Thanks for.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Joining us, both of you, Nhi, thanks for having us.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
You're together in Sonoma for the Sonoma Nationals Race and
the very first collaboration between the National hot Rod Association,
the NHRA and Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment, which includes
a summit of the women of the NHRA and a
VIP track side experience with the sport's top female stars.
So before we get to that event and this weekend,
I want to talk about how you both learned that
(05:50):
you had the need for speed, because Leo, you actually
started at the age of eight, officially on the dot
on your eighth birthday, you joined the NHRA Junior's drag
Racing youth racing program.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
So tell me how you got interested in it at
that young age.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
Well, sure, and you'll find that Eda and I both
have a lot of similarities. We both started when we
were eight. My parents they were not in drag racing.
My father was a land speed racer at Bonneville. So
he had just an insatiable need for speed and however
fast he can make his car.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
He had two girls.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
He wanted two boys, but you know life, life happens
that way, and he wanted to do motorsports with them.
So the Junior Drag Racing League at that time you
could start when you were eight. Now you can start
as young as five years old, and families can go
out and run together and learn sportsmanship, learn mechanics of
the car. And so for me, I raced regionally in
southern California, then Division seven West Coast, and then nationally.
(06:44):
And as I'm going to a national event, you know
with a big dogs racing with got Eddie Hill, you
got John Forrest, and you're watching them rip over three
hundred miles an hour, and then they might be blowing up,
and then they go into the pits and you see
their crew members tear down and re build these engines.
And I was like the little leaguer watching the big leagues,
and I said, I want to do that. I can't
(07:06):
not become a professional race car driver. This is what
I've been doing as a kid. So I catered my
entire life, my education, my work ethic experience to getting
myself into a spot to represent some of the best
brands in the world that wanted to follow my dream
of being a world champion in funny car or top fueler,
whatever I could get my hands on and coming to it,
(07:27):
you know, as of lately in twenty twenty two, with
Tony Stewart creating TSR Nitro and Matt Hagan on the
Dodge side, and myself created a two car team with
Tony and we Field a Nitro funny car and a
top Field Dragster. And yes, to your point, I'm not
in the seat at the moment. Yeah, did tear off
to have a child and right now I am a
really busy supporting figure.
Speaker 1 (07:49):
Well, I want to touch on that quick because you've
done it all. I'm reading and it's Nhrrace hot Rod
Heritage Racing Series, the Nostalgia funny car category, the Pro.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Drag Racing Series.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
I don't know what any of these are, So can
you explain it to us, like we're five, how many
different kinds of NHR categories and cars are there?
Speaker 2 (08:10):
And how different are they from each other?
Speaker 4 (08:12):
I've done to a fantastic question, I believe there's just
about two dozen categories, and it depends on what series
you are. So this weekend as we're getting ready for
the NHR Mission Foods Drag Racing Series that is the
highest level to pinnacle, and you have four professional categories
Top Fuel, funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro stock Bike. Now
below that we have sportsman categories, and it's really it's
(08:35):
kind of like what flavor of ice cream do you like?
Do you like jocolate, vanilla, whatever? In drag racing, it's
what type of car, what type of speed, what type
of budget are you able to do? You know what
you what are you attracted to maybe that you've done
with your family. So for me stepping out of junior dragsters,
the best form of competitive racing that we could afford
(08:56):
was the Nostalgia series. And that's basically where you have
a nostalgia funny car where it's period correct, where the
engine placement, the single magneto, single fuel pump, all with
period body style correct to the seventies or early eighties.
That way you're not having you're not running at those
national events and speeds that take millions of dollars to run.
(09:19):
Got it and then into a pro mod which is
a it's really the world's fastest door car in the world.
It's suspension four link, very difficult to drive, very gnarly.
There's many racers out here that will drive anything but
a pro mod because they're scary and they're also awesome.
So's there's many different ways to go.
Speaker 3 (09:40):
That happened to be my path.
Speaker 4 (09:41):
And then what Da has come up through I would
not do, but I'll let her talk about that.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
So Itda.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Yeah, you started in junior races when you were eight
years old as well. Your dad also played a big
role in this need for speed, So tell us about
your start.
Speaker 3 (09:54):
Yeah, very similar to Leah.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
My childhood kind of was our own speed, you know,
being at the racetrack. My dad kind of worked with
different race team throughout my whole childhood, so I kind
of started being at the racetracks I was.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
A few weeks old. Fell in love with the sport
very early. It's a very.
Speaker 5 (10:11):
Family friendly sport, you know, not just for the teams
that are competing, but for the fans and the pits.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
It's an open pitch.
