Julie Nataas scored her first runner-up finish of the 2019 season this past weekend in Bowling Green, KY for the Lucas Oil NHRA Regional event “Battle at The Beech” at Beech Bend Raceway. Julie qualified no. 1 with a quick 5.18 ET pass at 274 mph in her Dot’s Homestyle Pretzels/Menards Racing dragster for the Randy Meyer Racing Team and kept her Regional series points lead.
“The conditions at Bowling Green were better than we thought it was going to be,” said Julie. “It was cooler and less humid than normal, so we were expecting to run in the 5.20´s for qualifying. It was awesome to be able to run a 5.18 and get that number one spot!”
Julie defeated Mick Steele in the first round of eliminations running a 5.27 ET at 271 mph and had a bye pass in the semi-finals. Unfortunately, she had to pedal the car during the run, and slowed to a 5.59 ET, losing lane choice to Troy Coughlin Jr for the finals. Troy ran a 5.22 ET to beat Julie’s 5.26 ET in the final round, but Julie’s runner-up earned her enough points to remain the leader for the North Central Region.
“We did not get the win, but we were able to extend our points lead with a couple more points for the Region. Chris Demke is right behind me, so we are probably going to battle this out until the very last race. We have two more regional races this year to compete at: Earlville, Iowa in September and St. Louis, Missouri in October.”
Julie’s next NHRA event will be at the Mopar Express Lane Nationals held at Maple Grove Raceway with teammate Megan Meyer.
