As the Randy Meyer Racing drivers Rachel Meyer and Julie Nataas stepped on property at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, they both had one main goal in mind: do whatever it takes to make sure the world championship comes home with Randy Meyer Racing. Rachel Meyer made good on that promise by winning the 21st annual Dodge//SRT NHRA Nationals presented by Pennzoil in her NTK Sensor Specialist Dragster while Julie Nataas inked a semifinal round appearance at the event.
Eliminations began on Saturday afternoon for both Randy Meyer Racing drivers. Julie qualified No. 2 and had a first round matchup against Gord Gingles. Right off the bat, Julie had a .010-second reaction time advantage over Gingles and with a 5.222, 271.68, she turned on the win light against his 5.413, 267.11. Rachel followed right behind with her matchup against Jasmine Salinas as she staged as the No. 1 qualifier. Just like Julie, Rachel got the holeshot on Salinas and took the win with a 5.283, 280.95 to Salinas’ 5.541, 261.88.
Second round, Julie used a 5.254-second pass at 272.89 mph to defeat Mitch Myers. Rachel Meyer clocked in with a 5.224, 280.43 to take out former world champion Joey Severance’s 5.291, 274.55.
For the first time in NHRA history, the semifinal round was comprised of four female drivers. Rachel faced off against Kim Parker in eliminations and Julie was tasked with trying to take out Jackie Fricke to help her teammate out. Rachel clocked in with a 5.265, 280.95 and turned on the win light over Kim Parker’s slowed 5.448, 261.93 while Julie got the starting line advantage over Fricke but wasn’t able to hold her off with a 5.302, 275.51; Fricke’s 5.232, 68.97 advanced to the final round.
Dodge//SRT NHRA Nationals Presented By Pennzoil from Auto Imagery
In a winner-take-all scenario for the Top Alcohol Dragster World Championship, No. 1 in points Rachel Meyer staged up against No. 2 in points Jackie Fricke. Rachel had a starting line advantage of .006-seconds over Fricke and blazed the scoreboards with the quickest pass of the weekend for the win and her first world championship. Rachel clocked in with a 5.191, 281.01 to Fricke’s 5.260, 270.16 and with that win, Rachel’s name was inked in the history books as the 2021 Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion and the third consecutive world championship for Randy Meyer Racing.
“I don’t even know where to start, you couldn’t have played out a better championship fight,” said Rachel. “I’m still on cloud nine over the face that we just won the Top Alcohol Dragster World Championship! Sitting in the car while we pulled up to the line my heart was racing, and I kept trying to calm my breath. But then there was a delay when Funny Car driver Brian Hough oiled down the track in front of us, so I started trying to do anything to get my mind off what was about to go down and calm myself down so i didn’t make any rookie mistakes. I even started singing the song ‘Impossible’ in my head since Jackie and Team Finke have been impossible to beat.
“I knew I had missed the tree some in the final round just because I was so nervous, but luckily we were about even on the tree and the car was on a great run we were able to seal the deal. I can’t thank my dad enough for all the hard work and dedication he puts into these cars. my crew guys: JJ, Rob, Ted, Kevin, Creig, Howard, Jeff, Doug, Rick, Caleb, Lucas, Kris, Dale, mom, and Julie enough for all they do for me at the races, and I want to say thank you to my sister Megan for all the behind scenes work she does for the team. I don’t think anything can really top this week with my wedding happening this weekend, and I know this smile is going to last a long time. A special thank you to all of our sponsors; NTK Sensors, NGK Spark Plugs, Lucas Oil, Technician.Academy, GUNK, ARP, Jiffy-Tite, and more.”