Speaker 5 (10:18):
You can actually come out, you can see the teams
work on the cars, you can talk to the drivers anything,
from the eight year old you knew drives to drivers
to the top fuel drivers that me and Lee are
doing today. So being there in the atmosphere of racing
caught me very early and it was something I knew
I wanted to be part of. And then obviously getting
into a race car when I was eight years old,
you love the feeling of speed. If you are like us,
(10:40):
you know that's addicting that feeling.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
But then the more I raced and the better you
got at it.
Speaker 5 (10:47):
It wasn't just the feeling of speed that kind of
dragged me into it and made me so hooked.
Speaker 3 (10:52):
It was the.
Speaker 5 (10:53):
Caroaderie, the team effort that it takes, but also being
the best at it, Like I wanted to win right now. Yeah,
we both go three hundred and thirty miles per hour plus,
but that is not what gives me adrenaline kicks. My
adrenaline kicks comes when that wind light come on by
the end of the track and you actually were able
to pull off the wins with your team. That is
(11:13):
like the highest of highs, and that's what we're chasing.
Going really fast and having those quick eties, that's part
of it, and that's something that's definitely on our list
of chases, but it's winning on Sunday that matters the most.
And I also went through different classes moving up. I
have not done traumad or nostalgia like Lea did, even
though I find them incredibly fascinating.
Speaker 3 (11:35):
But just like she talked about the fact.
Speaker 5 (11:37):
That you might not be able to afford the highest
class even though you wanted to.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
I mean, you could watch videos of me being eight
years old.
Speaker 5 (11:44):
Saying when I'm eighteen, I'm gonna run top fuel, and
then you make it to eighteen and you realize that
there's no way I can get into a car like that.
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Right now. I don't have that funding, I don't have
that knowledge of how to get there.
Speaker 5 (11:56):
So, just like Lea, I dedicated all my life to
finding a way to get to where I wanted to be.
Speaker 3 (12:01):
And for me, a class that I could race was.
Speaker 5 (12:04):
At the top level in Europe and one of the
fastest growing classes.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
A really cool class with a good mix up the
build of the vehicle.
Speaker 5 (12:14):
The team effort that goes into it, and the driver
was a class called super street bike. It is not
a class that is apparent in any tray. It's a
class that we raced over in Europe and it's also
in other drag racing series outside of any tray. But
it's basically seven hundred and fifty horsepower turbo sharched bikes
that we run on a normal street tire.
Speaker 3 (12:33):
We don't have any really bar so we call them.
It kind of looks like those low.
Speaker 5 (12:39):
Training whins almost behind them, but we don't really have that.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
So that class is also just like promo very normally.
You know, you can have really high wheelies. They're really
hard to drive.
Speaker 5 (12:49):
It takes a lot of skills and a lot of teamwork,
and it was a class that I loved personally racing
and you learned so much and for the price that
it took to race that class, it was such a
high level and I was able to win two championships
in that class before I had kind of worked my
way up and found the right partners and made myself
(13:10):
a name and.
Speaker 3 (13:10):
A sport to the level where I could step.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
It up and get my license for top fuel and
start you know, working at the growing my name in
that class and eventually making it to the pinnacle drag
racing which is NHRA, and where we're at right now,
you know.
Speaker 2 (13:25):
I think you're both crazy, But I love it too.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
I love meeting people that have this like drive and
intensity for something that I just can't imagine trying, especially
at that age.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
It's so wild, Leah.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
One of the cool things about NHR drag racing is
that men and women have been competing head to head
for decades, and women have thrived in the NHR ranks
one hundred and ninety six national wins.
Speaker 2 (13:47):
Why is it such a natural co ed event.
Speaker 4 (13:50):
I believe it's because where NHA started that the entire
premise of it is who has a vestor vehicle? We've
all done it, who's going to You're going to be
on a foot race? Be quicker, who's you know, tea buckets?
Who had the fastest one? So it's inherent for all
of us to have competition, and that does not you know,
the men, females, all of that is the same. But
(14:12):
early in the in the seventies, there were female racers
that they did punch through that ceiling and they did
take the big brunt of stereotypes and and then they
paved the way, so to speak, so that Eda and
I we could look at Melanie Troxel or Bunny Priquette.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Or Laurie John's and go, wow, they're doing it. Now.
Speaker 4 (14:32):
We don't know the hardships that they've been through because
of the thirty year gap, but we knew that it
was possible, so they made it a little easier. We
still have some different types of challenges today, and we
also have different opportunities. But I would say drag racing
as a motorsport in general, especially in nature a is
male prevalent, but it's not male dominating. You know, the
(14:56):
fastest person in the world in drag racing is a female.
