Megan Meyer

A fantastic hometown showing for NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Rookie Megan Meyer, as she earns another runner up at Heartland Park Topeka for the 28th Annual NHRA Kansas Nationals.

Megan would begin the weekend with a whirlwind PR schedule that included special apperances with her Racer’s Evolved A/Fuel Dragster at the NHRA Heartland Park Topeka Press event, and a special appearance in nearby Kansas City at the  T-Bones Professional AA Baseball game, where she signed autographs with fellow female racers Brittany Force (Top Fuel) and Courtney Force (Funny Car).

The busy weekend also marked the first time that Megan would be racing alongside her father, veteran TAD racer Randy Meyer in NHRA TAD National competition.   The Meyer Racing team would have their hands full sorting two cars, as Randy would struggle in early rounds of qualifying.

“Going into the Kansas Nationals we knew we would have our plate full. This was only the second time we’ve had both Top Alcohol Dragsters running at the same time this year, and it was a big mountain to climb for our team. The stress was high with the tire shake that we had in my Dad’s car for the first 2 qualifiers which once again, caused a lot of problems. But we faced them head on and fixed the damage and was able to get the car turned around to qualify 5th and win first round.”

In qualifying, Megan Meyer would start off strong, running a 5.287 second E.T. at 268.81 mph – moving her into the No. 2 qualified position at the end of round one.   Second round, she would chatter the tires out of the gate, shutting off.  But in the final attempt, Megan would grab the top qualifying position for the first time in her career, running a 5.250 at 270.54 mph in the Racer’s Evolved A/Fuel Dragster.   Her father, Randy, would take the No. 5 position with his Meyer Racing Dragster, and would be on the same side of the ladder as Megan.  Potentially, if both the Meyer dragsters advanced in the first two rounds of eliminations, they would be meeting in the semi-final round for the first time.

Saturday evening, Megan would face the number fourteen qualified Monroe Guest in the opening round of Top Alcohol Dragster eliminations.   Guest would immediately smoke the tires, while Megan would run a great looking 5.258 second, 274.83 mph for the win into the second round.

We kept it very consistent with my car all weekend – same crew, same motor combination that we’ve been running all year that is proven to win races. We had an outstanding performance on Saturday as we ran a pair of 5.25s and set low ET all weekend. I claimed my first official number 1 qualifier, and I couldn’t have done it without my guys.”

Megan would have the competition bye in round 2 for an automatic advance to the semi final round, where she hoped she would face her father Randy, who did advanced over his round one competitor.   Megan would begin the session with another strong showing, running a conservative 5.364 at 269.13 mph for her competition bye run.   Unfortunately, her father was eliminated in round two by Lee Callaway, whose 5.353 at 267.22 mph run would grant him lane choice over Megan in the semi final round.

In their only previous encounter, Lee Callaway took the win light over Megan Meyer.   This time, Callaway would get the starting line advantage over Megan, with a 0.026 reaction, to Megan’s 0.065.  But Megan’s Racer’s Evolved dragster was able to reel him back in by 1000 feet, taking the win with a 5.298 at 270.59 mph over his 5.360 at 267.59 mph.

This would place Megan in her fourth final round this season – with two runner-up finishes at the Gatornationals and LODRS Belle Rose regional event; as well as her first win at the Charlotte 4-Wide event.   She would face the defending event champion, Joey Severance, for the first time in her career.

Megan would be out of the gate first, but ran a slightly off-paced 5.445 at 263.20 mph.  Severance quickly bridged the gap and continued on for the win, running a 5.327 at 270.27 mph.   Megan would earn the hometown runner-up at Heartland Park Topeka for the Kansas Nationals.

Despite the high-stress weekend, we had a great time as a family and team at Heartland Park. The facility looks incredible and hats off to the new owners for all that they did to put on the Kansas Nationals. I enjoyed the displays we did together to promote the race, and I greatly appreciate the recognition I received from the local community.”

Missed the live action?  You can catch an encore presentation of the 28th Annual NHRA Kansas Nationals FOX television coverage on FS2 Thursday, at 9:00PM EST

New Megan Meyer Racing Apparel

Megan Meyer and the Randy Meyer Racing team also introduced a new partnership with Denver Print House, a one stop facility specializing in award winning decorated apparel over the weekend.    The Denver, CO based organization developed and printed the new Megan Meyer and Randy Meyer Racing team t-shirts in their state of the art production plant.   Fans interested in getting one of the colorful new shirts can email [email protected] with their t-shirt size to order.

