The Randy Meyer Racing (RMR) Team continued their successful season at the final North Central Regional race held at World Wide Technology Raceway outside of St. Louis, earning a runner-up finish with rookie driver Gary Pritchett. For the first time this year, the team ran all three of their potent Top Alcohol Dragsters, showcasing their depth of talent and machinery in a highly competitive 10-car field.
RMR fielded Gary Pritchett in the OTG Dragster, Hunter Green in his points leading Bond-Coat Dragster, and Scott Dean, who piloted the Gunk Dragster for the first time. Dean, driving Megan Meyer’s personal car, unfortunately missed the cut in the ultra-competitive field of 8 cars, clocking his best time at 5.34 seconds at 273 mph. With this being only the second appearance for the Gunk Dragster in 2024, the team is still dialing in the tune-up and used this race as valuable practice for the upcoming NHRA Texas FallNationals and JEGS AllStars in Dallas next weekend.
“We went into St. Louis with a testing mindset for this upcoming AllStar race at Texas Motorplex,” said Scott Dean, driver of the Gunk Dragster. “With a stout field, we just missed qualifying by a few hundredths. I can’t thank the entire RMR crew enough for piecing together the third car, and especially Megan for letting me drive her personal car these two races. Racing in the AllStars has been a dream of mine for a long time, and I can’t wait to be a part of it this week!”
Hunter Green qualified #1 with a stellar 5.233 at 273.05 mph, while Gary Pritchett secured the #4 spot with a 5.248 at 273.94 mph. Both drivers advanced in the first round, with Green running a 5.274 at 276.46 to defeat Mike Coughlin, and Pritchett running a 5.240 at 271.13 to take down Jared Dreher.
In the second round, the two teammates faced off, with Pritchett advancing with a 5.290 at 268.06 after a close battle, edging out Green, who posted a 5.319 at 275.22. Pritchett went on to race Tony Stewart in the final, a familiar opponent, having faced Stewart in the final round at four out of the last five races. Unfortunately, Pritchett’s car was put in the slower lane and smoked the tires before getting to 60 feet, after the entire crew pitched in to make adjustments and increase power, giving Stewart the victory.
Despite the runner-up finish, the RMR team is proud of their performance, as Gary Pritchett finishes second in the North Central Region Championship in his rookie year.
Gary Pritchett says, “This year was incredible! We participated in five races, made five finals, and secured two wins, including four showdowns with Tony Stewart. The division championship went down to the wire in a winner-takes-all final. Although we didn’t win, we can hold our heads high. Achieving this for the first time made it particularly special. I’m deeply grateful to Randy Meyer Racing and all my sponsors. We’re coming back stronger next year!”
With the NHRA FallNationals and JEGS AllStars event just around the corner, the Randy Meyer Racing Team remains focused on dialing in all three dragsters and bringing home another victory in what has already been a strong season for the team, and continuing their NHRA national standings points lead.
“After winning back-to-back races in Brainerd and Indy, we’ve stumbled a bit. It all started with the timing system issue at Maple Grove,” said Hunter Green reflecting on the team’s recent performance. “We qualified number one again but didn’t go enough rounds to improve our position in the national point standings in St. Louis. We are still in the lead, but our lead is not comfortable. This weekend in Dallas, we need to go rounds. We want to win it. I’ve been wanting one of those cowboy hats for as long as I can remember. We’ve had some bad luck recently, but that can’t go on forever. Dallas is where it hopefully turns around, and we put this RMR dragster back in the Winner’s Circle where it belongs.”