She's not just the fastest, and it doesn't happen to
be Eta or I on the call right now, Yeah,
one day we're very close. From a driver's perspective, the
car doesn't make a difference. But I do want to
point out what we do in order to make a
five hundred cubic inch engine running on up to ninety
(15:16):
percent nitromethane having twelve thousand horsepower.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
You're asking for.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
A recipe, a recipe of like extreme volatile destruction or
extreme speed. So what we do with our team and
our crew chiefs are the ones that really put in
the tune up and make sure that everything operates in
a healthy manner to have a good run. We call
it competitive problem solving. Yeah, what we do every week,
(15:42):
every week in track conditions. So when you look at
it that way, there's no difference between male or female
because we all are able to do it absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
Itta, what are some of the effects of a race
on your body when you're going that fast? What are
the sensations you feel during the race and after.
Speaker 5 (16:00):
Yeah, that's it's a very good question, and it depends
from race weekend to race weekend. I mean some race
weekends might be easier on our body. You might have
had lower temperatures me that I mean, I'm from Sweden.
We have over short summer. We're not used to racing
in ninety five plus degrees and humidity, so stuff like
that takes an extra toll on my body. A lot
(16:20):
of people think that it's used a short amount of
time that you are in the car when you're racing,
you know, three point seven seconds, but that is not
what takes.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
The biggest toll of you. Obviously.
Speaker 5 (16:30):
Yes, we do have about seven g g forces on
as and when we do pull parachutes to slow down,
it's like about of negative six G. It's a big
variation there, and that is talking nothing happening during a round.
You can also have severe tire shake, for example, if
you have gotten to tune up a little bit wrong,
and that can really take a toll on you because
we don't have any suspension like you're doing a normal car.
(16:52):
Your tires are basically your suspension, and when the tires
starts flapping around like that, it goes straight into your
body and it kind of feels like it goes up,
you know, through your core and it can make you
get a really bad headache and you can feel it
in your body, get a.
Speaker 3 (17:06):
You know, sore back or so on.
Speaker 5 (17:09):
You can also have, you know, a big engine explosion
that can take a toll on your body because it
deaccelerates so quickly and you get a big like spike
of those G forces that go way beyond you, just
the seven G we talked about earlier, and you know
you can see maybe a spike up to twenty g's
in each direction. So stuff like that can really take
(17:29):
a toll on you. But it isn't just that. It's
also sitting strapped into the car before you run on
a normal rund, you might be getting strapped in you know,
ten fifteen minutes before you run, but then it might
be something happening on the track. There might be a
delay or something. You might end up sitting in the
car for forty five minutes. And it's very hard to
breath when you're actually sitting in that. Because since this
(17:52):
is such a kind of a flamable things can go sideway.
So we take all the precautions we can, and that
means that our safety gear we are you know, twenty
layers in and you have a helmet that has no ventilation.
We also have a helmet skirt that goes into our suit.
We also have you know, a base layer under or helmet.
We have so many layers to basically be able to
(18:14):
be on fire in case the worst scenario would happen.
But that means that it's not easy for us to
breed when we sit in that, and that means that
our body, you know, it gets very hot if it's
hot out. And then you add to that that you're
strapped in, and when you're strapped in, you basically get
strapped in so tight it's hard to make full you know,
big movements when you breed, so it's almost like you're
(18:36):
not using full long capacity.
Speaker 6 (18:38):
And I mean both main LYA we work out a lot.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
We want to be in.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Good shape to be able to do this out here,
and that means that stuff like this won't take as
big of a toll of you that it would if
you weren't being good shape. But then it comes to
the other part of it, and that is everything MAINLYA
does in between the runs that people don't think about.
Some drivers don't do everything on their car the same
way we do. Both me and Lea we mix our
on fuel fuel. I mean you know this better, Leah,
(19:04):
how much nitro waste. But nitro it's a heavy fuel.
It's so much heavier than water. So when you are
basically fueling your car two three times a day, and
every time you're fueling this car, it takes about fifteen
gallons of nitro and then very warm up it's another.
Speaker 6 (19:21):
Five gallons of nitro. There's a lot of heavy lifting
in the pit and all of this is kind of
an unpleasant angle to hold. You know, these jugs where
you're lifting them up high, and you're doing this a
lot of the same movements all the time. You can't
really change and do you know, half to the right,
half to the left, those things take a bigger toll
(19:42):
on your body, in my opinion than the actual three
point seven seconds that you're in the car.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Yeah, I would.
