Two-time NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster world champion Megan Meyer bounced back from a second-round red-light at the Nitro Chaos season opener by racing to victory last weekend at Eddyville Raceway Park’s “Chaos in the Cornfield.” Driving one of two Gunk Cleaners A/Fuel dragsters, Meyer defeated two Randy Meyer Racing teammates before beating Dale Creasy Jr. in his NHRA Funny Car on a holeshot in the A-Field final round.
“After the red-light loss in Edgewater, I was so in my head about not red lighting again,” Megan said. “I was dead late on the tree every time and it almost cost me the race in first round. I got lucky all three rounds and finally cut a good light in the finals after getting out of my head. My husband, my sister, and my dad all gave me pep talks that I needed. I was also fighting a head cold, so I wasn’t feeling the best, but I knew I had to forget about everything and focus on my job.”
Chaos in the Cornfield was Randy Meyer Racing’s first time fielding four different cars: three A/Fuel dragsters – driven by Megan, Rachel Meyer, and Matt Sackman – in Nitro Chaos and the Julie Nataas-driven A/Fuel Funny Car in Funny Car Chaos.
All three RMR dragsters qualified in the eight-car A-Field, with Megan qualifying No. 2 with a 3.51-second E.T. at 227 MPH. Rachel ended up No. 6 with a 3.72 E.T. at 212 MPH, and Matt qualified No. 7 with a 3.72 at 174 MPH.
In the opening round, Megan powered past Matt in the OTG dragster to win with a 3.62 at 221 MPH. On the other side of the ladder, Rachel used a weekend-best 3.61 at 219 MPH in her Gunk dragster to beat Todd Bruce in “The Bull” A/Fuel dragster, setting up a Meyer vs. Meyer matchup in the semis.
In the semifinals, Rachel went into aggressive tire shake, which shook out one of her parachutes, slowing her to a 3.67 at 199 MPH. Megan didn’t have any issues in her lane, charging to a 3.57 at 223 MPH for a spot in the final round.
The final round was a battle between the two quickest cars on the property, with Megan lining up against No. 1 qualifier Dale Creasy Jr. in his NHRA Funny Car. Megan was first off the starting line and drove through tire shake to finish ahead of Creasy with a 3.56 at 223 MPH to Creasy’s 3.54 at 192 MPH. It was a powerful win that put Megan back in championship contention.
“I believe this win will bump me into top 3 in points, and with the season already halfway through, it’s important we collect as many as possible and don’t slip,” Megan said. “What will really get us to separate from the pack is getting those No. 1 qualifier bonus points. If we can do that and win, we have a good chance at making the Gunk team and ‘Queen Bee’ the first champion of the Nitro Chaos.
“It’s easy to get caught up in the daily activities we do to make our operation run at a high level full-time, but when we captured team photos Saturday morning with all of our crew and cars together, we took a step back and saw that we’ve come a long way. My dad has sacrificed so much time and energy for this sport, and he deserves this win for all that he’s done for us and for drag racing. I’m also very proud of each of our crew guys, past and present, that have helped us win all of the titles and championships including our latest one. I had Andrew Holisky and Taylor Pflumm as my crew this weekend and they did an outstanding job with the car and stayed on top of everything to give me the best dragster to win.”
The next Nitro Chaos race for the Meyer sisters is July 14-15 at Mo-Kan Dragway near Joplin, Missouri. The next stop for the RMR team is this weekend, June 2-4, at Summit Motorsports Park’s Cavalcade of Stars NHRA Lucas Oil Series regional event, where Nataas will compete in Top Alcohol Dragster.