Denver Print House also is a great match for my team since I am a freelance designer. We are working together with Racers Evolved to help bring great design and artwork to the Sportsman classes.”

The fun is just beginning in what will be an exciting and busy homecoming weekend for Megan Meyer.   The 28th Annual NHRA Kansas Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka will mark the Kansas native’s fourth event of the season in the Top Alcohol Dragster class, and her third national event start in the Racer’s Evolved A/Fuel Dragster.

Meyer began her 2016 rookie season with a string of final round appearances, en route to her first win in Charlotte’s 4 Wide National event.   She earned two coveted Wally trophies that day – one for the Best Appearing Crew award, leading up to her very emotional first TAD class win.

“This weekend we are hoping to lay down some fast numbers and keep up our momentum.  After a few weeks back at home I’m very excited to be back at the track and to be racing at my home track this weekend. I’m thrilled that the new ownership of Heartland Park Topeka has taken on the duties of updating the track surface, equipment, landscaping, and tower, and they have greatly improved the facility.”

Meyer and her Racer’s Evolved A/Fuel Dragster will be featured in the Heartland Park Topeka trackside press event on Thursday morning at 11:30AM.   Megan will also join other NHRA drivers Thursday evening at the local Kansas City T-Bones Professional AA Baseball game, signing autographs for fans  at Community America Ballpark on Thursday from 5:30PM-6:45PM.  Megan, along with Brittany Force from Top Fuel and Courtney Force from the Funny Car category, will all take the field before the opening pitch to share information about the NHRA Kansas Nationals event with the T-Bones baseball crowd.    

Trinity Performance Wear Sponsorship  

This weekend, Megan Meyer will also debut a new partnership with Trinity Performance Wear, LLC, a Shawnee, KS based fitness apparel company founded by 12 year-old Abby Flickner.   Flickner is a two-time USAW Youth National Olympic-Style Weightlifting Champion, has attended development camps for elite youth weightlifters at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO; and holds several American youth weightlifting records to her name.

“I’m really excited to partner with Megan Meyer for her race day workouts,” said Trinity Performance Wear founder Abby Flickner. “To meet the physical demands of racing, it’s important for drivers to maintain their fitness. Megan shows a tremendous amount of sportsmanship by helping her competitors stay fit!”

Meyer and Trinity will be combining efforts to offer a unique new fitness program for racers.   The workout program will feature a Sunday Morning Fit Camp Workout session for drivers and crew members at Heartland Park Topeka, with special give-aways for participants courtesy of Trinity Performance Wear.   Racers interested in taking part in the Fit Camp activities can meet Megan and Abby beneath the grandstands on Sunday morning beginning at 6:20AM.   The workout session will last from 6:30AM – 7:15AM.

“I’m grateful for the new partners we have with our team; Trinity Performance Wear is a perfect fit for me because I focus on the benefits of a healthy active lifestyle, and having Herbalife Nutrition and Herbalife24 on board brings together the perfect trio,” said Megan. “We will be having Sunday morning workout sessions at all of our races for all drivers and crews to get in a quick workout to feel refreshed and energized to take on the race day duties.”

A three-race final round streak ended in a Houston semi final for Megan Meyer, the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster Rookie sensation out of Kansas.     Meyer and her Randy Meyer Racing team battled the soggy, hot and humid conditions at Royal Purple Raceway in Baytown, Texas, taking the Racer’s Evolved A/Fuel Dragster to a semi final finish before bowing out to event champion Lee Callaway.

Fresh off her first win at the NHRA 4-Wide Nationals, Meyer, prodigy daughter of NHRA TAD champion, Randy Meyer, qualified No. 3 in the rain-shortened qualifying program, with a detuned first round effort of 5.35 seconds at 268 mph.   Her Randy Meyer Racing team hopped it up for round two, and posted an impressive .907 second 60′ charge out of the gate, but it would prove a little more than the track could hold, and resulted in tire shake and a quick pedal job for a 5.40 at 274 mph effort.     Round three would be forfeited, and the Top Alcohol Dragster class would charge into the opening round of eliminations on Saturday at the 29th Annual NHRA Spring Nationals in the Houston-suburb of Baytown, TX.