Speaker 4 (19:48):
I'd like to add to that ita from a mental
standpoint again, where yes, the times from starting line to
finish line three point six three point seven seconds, three
hundred and thirty five miles an hour from the time
start up the car to we make the turnoff is
about two and a half minutes. So we strive to
be perfect within our race car. There's a lot of
(20:09):
things we could do to mess it up, but we
actually can't make it go any quicker than it's set
up to do. But the mentality that we have to have,
whether we are freezing and it's forty eight degrees outside,
or it's one hundred and two at ninety eight percent
humidity at one hundred and forty grains and you're absolutely sweating,
you still need to have reaction times that are the
(20:30):
quickest in the world. That you are focused on the
stage bulb, you are focused on what your car is
doing that you hit that light. Because we could have
a slower car, but if you are a quicker reacting driver,
you can win that race. And for me, I'm an
intense person. I know Eda is as well, and we
thrive on that adrenaline. And you make a run. Okay,
you won that round, You go, you service the car,
(20:52):
and you keep that hype up. But then there might
be a delay in the day by half an hour,
forty five minutes, and now your peak adrenaline is coming
back down, but you know in another forty five minutes
it needs to come back up. So I think over
time we all have learned ourselves and how do we
just stay up there all day? And that's great, That's
what I like to do. But I cut on Monday.
(21:14):
I'm on trash. Yeah, I'm austin mentally and physically from
a day and those that's what I want is Monday
that I went. I gave it everything I had for
twelve fourteen hours straight and we're gonna enjoy that trophy hopefully.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
Okay, I have some follow ups really quick. So seven
G fours basically means that it feels like seven times
your body weight is pushing on you.
Speaker 3 (21:36):
That is correct.
Speaker 4 (21:36):
So at the hit of the throttle we're at zero
G forces, you're at a standstill, and you accelerate very quickly,
almost instantaneously, to four four and a half geese and
the car continues to accelerate. So for the next two
to three hundred feet you have this rate that you're going,
depending on how great the run is. But to five,
five and a half, six, six and a half gees seven.
(21:59):
I bet there are there's cars out there just reaching seven.
And this is within two and a half seconds from
the time that you hit. So you've got four to
four and a half and it continued like this linebacker
is shoving you back. But you're prepared for it. And
I think that's an important key. You're prepared for it.
Now about half track, once the clutch and the RPM
have met together and they have the same and they're
(22:20):
basically we call it almost welding. Then you taper off
and you're only pulling about two g's. You're still accelerating speed,
but you're not having those same g forces. You get
to the finish line, you're going three hundred and thirty
five miles an hour, you have those g's. You take
your hand off the steering wheel, you throw the parachutes,
you come out of the come out of the throttle,
hit the fuel, and you turn your switches off, all
(22:42):
within about a half of a second. While you're de
selling in, your body has been thrown forward and your
eyes almost try and meet the windshield.
Speaker 3 (22:50):
Inside the car.
Speaker 4 (22:52):
So the exhilarating rush is amazing, but you have to
be prepared for it.
Speaker 1 (22:57):
And Leah, how come some competitors don't mix their own
fuel and some do? And what does it mean to
mix your own fuel?
Speaker 4 (23:02):
We both came from teams that did not have enough personnel,
and we drove the rigs, we washed the rigs, we
service the car, mixed in the fuel and as you
go into higher stages in the cat in the series,
there's enough people budgets and they go, it's okay, just
just drive the race car. Well, that's not what we
(23:23):
have been grown up doing, and we like to be
involved in knowing what number it needs to be and
how to cut that nightro with methanol. We have beakers
and hydrometers and we love the science of it. We
continue to do that, especially when the team they need
extra hands on the car, because not every time that
it just goes down the track, is it nice? And
you drain the fuel and you change the heads and
(23:44):
some you know, the clutch pack. There are sometimes when
the entire engine is demolished and you know, waters have
been burned from the car and it needs extra attention.
So we're able to pick up on places that we
can to help make sure we make that turnaround in
time for the next And for TV and other drivers, A,
they just never did it. B they have a different
(24:05):
work ethic.
Speaker 3 (24:07):
Not sure, we'll have to ask them.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
But men are such divas they don't want to do
their instance, you know, and I get it.
Speaker 3 (24:13):
I'd say I don't want to take away.
Speaker 4 (24:15):
There's definitely many men that do, and many men that
are in tune with the car. I would say about
half of our competitors are very intelligent and physically work
hard and get their fingers dirty, and then there's probably
another half of the field that maybe can't spell top fuel.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
On Itita, I want to ask you about the training
that you do, whether it's video games or simulations. You
talk about how much goes into the racing that we
never see.
Speaker 2 (24:46):
What does it look like to get ready to go
that fast?
Speaker 1 (24:48):
And how do you practice for this maybe earlier in
your career or even what you still do now to
stay sharp.
Speaker 5 (24:54):
I think it's probably a personal preference for many drivers
what they like to do. Some ve they like to run.
Some drivers, you know, they like to go hit the gym.
Some drivers they really play a lot of video games.
