NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster rookie sensation, Megan Meyer captures another Runner Up finish at the . Meyer was able to navigate her Racer’s Evolved A/Fuel dragster through a tough field, to secure another runner-up finish, her fifth final round appearance of the season.
With the Jeg’s All Star event activities being hosted in Chicago, Meyer and her Randy Meyer Racing team had their hands full with a double race extended schedule that included her father/mentor, Randy competing in the All Star Challenge.
“We had our hands full all weekend at the Route 66 Nationals with running two cars, and two races,” Meyer stated on the busy weekend. “Coming off of a 2nd round finish at my last National event in Norwalk, I was excited to get back in the car and go a few more rounds.”
In qualifying, Megan Meyer would post a 5.501 second at 263.87 mph pass, good enough for a spot in the top half of the field for the opening session. Round two, she would improve significantly, running a 5.288 second, 271.95 mph pass that would shoot her to the No. 2 spot at the close of the second session. In the third and final round, Megan would post her quickest qualifying pass of the weekend, with her 5.279 second, 274.61 mph performance earning the No. 5 final qualifying spot entering eliminations.
Meanwhile, Megan’s dad – racing teammate and mentor, Randy Meyer, was able to snag the No. 8 position in the Jeg’s All Star Challenge. He would advance to the the semi-finals before exiting.
Sunday Eliminations
Typically, the Top Alcohol Dragster opening round of eliminations takes place on Saturday evenings during the National events, but with the added All Star program, Race Day eliminations for the class would take place all on Sunday. This placed added stress on the Randy Meyer Racing team, who had 40 minutes between rounds to service both cars.
“Having first round on Sunday morning was a different schedule for us, but it proved to be a fun-filled day for our team. We were very limited on time between rounds with only 40 minutes, and we were fortunate to not have to do any major repairs. With the great group of guys that we have on our team, we were able to power through the tear-downs and make all necessary tuning adjustments, and still had a very consistent car to win.”
No. 5 qualified Megan Meyer paired against No. 12 Wayne Butler for the opening round of eliminations, marking the first time the two would meet in competition. Though Butler would post his quickest pass of the weekend, it was not enough to hold off Meyer, who left first and never trailed for the win, running 5.300 seconds, at 266.58 mph. She would earn lane choice entering round two against No. 4 qualified Rich McPhillips.
McPhillips would snag a slight starting line advantage over Meyer in round two, but the Racer’s Evolved dragster was able to make up the difference in the first 60’, charging onto the win with a 5.287/273.72 mph performance to McPhillip’s losing 5.380/271.84 mph effort.
Her deadly consistency would carry into round three as she faced No. 1 qualified, Mia Tedesco. The TAD Ladies match-up marked the first time the two would meet in eliminations, and it would be Tedesco who would take the starting line advantage. But Megan covered the distance quickly, and thundered on to take the win, 5.308/272.61 mph to Tedesco’s 5.407/276.41 mph effort.
Meyer Captures another Runner Up
Meyer would carry the advantage of lane choice entering her fifth final round of the year against No. 6 qualified Joey Severance. The two had only met once previously – in the finals of the NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka; where Meyer took home the runner-up trophy. She was ready to avenge that loss in this final, but would run an off-paced 5.397/ 272.34 mph pass, leaving Severance his 13th career National event win and Meyer captures another Runner Up finish to add to her impressive rookie season.
“This was the second time that I have faced Joey in the final round, and so far he has been the better car. Joey and the Severance family have a great record so far for the 2016 season and they have always been the one to beat. We tried our best in the final round, but had a hole out early and could not get enough speed to pass him for the win.”
Meyer leaves the event in second place for the Lucas Oil National points series, two points above Rich McPhillips and 116 below Joey Severance. She still retains her No. 2 position in the Regional series behind Gord Gingles.
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