NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

At the season-opening event in Pomona, Leah Pritchett outlasted the field in Top Fuel to take home her second career Wally in the class. The victory put Pritchett on a short list of women to win the Circle K NHRA Winternationals. Following is a look at the five females who have scored victories in Top Fuel at NHRA’s annual opener.

Shirley Muldowney set many firsts for a woman during her storied career, and that included becoming the first female to win the Winternationals. Muldowney, who remains the only woman in any class to win the event more than once, scored the first of her two Winternationals victories in 1980 when she bested rival Connie Kalitta. En route to victory, Muldowney ran low e.t. of the event, 5.83, and strung together a series of five-second runs in eliminations, including a 5.94 in the final to defeat Kalitta’s 6.03. Muldowney’s second Winternationals win came in 1983 when she bested Jody Smart in the final.

Ten years after Muldowney earned the first win for a woman at the Winternationals, Lori Johns joined her on the list. The then-24-year-old Johns drove her Jolly Rancher Candies-backed dragster past four of the sport’s veterans — Eddie Hill Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, and, in the final, Dick LaHaie — to earn her first Wally during the 1990 Winternationals. Appearing in her first final, Johns got a slight .001-second lead at the Tree then edged LaHaie in a close 5.031 to 5.035 race.

Shelly Anderson picked up the second of her four career Top Fuel wins at the 1994 season opener, besting Rance McDaniel in a wild final-round bout. McDaniel lost traction and almost crashed his entry while chasing down Anderson, who appeared well on her way to victory until she lost an input shaft on her dragster just past half-track. That triggered a chain reaction of broken parts that shredded the right rear tire. Anderson did a spectacular job of driving and crossed the finish line as the winner.

A former winner in Top Alcohol Dragster, Melanie Troxel tallied her first “W” in Top Fuel at the 2006 Winternationals. Top Fuel was guaranteed a first-time winner when Troxel and David Baca advanced to the final round. Troxel left the starting line first in the title-round match and never trailed, defeating Baca on a 4.58 to 8.67 count. The win began an incredible streak for Troxel, who advanced to the first five finals of the 2006 season, the longest string of consecutive finals to start a season for any driver in Top Fuel history.

Leah Pritchett, whose first runs ever came at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona behind the wheel of a Jr. Dragster, picked up her second career Top Fuel win when she outlasted Doug Kalitta at this year’s opener. Pritchett had one of, if not the best car of the weekend, qualifying No. 1 and being among the quickest cars every round of competition. In the final, Pritchett ran a 3.71 to defeat the tire-smoking effort of Kalitta.