I've never been a big video gamer, so that was
not Maybe I should have been, because I've heard it's
a you know, good thing to do when I really
(25:15):
shore op reaction times. But for me, part of it
has been to be in good shape, like that's what
I feel like. You know, when we talked about G
forces and everything, Leah mentioned it is not just G
forces on your shift, that is also G forces underneath
your right you know leg that are trying to push
your leg off that pedal and you basically need to
keep it pinned because that is also an issue. You know,
(25:36):
if you start coming off the trottle. That is not
what these cars are set up to do. They're set
up to be run hard and be run on full
trottle and slam that pedal. So that is an important
part for me being strong out here, feel like I'm
always in control of the car, working on the card
your side. Just to be able to feel like even
though it is ninety five and humid out. I can
(25:57):
work in these conditions when it comes to reaction time,
and I have several things I do. I have actually
done a reaction time program over the of the winter
over in Indy. Not something that is, you know, specifically
done for drag racing, but just in overall working with
your eye and your mind. A lot of it is
you know, what can you take in in your peripheral
(26:18):
vision and kind of widening your peripheral.
Speaker 3 (26:21):
Vision at the same time.
Speaker 5 (26:23):
Maybe you know you're looking at your tree, but you
can also be able to see what's happening when you're
staging and also not letting it mess you up, because
that is one part of it that Leah touched on too,
like the mental side of it and how much that
goes into it, how much it drains you. And I
feel like that is also part of like why we
work out to kind of clear our mind, kind of be.
Speaker 3 (26:43):
Ready for what's to come for this weekend.
Speaker 5 (26:45):
We also have reaction time, like I practice tree Basically,
I have.
Speaker 6 (26:50):
Something set up in one of my cars that I
can sit in in the shop.
Speaker 5 (26:53):
I have one at home. I have a small one
I can have with me on the plane. Everything you
do there is basically you look at it. We call
it a Christmas tree, like that's what we start at.
So this is all Christmas trees in different sizes versions.
And what you do is, you know, when you see
that yellow bulb, come on because many people think we
leave on green, but if it's green, then we should
(27:15):
have already.
Speaker 2 (27:16):
Left the Christmas tree.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
For those who are wondering, is basically this electronic starter
system that is a pole with different colored lights on it,
and you're looking for the light that says go essentially yellow,
like you said, so that by the time it gets
to green, you're already hitting that throttle and on your waist.
So you have practice versions of that or simulations of
that that you can practice.
Speaker 5 (27:36):
It absolutely and on that we can see it exactly
what our reaction time is. And with that you can
also start you know, dabbling and trying different things. I
know when I started in top few and I went
from racing a bike and you know, reacting with my
hand dropping the clutch and you know, doing that, and
then all of a sudden going into the top few,
I could start seeing you know, does it make a
(27:58):
difference if I do this right off? I've done a workout.
Does it make a difference if I take a power
net before? Does it make a difference if I have
a coffee before? You know, all of those things that
we don't have the chance to try when we're at
the track because these cars, it's not like we can
just roll them out and have all these test sessions
whenever we want.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
We basically learn and test when we're.
Speaker 5 (28:17):
At the track and racing and have you know, millions
of people watching us what we do and see exactly
how our reaction time is and how our run was.
So we do everything we can to prepare beforehand so
that we can actually do our very very best when
we get out there.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
Lea, we were talking about g forces and appropriately one
of the best NHR racers is Britney Force, named perfectly
for the event, had the fastest run in NHR history
earlier this week three hundred and forty one point eighty
five miles per hour in the quarter mile. You've got
a best I think of three thirty four fifteen ida
in the three thirties as well.
Speaker 2 (28:56):
So new goal to hit for you, Leah.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
Do you see that from Britney Force and think like, okay,
that's the thing I'm putting out there for myself when
I come back.
Speaker 4 (29:04):
So I want to say congratulations to her and her
team and being able to accomplish that not just once
but multiple times. But I have to say, in our sport,
it is the lapse time that wins the race. Yeah,
So for those that go to a drag race, you'll
see a scoreboard at the end of the track, one
for the left lane, one for the right. Usually the
top numbers the lapse time that the car ran time
(29:26):
for A to B and then the bottom number would
be the mile an hour.
Speaker 3 (29:29):
Could be three twenty two, three eighteen, could be two
fifty six, it could be three forty one.
Speaker 4 (29:35):
That's just the number for the speed trap that that's
not the dictator of the race, so to speak. So
would it be great to go that fast. I would
love to know what that feels like. Absolutely, But my
focus is definitely more on getting car speed. And when
I say as a whole, whether it's I'm driving Tony's Matt,
we work as a group together for how our dynamics work.
(29:56):
So basically, you cannot have fast top end speed without
having early car speed because they have to. It's like
a relay race of tuning mechanisms after each other, and
they need to connect properly. Those those dominoes of tuning
have to connect in order for that top speed to
get there.
Speaker 3 (30:13):
You know.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Doug Coletta last week in Seattle ran a three sixty
two eight to time for the world's quickest elapse time. Now,
I don't know if he went three forty or three
forty one. He also went very fast, but the lapse
time is what is what we're after.
