NHRA Get Screened America Pro Mod Series rookie Leah Pruett-LeDuc will face a new challenge this weekend in Charlotte, but that’s certainly nothing new for the rising drag racing star.

At this weekend’s O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals at the zMax Dragway, the R2B2 Racing driver will take the reigns of the team’s brand new turbocharged Ford Mustang that carried fellow rookie Eric Dillard to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals crown in his first race and in the cars’ maiden voyage two weeks ago. After driving a supercharged entry all season, Charlotte will mark Pruett-LeDuc’s first competitive outing behind the wheel of the tricky turbocharged combination.

“When you first get into a new car, all you think about is doing the right thing,” she said. “You try so hard to not miss a step and do everything on time. I’ve got to give a lot of thanks to Justin Belfance, Melanie Troxel and tuner Steve Petty. They really coached me through the staging process.”

“We did some testing in Commerce (Ga.) on Monday,” Pruett-LeDuc continued. “The starting line procedure in the turbo car is way different than any car I’ve driven before. We made the launches we needed to. I had a blast learning the car. There’s an art to staging this car, but I’ve had some fantastic teachers.”

At Indianapolis, Dillard put the new R2B2 Mustang into the field in the fifth spot with a 5.97 and raced through eliminations with low elapsed time of every round, including a weekend-best 5.83 in the final round. That performances gives Pruett-LeDuc plenty of confidence as she steps behind the wheel of one of the quickest and fastest cars in the Get Screened America Pro Mod Series.

“Eric Dillard set the bar pretty high by winning in this car its first time out,” Pruett said. “He proved it’s a great car and got all the little bugs out of it. There’s no reason why this car can’t qualify and be capable of winning Charlotte this weekend.”