Houston was another first for me, my dad has competed at this race many times but I have never visited or raced at Royal Purple Raceway before. I did have a lot of pressure on my shoulders to repeat not only my success after winning Charlotte, but to also claim a 4-peat win for the Randy Meyer Racing Team. Despite the pressure I was very confident in my team and we had great results on track. With only two qualifying sessions we claimed third and had some tough weather conditions – a lot different than any we’ve had so far this year. Along with a brand new motor in the car, we slowed the tune up way down for the first qualifying pass to make sure it goes from A to B without smoking the tires or shaking. After having a fair pass we hopped it up quite a bit to try to claim that number 1 position, and had an amazing 60-foot time of .907, my second best of the year, but with too much power it shook the tires and I had to pedal it to slow it down some, but still ran fast mph on the top end.”

In Saturday afternoon’s opening round of eliminations, Megan Meyer would face No. 14 qualifier, Rob McKinley.   At the tree, it was McKinley would would leave first, with a 0.020 reaction to Meyer’s 0.059 second R.T.   But McKinley would quickly run into trouble, smoking the tires and fishtailing sideways as he aborts the run.  Meanwhile, Megan improves on her qualifying efforts, running a 5.323 second, 271.35 mph pass for the round win.

On Sunday, eliminations for the Top Alcohol Dragster class would continue, with Megan carrying lane choice against No. 6 qualified David Brounkowski.    The second round match up would be the first between the two racers, and Megan would quickly take the lead at the tree with a consistent 0.021 second R.T. en route to her event-best run of 5.280 seconds at 272.94 mph – just shy of the  No. 1 qualified time slip.   Brounkowski would also post his event-best E.T., but it would not be enough to upset the hot rookie in her quest.

Next up was the Houston Semi Final for Megan Meyer.   She would face No. 2 qualified Lee Callaway for the first time in her young TAD career.   Both were gunning for a trip to the finals:  Megan for her third straight final appearance in her three starts this season, and Callaway for his first in 42 event starts.    With looming chances of rain and a swing in weather conditions, Megan would take lane choice and the starting line advantage over Callaway, but his hard charge at the start made up for the slight advantage.  Meyer’s Racer’s Evolved A/Fuel Dragster started reeling him back in, but just ran out of real estate at the stripe.   Calloway’s 5.288 at 272.23 mph would take the win over Meyer’s losing 5.337 at 272.95 mph.   The difference at the finish line was just 0.0397 seconds (approximately 16 feet).   Callaway went on to score his first-ever event win in the Houston Top Alcohol Dragster final.

We took our data from qualifying to turn on the win lights in first and second round, but had some complications when it came to the semi-finals. With light sprinkles coming, we had to sit in the staging lanes for about 20 minutes – which probably cost us the run since our fuel got warm from the humidity. This, combined with a cooler track, made us slow down in third round just enough to let Lee get past me and get the round win.”

Meyer leaves the event holding the No. 2 position in NHRA Lucas Oil National Series Championship points.   She next will take the home track advantage at Heartland Park Topeka’s 28th Annual NHRA Kansas Nationals event on May 20-22nd.

I’m very happy for Lee and the Callaway Collision Team for winning their first National event! It’s an amazing feeling and I’m very fortunate to be one of the few beginners to already have a National event win on my racing resume. We are pleased with our outcome at Houston, and we are very excited for our next outing at our home track of Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, KS for the Summer Nationals! I will be doing a couple displays and interviews around our community to help bring awareness of the reopening of the track, and to help NHRA have another sold-out crowd!”

2nd Round Eliminations – Megan Meyer

This weekend’s 7th Annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals event marks the third race of 2016 for NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster rookie Megan Meyer and so far, the second generation A/Fuel driver is off to an incredible start.

Megan debuted her new Racer’s Evolved A/Fuel Dragster at the beginning of the 2016 season to start her official rookie campaign.   She opened the year with two runner-up finishes, first at the Gatornationals event in March, and then most recently at the LODRS South Central regional event in Belle Rose, LA.

This weekend marks her first racing experience at the unique Charlotte, NC zMax Dragway facility, which features 4 lanes of head-to-head competition.   Her father, Randy Meyer, has competed at the facility previously in TAD, but has not yet landed a Meyer Racing victory at the track.

Megan Meyer 4-Wide National debut will begin with her in the No. 6 position in championship points, after a strong start at the National and Regional levels.   But competition at the 4-Wide Nationals event will be tough, and over 20 entrants will battle for a qualifying spot in the field.

A lot of the front runners of TAD will be there this weekend, and I’m excited to be in the top 10 in points so far, so we are expecting it to be a tough weekend for all of us. The points that we gain early in the season can make or break us in the end, so we are going to give it our all to claim as many points as possible,” said Megan Meyer of her Charlotte debut.