Speaker 2 (30:27):
Got it.
Speaker 4 (30:28):
My quickest time was three sixty three and I held
that record for three years and then Brittany.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Had broke it.
Speaker 4 (30:34):
And that is what we're focusing on, is more of
the front end versus the back end, because it almost
equals the same thing.
Speaker 2 (30:41):
Totally makes sense.
Speaker 1 (30:42):
It's the win, not how you got the win, and
how you get it is both the speed and like
the reaction and how you start everything else ITDA. I
want to talk about the trust part of it, because
both of you have talked about it's a team.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
You need the car to be tuned just.
Speaker 1 (30:57):
Perfectly, you need the fuel to be mixed right, you
need everything to work perfectly so that when you get
in the car and you hit the throttle, you trust
that your team has set you up not just to win,
but to be safe. Ye did it take a while
to get there? And how young were you when you
had to be taught to understand how important every detail
(31:18):
it was and how important it was to have the
right team around you.
Speaker 5 (31:21):
Oh, it's a great question, the importance of having a
great team around me. I feel like I understood that
at an early age, not from being told so, but
you see it, you feel it when you're in the pit.
You know, the greatest teams are usually the teams that
you see performing the highest at the track, and it
doesn't matter that they had the best tuner or the
(31:41):
best driver or the most money. It's when it all
comes together as a team and you're able to perform
with the right people, the right pieces, everything coming together,
and you can see that on track. So I've actually
never struggled with trusting my team. And it's funny when
someone mentioned that, because I've had times. You know, when
I came over here to America, I didn't know anybody
(32:03):
that I worked with. That was the first time I
was introduced to, you know, my cru chief, the guy
that was strapping me into the.
Speaker 3 (32:09):
Car when we went my first test sessions.
Speaker 6 (32:11):
The guys that worked on the engine, the guys that
did everything, they never questioned me being.
Speaker 5 (32:17):
A good fit for driving the car or you know,
me being able to mix the fuel when I They
knew what I could do from what I had seen,
what I could do and what I told him I do,
And it was the.
Speaker 3 (32:27):
Same the other way around.
Speaker 5 (32:28):
I trust them with my life literally, you know, getting
into the car, and I just feel like there's nobody
that's out here on this level that doesn't take it
seriously and doesn't know how much that goes into it.
And everybody wants the same thing, and that's the win.
Everybody wants to be the best out here, and everybody
knows how important that is.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
You can't be slacking on the job out here, no
matter if you're a driver or a cruise chief or
a crew.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
Right, it's life and death.
Speaker 5 (32:54):
Absolutely, It is not about just about you know, those
thousands on track. It is what can go go wrong
in these situations. And I do think that everybody really
understands that and have that you know, understanding of what
we can do together and the stripe to go there.
Speaker 6 (33:12):
And when I raced with the bike for example.
Speaker 5 (33:15):
I mean I had a family around me when we
raised but we also had like our tuner for example,
I never met him before. We found him online because
he was good at what he did. He came out
and he helped us, and he was so incredibly great
at what he did. He was such a big part
of how we came, you know, found the success we
did in that class. And then it's about working together
(33:36):
because if everybody, even though everybody is the best at
their particular job, if you're not working together, you don't
have that communication that you need and that trust, you
won't get there. Like with the cru chief driver relationship,
it's very important to be able to understand each other,
trust each other, and communicate because the first thing you
do when you get back you give feedback of how
(33:58):
stuff felt, if there was anything that's differently, you know,
if you felt something on the track those differently. When
I raced the bike, we weren't as relying on like
sensors for different data points as we are in the
top field car, so then it was me and my feelings.
Speaker 3 (34:14):
I kind of had to explain. I could come in
and I could.
Speaker 5 (34:17):
Say, hey, it didn't reely and you know, carry the
front end as much as we wanted it to do
in fourth gear, give it more boost we can add
it there, or tell them that, hey, I could barely
get it in second gear. It was way too high up.
We gotta calm it down in the start and I
could do that. Or hey, can we lower the RPMs
for when we shift the gears because I couldn't do
it fast enough.
Speaker 3 (34:36):
I need a little more time to see it. All
of those things were.
Speaker 5 (34:40):
A driver cruise sheaf or like a driver tuner communication.
And if you don't have that, and you don't you know,
rely on that part, it's gonna take you so much
longer to get to where you are. And it's the
same with the crew guys. Yeah, amall thing they see
when they're assembling something that they raise awareness and talk
to a cruise sheef for, talk to car shechief someone
(35:01):
around them, because that might be a parts male function.
It might be something that you know, you got to
look at it. It's not like you know when you're
building Ikea furnitures and you can have that kind of.
Speaker 1 (35:10):
Yeah, we have extra screw. Every little detail is so important.
We're running out of time.
