Drag Illustrated Issue 152, January 2020 | Page 72

The Champions of 2019
Megan Meyer
T
he memories of an incredible championship weekend in Charlotte
are still alive and well for Megan Meyer, who is still trying to process just how
spectacular her 2019 season was in Top Alcohol Dragster.
She followed up the championship-clinching weekend in Charlotte with a
victory the next weekend in Dallas, putting the ultimate capper one of the most impressive
seasons in TAD memory.
It demonstrated Meyer’s growth as a driver, becoming just the fourth female to win a NHRA
Lucas Oil sportsman championship, and her ability to perform under pressure. Meyer lauded
her team, notably her dad, team owner Randy Meyer, and car chief Adrian Long, for finding
remarkable performance marks at tracks across the country.
She made 13 final-round appearances in 2019, collecting eight wins, five of which came at
national events. Of those, Meyer grabbed noteworthy wins at the 50th annual Gatornationals
and the U.S. Nationals, as well as the Charlotte and Dallas victories to close out the year.
Meyer more than did her part as well, improving her lights to a significant degree. She was reg-
ularly in the .030-.040 range, finding a comfort level in the car she had never experienced before.
“I felt like I improved on my lights and I was just more consistent on my depth staging the
car,” Meyer says. “I started working on that in the offseason, and I was a lot more comfortable
and relaxed. I was a little less tense and that led to better reaction times.”
The spotlight on Meyer only figures to get bigger after a season like this one, but she’s fine
with that – and she’s also plenty content continuing in Top Alcohol Dragster.
She feels good with her place in the sport as the winningest female in TAD, feeling proud of
the class and no pressure to try to move into the Top
Fuel ranks. For Meyer, racing in TAD is where her heart
is at, and her next goal is simply trying to defend her
championship.
“I’ve only raced with my family and it would be hard
to leave that,” Meyer says. “I’m perfectly content being in
Top Alcohol Dragster. The class is growing so much and
thriving right now, and I want to try to defend my title.
I love the competition we have and next year everyone’s
going to try even harder to take us down. But winning
this title was such a great feeling.” – JOSH HACHAT
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
[ NHRA FACTORY
STOCK SHOWDOWN ]
Drew
Skillman
T
he competitive, ever-evolv-
ing SAM Tech.edu Factory Stock
Showdown was no joke this year.
The category that pits super-
charged, factory-built muscle cars from Chevrolet,
Dodge and Ford against one another saw Drew
Skillman rise to the challenge to collect his first
championship.
“We came into this year prepared,” says Skill-
man, who won three Factory Stock Wallys and
one in Stock Eliminator with his Ford Cobra
Jet Mustang.
“We put all our eggs into one basket when we
decided to run this class, and our guys did a ton of
R&D,” he continues.
“The first NMCA
race, we went out
and ran 7.70, ab-
solutely obliterated
the record, and then
came to Gainesville
and momentum just
kept going.”
Skillman, a long-
time Sportsman
racer, made a name
for himself in Pro
Stock as rookie of
the year in 2015 and
scored seven wins before transitioning to the
Factory Stock Showdown.
“We’ve been chasing a championship for almost
10 years,” he says. “We missed two by minimal
points, and when you know you can do it, it sucks
to fall short. To finally get the job done is in-
credible. Chris Holbrook [engine builder] spent
endless time on this program, and it showed.
We stayed competitive all year and had some
fast hot rods.”
It was a one-two punch for Skillman as his fa-
ther, Bill, finished No. 2 in the category with a win
of his own. Next year will be more of the same.
“We’re still going to race the Factory Stock
Showdown,” says the newly christened champ.
“I have a child now, so I’m going to be slowing
down my career – an eight-race series is going
to be a challenge. We have a lot of work ahead
of us, and we need to keep our heads down. I
don’t think we’ll see as big of power jumps as we
have this year, but we’re going to try to make it
happen.” – KELLY WADE
DI DI DI
DI DI DI DI
DI DI DI
Steve Faller
72 | D r a g
I l l u s t r a t e d | DragIllustrated.com
NHRA NOSTALGIA 7.0 PRO
//
Vince Palazzolo
NMRA STREET OUTLAW
Issue 152
CROSE,
[ NHRA TOP ALCOHOL DRAGSTER ]