There are over 20 cars entered for this race, and I’d say they are the best cars in our field, so we are going to have our best tune up and best parts this weekend to stay in the top half of the field and hopefully take our dragster to the finals again!”

Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying for the 7th Annual NHRA 4-Wide Nationals presented by Lowes Food will take place Friday at 3:45PM and 5:45PM EST.   Final qualifying will run Saturday at 1:15PM, with first round of eliminations beginning at 3:15PM.

NHRA A/Fuel rookie Megan Meyer made quite an entrance in her official rookie season debut at the 47^th Annual Amalie Oil NHRA Gatornationals.   The event earned her team the Best Appearing car award in Gainesville, as well as marking the first final for Megan Meyer in the Top Alcohol Dragster class.

With the persistent rain in Gainesville over the course of Thursday – Saturday, it certainly didn’t look good for Top Alcohol Dragster class – limited to two qualifying sessions.    In the first session, Megan lost traction and had to abort the run, coasting to an 11 second elapsed time and barely a spot on the 16 car ladder.    They waited through to the late evening for their second round attempt, where Meyers was able to shoot up the ladder with a career-best qualifying time of 5.224 at 276.75 mph.   She held the #1 position until she was bumped by Mia Tedesco to the No. 2 final qualifying spot entering Saturday eliminations – the first time two women held the top TAD qualifying spots since Brittany and Courtney Force qualified 1 and 2 in 2010.

This would place her against John Finke for the opening round of eliminations.   She takes the lead at the tree, running straight down the the groove with a career-best ET of 5.203 at 278.00 mph to Finke’s losing 5.611 at 257.97 mph.   She would face the other Finke car driven by Jackie in the second round on Sunday.

Meyer would carry lane choice into round two Sunday afternoon.   At the hit, Jackie’s car would go up in smoke forcing her to abort the run, while Megan would take the advantage at the tree and continue down the track with a 5.611 at 274.83 mph, sailing onto the win and the semi-finals.  She would face Jerry Powell, but would not have lane choice in the pairing.     On the line, Megan would take the early advantage, never looking back with a 5.234 at 274.61 mph while Powell suffers traction issues and aborts the run.   She earns the win, marking the first final for Megan Meyer in national event TAD competition.

On the other side of the ladder, Rich McPhillips would upset No. 1 qualified Mia Tedesco to face Megan.   The ninth final for McPhillips, he held the advantage with three previous class victories going into the deciding round.   This round, it was McPhillips who would strike first at the tree, outrunning Megan after a pedal-fest with a slower 5.567 at 266.95 mph to Megan’s 5.564 at 273.55mph, a hole-shot victory for McPhillip and a difference of 0.0101 seconds or four feet at the finish line.

AMAZING job to the McPhillips team and I’m so, so, so proud of the Randy Meyer Racing Team for all that they put into this hotrod all weekend long!! We accomplished many achievements in just a few days and I’m still speechless! A huge thank you to all of our sponsors and supporters around the world!!!!!”

Megan narrowly misses her first win in Top Alcohol Dragster, and defending the her dad’s 2015 Gatornationals victory, but she and the team did win the Best Appearing Car/Crew in Gainesville, after they unveiled new Racers Evolved livery on their 2015 Copeland A/Fuel chassis.

Megan Meyer debuts Racer Evolved A/Fuel Dragster –  Gainesville, Florida

It’s the first race of the 2016 season this weekend for second generation NHRA A/Fuel Dragster driver, Megan Meyer.    The 47^th Annual NHRA Gatornationals marks the first of 18 events scheduled in her official rookie campaign.   22 year-old Megan Meyer is debuting a new Racer Evolved sponsored, nitro-injected dragster owned and tuned by her father, 2007 and 2015 Gatornationals event champion Randy Meyer.

I feel a little extra pressure and a little extra confidence,” Megan said. “We’re confident because we won it last year, but this is a new car and a new driver. This is my first national event so I’m a little nervous about that. It’s a bigger stage than a regional event. We had some great results with this car at Pomona, so I think we’re heading in the right direction.”

Megan Meyers is already familiar with Gainesville Raceway, having previously earned her Super Comp and Top Alcohol Dragster licenses there, even though she’s never actually raced in competition at the historic track.