Speaker 2 (35:16):
Here. I have a couple last questions for you, Leah.
Speaker 1 (35:18):
I know you're on a break from the track after
having your first son, Dom with your husband Tony. How
has it been being out of the car, Because I
was reading your bio, you are literally married to the game.
Your first husband was an off road racer and a
Monster Jam truck driver, your second was a crew member.
Now Tony Stewart a legend of racing. You are literally
so tied to racing as both a competitor and the
(35:41):
rest of your life. So has it been a nice
escape from that to have this break and focus on
being a mom or you just like itching watching him
race instead of you.
Speaker 4 (35:51):
Well, there's there's been a lot of positives that have
come out of it, and of course I know that
I have just an incredible need for speed and the
competition side. I'll touch on the motherhood part real quick.
I didn't have any expectations coming in. I think I
held one baby ever in my life, so.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Didn't know how they worked.
Speaker 4 (36:11):
And when I it was a very difficult decision to
make to step out of the seat.
Speaker 3 (36:15):
For that, I'm very happy that I did.
Speaker 4 (36:17):
And the second difficult decision was staying out of the
seat this second year with a newborn in breastfeeding and
I'm eight months and continuing to breastfeed, and what the
dynamics look like at the track. But I knew that
being out of this seat that I might have an
identity crisis complex. How am I going to deal with that?
So I took courses at MIT for decision making machine
(36:41):
learning and have been working with Converge Technology Solutions on
some programs for our team to help our performance optimize tuning.
So I worked very closely with the team as well
as our partnerships Alliance. I live, travel, work, race, have
fun with my husband day and day out. So I
don't feel that I'm missing Really, I don't feel like
(37:04):
there's this wild void because I'm so ingrained in it.
Speaker 3 (37:07):
Uh And I think, just like anything, if you're.
Speaker 4 (37:10):
A player and you're injured and you're on you're on
court side, you see the game and in a whole
new way, you're able to pick out point out improvements
for yourself for others. And that's how I feel. I'm
eager to get back in the car. I did test
a couple of weeks ago and it went very well.
You know, my button my eyes. They were all connected
(37:30):
and felt felt the tire shake, smoke everything else and
it was disgustingly hot.
Speaker 3 (37:35):
So that was a good way to get back in.
Speaker 4 (37:38):
So yeah, I I guess married to the game all
the way and we're fully invested.
Speaker 3 (37:44):
You know, this drag racing is my life.
Speaker 4 (37:45):
I'm very unfortunate that Tony, after his you know, retirement
from cup, continued to race sprint cars, went and raced
alcohol dragsters, prepared for top fuel when the opportunity came,
and we're planning people, you know, we just because of
the race, are faster. You don't make fast decisions and
that's part of you know, as you guys will see
probably in the near future, what the next decision will be.
Speaker 1 (38:07):
Oh okay, nice tease, Okay, before we go, I want
to do a speed round of fun NHR terms again.
Act like you're talking to a five year old here
and quickly, Leah, what does bang the blower mean?
Speaker 4 (38:21):
That means that the supercharger, which is the powerhouse of
shlving fuel into the engine, it has had too much
pressure and the burst panels have come out or you've
actually exploded imploded the blower case right there. So it's
a violent term and you feel it from inside the
race car because that percussion goes.
Speaker 2 (38:44):
Okay it it What is a whole shot win?
Speaker 3 (38:48):
Good question? So whole should win is?
Speaker 5 (38:50):
You know when Leah talked before about if you start
before the other person, you can actually win even though
they were faster. That is basically what it means. You
left the starting line before the other person, you can
be able to make up on time by the end.
So even though the other person you ran next to
had a quicker lapse time, you still got the wind
light to turn on in your lane because you ultimately
(39:11):
came there first, like you crossed the finish lane first.
Speaker 3 (39:14):
Okay, that's when we as drivers love Leah.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Wheelie bars.
Speaker 4 (39:20):
So wheellybars are They could be steel, titanium, aluminum rods
two three four pieces that come and they meet a
small wheel behind the race car. They're attached to the
frame or attached to the rear end housing that as
the car launches because there's a car, but there's so
(39:40):
much torque, it makes the car bike want to go
like this go off. So you have these long frames
so to speak, in the back that do not pivot.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
They they keep.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
The front end up over here from going sky high.
They're used in two really two main ways.
Speaker 3 (39:57):
One to keep the.
Speaker 4 (39:58):
Vehicle from tw being back all the way over and
then two it's actually a tuning mechanism for uh skin
box hitting the track and whatnot tires. But yes, it's
the long skinny things that are behind the vehicle.
Speaker 1 (40:13):
All right, da lip sync for your life. Oh, I'm sorry,
that's actually from RuPaul's drag race. That is a totally
different thing.
