Kicking off her first event of the 2021 season, the second race of the year for the Randy Meyer Racing Team, Julie Nataas clinched her first win of the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series event known as the Baby Gators in Gainesville, Florida this past weekend.

 

Sliding into the number 4 qualifying spot with a 5.22 ET pass, Julie faced off against Tom Fox Jr for first round of eliminations under the lights Friday night. Tom turned it red leaving the starting line too early, giving Julie the automatic win, a needed one as she lost traction right at the hit.

 

Because of a rainstorm on Saturday, eliminations were moved to conclude on Sunday which was in favor of the injected-nitro dragsters. Julie got the starting line advantage over Jackie Fricke in the semi-finals and kept the lead for the win running a 5.20 ET to her 5.21 ET. Julie then went face-to-face against Duane Shields, again having the starting line advantage while Shields smoked the tires.

 

“I was really excited to get back racing after a longer off season! and pre-season testing gave me a boost of confidence, so I was ready to race,” said Julie. “The semi-final against Jackie Fricke was so close and I didn’t see the win light, so I was expecting a close race against Duane Shields in the finals too. He had some problems going down the racetrack and this time I actually saw the win light.”

 

The Randy Meyer Racing Team will be competing at this weekend’s NHRA GatorNationals held at Gainesville Raceway where both Julie and Rachel Meyer will battle it out for the Wally of the first national event of 2021.