Rachel Curl, daughter of drag racing legend Randy Meyer never thought she would get to drive her injected nitro-powered A/Fuel dragster at her home track Mo-Kan Dragway. 

Not only did she get the opportunity when Nitro Chaos rolled into town for its penultimate race of the 2023 season, she made the most of it as well by defeating two top-of-the-line A/Fuel dragsters, beginning with her sister Megan Meyer in the semis and then Todd Bruce in the final en route to securing the momentous win at her home track in the 'A' field.

"I've been racing at that track since I was in juniors (Dragster)," Curl said. "Megan and I went to college right down the street from it, and that's where we would go bracket racing when my dad was off racing NHRA stuff, so it meant a lot.

"My husband's family was out there, that's actually the track I met him at, and my whole family was there, and some aunts, uncles, and cousins came out, so it was pretty awesome."

At the wheel of the team's third A/Fuel dragster, Curl's teammate, Matt Sackman, took home the win in the 'B' field at Nitro Chaos, making it an all-Randy Meyer Racing winners circle at Mo-Kan. 

Making her second appearance of the Nitro Chaos season, Curl's black-themed Gunk-sponsored A/Fuel dragster qualified in the No.3 position in the 'A' field with a strong 3.617 at over 221 miles per hour. She backed that up by going even quicker in the opening round, defeating Donnie Massey's AA/Fuel Altered with a dazzling 3.584 elapsed time at over 222 miles per hour to advance into the semi-finals and set up a date with her sister Megan.

Megan, driving the white-themed Gunk-sponsored A/Fuel dragster and winner of the last Nitro Chaos race in Eddyville, came into Mo-Kan tied for the championship points lead with Gary Wheeler Jr. 

Every round and every point was crucial for Meyer if she wanted to keep pace with Wheeler in the hunt for the championship, but for Curl, that didn't matter as she had a little extra motivation to beat her sister in the semifinals, having lost a close matchup to Meyer in the semis at the last race in Eddyville which Meyer went on to win, and coming up short to her sister once again in a callout race in qualifying on Saturday night the day before. 

Meyer got a slight starting line advantage over Curl in their rematch. Still, Curl made that up in sixty feet as she outpowered her sister, running a stout 3.666 at over 223 miles per hour to Meyer's 3.776 at 213 to advance into the final round and get a little payback on her sister. 

"Saturday night, we ended up running each other, and it was pedal fest, and she ended up beating me," Curl said. "So I really wanted to beat her Sunday because I was tired of losing to her.

I was mostly concerned about that round than the finals. I mean, I really wanted to win the finals, but that was just a win itself to be able to beat Megan." 

 

 

 
However, despite getting around her sister, Curl would have to pull off a big performance in the final round as she squared off against the driver of the "The Bull" A/Fuel dragster and the winner at the Nitro Chaos season-opening race in Edgewater, Ohio, Todd Bruce. 

Bruce qualified fifth with a 3.73 at 213 and took down Jody Austin at the wheel of the famed "BushWhacker" AA/Fuel Altered in the opening round, recording a sizzling 3.600 at 219. In the semifinals, Bruce, having championship aspirations of his own, helped out his title hopes immensely when he defeated championship points leader Gary Wheeler with a 3.632 at 212 to advance into another final round and make it a stalemate in the championship hunt as the two leaders, Wheeler and Meyer were eliminated in the same round.  

With her sister sitting on the sidelines from her own doing and Bruce gaining ground and getting ever so close to the coveted championship point lead, Curl knew she needed to stop Bruce in the final round to stop him from gaining points and help her sister in the process. 

Well, Curl was not to be denied and made sure the trophy stayed in the Randy Meyer Racing backyard as she saved her best for last, laying down her best run of the weekend by a bunch in the final, running a great 3.510 with a big top-end speed of over 227 miles per hour to Bruce's 3.595 at 218, as Curl secured the victory at her home track and capturing her first Nitro Chaos win.

"That's the fastest our car ran all weekend," Curl said. Almost made that 3.40 (second) club, but yeah, this is awesome. I'm really happy that I got it done at my home track and that Matt (Sackman) won the 'B' field, too, so that's awesome."

Curl won't be behind the wheel at the Nitro Chaos season finale at Pine Valley Raceway in Lufkin, Texas, in a couple of months, but she will, however, be turning the wrenches and making the tuning decisions on her sister Megan's car in hopes of trying to bring home the Nitro Chaos Championship for Randy Meyer Racing. 

"Hopefully, we can get it done," Curl admitted. "I know the points are going to be tight for Megan, so she really needs to pull off a win there, and I'm going to be there to help start her car and tune on it, so hopefully, we can get it done for her."

Meyer will take a slim six-point lead over Wheeler and Bruce, who are tied for second place, with Joseph Gallegos lurking back in fourth with an outside shot just thirty points behind. Each round win in Nitro Chaos is worth ten points, with five points being given for a round loss. 

 

 

 

Young Matt Sackman brought home a second trophy for Randy Meyer Racing at Mo-Kan, capturing the win in the 'B' field competition. Sackman, at the wheel of the injected nitro-powered dragster usually piloted by NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster superstar Julie Nataas, qualified with a 4.054 at over 131 miles per hour, placing him tenth overall out of the twenty cars that showed up, ultimately putting him No. 2 overall on the 'B' field ladder. 

Sackman stepped up in the opening stanza, recording his best run of the weekend at 3.838 seconds at over 151 miles per hour to take the easy win over Tod Barker. In the semis, Sackamn showed off his driving prowess, cutting a lightning-quick (.014) reaction time against Aaron Morrow and needing every bit of it as he defeated Morrow on a holeshot, running a 3.997 at 136 to Morrow's quicker but losing 3.962 at 166 to advance into his first Nitro Chaos final round. 

In the 'B' field finale, Sackman was scheduled to face off against Joseph Gallegos' "Nitro Clown" Outlaw AA/Fuel Dragster, but unfortunately, Gallegos was unable to make the call after his 3,500 horsepower slingshot dragster kicked the rods out in the holeshot win in the semifinals over Chase Copeland.

All Sackman had to do was take the tree in the final round to secure the victory, and that's exactly what he would do as he staged the car, and that automatically gave him the win light with no other competitor in the other lane as the team opted not to make a run down the eighth-mile course. For Sackman, it was his first Nitro Chaos victory. 

"It feels great," Sackman said. "Winning with Randy (Meyer) is always a good time, so thanks to Randy for letting me do this."

The Nitro Chaos season is set to conclude September 22-23 at Pine Valley Raceway in Lufkin, Texas, as the Nitro Chaos championship is still up for grabs, with four drivers looking to take home the big trophy by the end of the weekend.