I participated in Frank Hawley’s Drag Racing School with my Super Comp dragster when I was 16 years old, and it was a great learning experience to transition from junior dragster to Super Comp. Two years later I was back on the track getting my feet wet with our Top Alcohol Dragster. I remember that day very well because a few of the Top Fuel teams stayed to test, and I felt very privileged to be able to run behind them for the very first time. This experience helped put everything into perspective as to where I could take myself in this sport. I grew better as a driver each time we returned to Gainesville, and last year I made a huge stepping stone of running a 5.29 ET pass and had the help of Dave Hirata to sign off on my TAD licensing pass. So it is very fitting to have my first NHRA National race at the Gatornationals.”

One aspect she looks forward to most is the opportunity to compete on a national level with drivers who she either grew up with, or grew up watching with her father’s Top Alcohol career since she was born.

There’s going to be lots of tough competition this weekend. I’m thrilled to be able to say that I’m ‘one of the guys’ now. I’m excited to be able to race against Mia (Tedesco). She won the Gainesville regional last weekend. We’ve grown to be really good friends over the last few years because we both come from a bracket racing background,” noted Meyer.

Megan Meyer debuts Racer Evolved A/Fuel Dragster

This is also a debut weekend for Meyer’s primary sponsor, Racers Evolved, an apparel company with designs for racers, by racers. The drag racing and motocross-themed line of apparel includes a “Megan Meyer Signature Series” designed to match the new livery on the car. In addition to gradually unveiling the Racers Evolved A/Fuel dragster on their Facebook page this week, the company also launched their website.

Megan Meyer and the Racers Evolved A/Fuel dragster will take to the Gainesville Raceway quarter-mile for Top Alcohol Dragster qualifying sessions at 10:45 AM and 2:30 PM on Friday, March 18. A third and final qualifying session is scheduled for Saturday at 10:15 AM, followed by first round of eliminations at 5:45 PM. Eliminations continue on Sunday afternoon. FOX Sports will air Lucas Oil Series coverage from the NHRA Gatornationals at 9 PM ET on Thursday, March 24, with four scheduled re-air dates in the following weeks

NHRA rising upstart Megan Meyer is following in her father’s big footsteps.   Randy Meyers, driver and tuner of some of the quickest and most successful A/Fuel dragsters in the NHRA’s Top Alcohol Dragster class history, has been grooming his 22 year-old daughter to follow in the family TAD legacy.   After two years of training and a successful regional event debut earlier this year, the NHRA Central Region Rookie of the Year nominee will join her father on the NHRA circuit in 2016 as teammate and driver for a full national campaign.

Meyer drove to her first final-round finish in her Top Alcohol Dragster debut at the St. Louis regional event in August.    Pleased with the promising performance, she is now poised for the 18-race schedule in 2016, with 10 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series (LODRS) national events and eight LODRS regional races.

Entering the Lucas Oil national points series is such a dream come true for me. I’ve been looking forward to this my entire life and now that it’s almost here, it seems surreal. After watching my dad take home a national points championship back in 2003 with Alan Bradshaw driving, and getting a first-hand look at what it takes to become a national points leader, I have complete faith our team will be a front-runner in 2016. My dad has instilled the skills of dedication, determination, sacrifice, and hard work in my upbringing, and I believe having him as crew chief of our amazing crew, consisting of my mother and little sister, is going to be the best combination in 2016,” Meyer said assuredly.

Megan Meyer graduates from Kansas’ Pittsburg State University this month, and will hit the road in 2016 across the country.  The Herbalife 24 team will compete at NHRA national events in Gainesville, Charlotte, Houston, Norwalk, Chicago, Brainerd, Indianapolis, Reading, and Dallas.   In addition, Megan will run the full NHRA Central Region schedule, with races in Belle Rose, Tulsa, Topeka, Earlville, and Noble – and the North Central Region events in Chicago, St. Louis and Bowling Green.

I am determined to end up number one or two in the Central Region points series, and would like to win my very first NHRA national event. Also, I cannot wait for the chance to finally race my dad – hopefully in a final round! I still plan on bracket racing my Super Comp dragster next year at a few local E.T. Races with my sister to stay sharp between NHRA races. Finally, I will be launching my own freelance design business offering my services to other race teams,” added Meyer, a graphic design student.

Though Meyer and her father are still finalizing 2016 sponsorship partners, a new apparel company called Racers Evolved has come on board with Megan that will focus on the needs of racers in all types of motorsports.

I am excited to partner with Racers Evolved because it’s created by racers, for racers. As a female racer, I think there is a big demand for certain ladies textiles that aren’t available for drag racing, because it’s a male dominant sport. With Racers Evolved, we will have all sorts of clothing options that are handpicked by me and available to anyone in 2016 to provide the female racers with proper form-fitted garments,” said Meyer.