Speaker 2 (40:21):
You don't do that one.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Okay, all right, last question for both of you. We've
got the Sonoma Nationals event this week. Leah, you're gonna
watch Tony compete. Itta, what's the goal for you?
Speaker 5 (40:31):
Well, it looks like water conditions are going to be
really great out here. I heard, you know, people talking
about it's gonna be a little colder out here.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
We love that.
Speaker 5 (40:39):
The cars love that, and not to speak about like
the naturally aspirated cars out here, They absolutely love that.
But anyhow, that's a good way to start the weekend
for us, and to be able to find a baseline
and push on that. We want to get some personal
records come in. We really want to break into that
three point six seconds, So on that we have not
been since we started, so that is definitely a goal
(41:00):
we keep working on. But ultimately we want to keep
qualifying higher. You know, when you qualify higher on before
you come into race, data ultimately sets you up in
a better way. And it's something that we keep working towards.
And then the biggest goal of all is to go
as many rounds as possible on Sunday. That is exactly
what we're going to try it to do.
Speaker 1 (41:17):
And Leah, what do you want to make sure people
take away from the summit that you speak at.
Speaker 4 (41:21):
Well, I would love for them, if they're able to
go to the race, for them to understand exactly what
these vehicles do and what the experience is like. So
the summit, I would like will use all the words
that it's exhilarating, and you feel it in your heart
and in your ear lobes and in your toenails, and
you smell the nightro it makes your eyes water.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
You can say all the things.
Speaker 4 (41:44):
So I hope that they take away from the summit
that wow, you know, that is an experience that myself,
my partner, my my husband, my kids, even my young toddlers.
It's all an experience that they can enjoy safely, and
you can go one too or all three days, and
then I also would like them to take away if
they can't go to the race, that we are on
(42:05):
Fox Sports and Fox Sports One, and there's many places
to watch us. And we give we as in an
entire series, give a lot of great content that I
think is very relatable.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
I agreed, I love it well.
Speaker 1 (42:17):
I'm excited for y'all to kick off this partnership with
Deep Blue and excited for more people to learn about
the badass women of the NHR.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
So thanks so much for coming on.
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Thank you Sarah, awesome, Thank you Sarah.
Speaker 2 (42:31):
Thanks to Ida and Leah for taking the time.
Speaker 1 (42:33):
That was fascinating. I still couldn't, you know, do an
oil change, but I liked learning about it. We have
to take another break when we come back. You're not
as cool as Leah and Ida, bro. Welcome back, slices.
(42:54):
We love that you're listening, but we wanted to get
in the game every day too, So here's our good
game play of the day. Follow Leah and Ida on
social media. We'll link to their Instagram accounts in the
show notes, and if you're anywhere near Sonoma, California this weekend.
Speaker 2 (43:08):
Go drink a bunch of wine for me.
Speaker 1 (43:09):
Oh sorry, Go watch Ida and Leah's husband Tony compete
at the Sonoma Nationals.
Speaker 2 (43:15):
We'll link to the event website in the show notes too.
Speaker 1 (43:17):
We always love to hear from you, so hit us
up on email good game at wondermedianetwork dot com or
leave us a voicemail at eight seven two two oh
four fifty seventy, and don't forget to subscribe.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Rate and review, y'all. It's real easy.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
Watch people who fancy themselves amateur drag racers on the highway,
rating one hundred to one hundred and ten miles per hour.
Speaker 2 (43:38):
Review. All right, I'm a speed demon, y'all. I'm not
gonna lie. I've been known to blow by the speed
limit a time or twenty, but.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
I'm talking like ten fifteen miles over and only when
I've got wide open space in.
Speaker 2 (43:51):
Front of me and it's safe.
Speaker 1 (43:52):
These jerkofs go on one hundred plus weaving in and
out of traffic are giving leadfoots like me a bad name.
Speaker 2 (43:59):
The highest highway speed.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Limit in the United States is eighty five You guys,
this isn't the Autubahn speed responsibly.
Speaker 2 (44:07):
Now it's your turn, rate and review. Thanks for listening.
See you tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (44:11):
Good Game, Eta, Good Game, Leah You Highway drag Racing Wannabes.
Good Game with Sarah Spain is an iHeart women's sports
production in partnership with Deep Blue Sports and Entertainment. You
can find us on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or
wherever you get your podcasts. Production by Wonder Media Network,
(44:31):
our producers are Alex Azzie and Misha Jones.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
Our executive producers are Christina Everett, Jesse Katz, Jenny Kaplan,
and Emily Rudder.
Speaker 1 (44:39):
Our editors are Emily Rutter, Britney Martinez, Grace Lynch, and
Gianna Palmer.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Our associate producer is Lucy Jones.
Speaker 1 (44:46):
Production assistance from Avery Loftis and I'm Your Host Sarah
Spain
Host
Sarah Spain
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