March 18th, 2015 – Kansas-based Top Alcohol Dragster team Randy Meyer Racing traveled south to Gainesville, Florida for the 46th annual NHRA Gatornationals as their first stop on their 2015 tour. With no prior testing before the event, the team had an exceptional weekend to dominate the field and take home the Wally.
Driver and tuner, Randy Meyer, laid down a 5.35 ET at 267 mph for the first qualifying session on Friday at Auto-Plus Raceway in Gainesville, Florida, as his very first pass down the quarter-mile track for the beginning of the year. He followed it up with a 5.29 ET at 271 mph during the second qualifying run, and an improved 5.28 ET at 274 mph for the third and final qualifier, placing him fourth in the 16-car field.
First round eliminations saw Randy overthrow 13th qualifier, Paul Fishburn, with a 5.32 ET at 271 mph Sunday morning, followed by a 5.31 ET at 275 mph to defeat Rich McPhillips in the second round.
A semi-final victory over Jackie Fricke with a 5.30 ET at 275 by Randy placed him in the final round against reigning Top Alcohol Dragster champion Chris Demke. The two launched off the starting line with similar reaction times, and were together down the track until Randy pulled away, and took the event win with an aggressive 5.21 ET at 277 mph to Demke’s 5.33 ET at 276 mph.
“There was an edge and we took it,” said Randy. “We put it all on the line and it paid off. After a long hard winter it was great to be able to see the sunshine, and get off to a good start for the year…“