Nataas, the reigning NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Dragster world champion, had hopes of making her Top Fuel debut in 2024. That came true Sept. 27-29 when she competed at the NHRA Midwest Nationals as part of the Scrappers Racing team.
Nataas qualified No. 16 and faced eight-time NHRA world champion Tony Schumacher in the opening round of elimination. Schumacher, the eventual race winner, clocked a 4.359-second elapsed time at 303.09 mph to upend Nataas, who slowed to 5.050 seconds at 191.16 mph.
Despite the early exit from eliminations, Nataas was thrilled to be competing in Top Fuel, and she talked about her inaugural race earlier this week on the CompetitionPlus.com Power Hour.
“Sunday is the calmest, I feel like I’ve been on the starting line, getting ready to drive the Top Fuel car,” Nataas said about race day in St. Louis. “I wish I had those two qualifiers on Friday, because we lost two (because of rain). That’s two extra runs that could have made me even more comfortable in the car.
“So, Sunday going up there, I had eight laps under my belt in a Top Fuel car and I was going to race Tony Schumacher, and I knew that I just had to go up there and look at it as a, this is just another run that I am doing. It’s another qualifying pass or test pass for me, but I’m also going to go out there and win. So, because I was the most comfortable, I have been in that car so far, I felt good. I was of course a little bit nervous, but if you’re not, then I don’t think you want it enough. But it wasn’t nervous to the point where I couldn’t do it, if that makes sense. It was like good nerves.”
Nataas said her Top Fuel debut had been a work in progress for years.
“Getting to my debut weekend was something that I’ve been ready for the last two or three years. It’s just, I haven’t been ready to be done with Top Alcohol Dragster,” Nataas said. “So, I haven’t necessarily pursued it as much as I am at this point. I have a championship under my belt. I don’t really know what else there is to do in that class. I have been running it since 2017, and I have a championship and a couple regional championships. I have several JEGS Allstars wins. I have been Sportsman’s Driver of the Year a couple times, and at this point I feel like it’s time for me to go challenge myself as a driver and do something else. So that is really where that was coming from. I thought I was going to get my license last year, but it didn’t really work out. And this year, I don’t know, the stars aligned.”
Nataas acknowledged the transition to Top Fuel hasn’t been a drastic change.
“It’s really not that much of a difference, to be honest with you. The only thing I have to say though is that in my A/Fuel car, me and the rest of my team at Randy Meyer Racing, we’re known for our short burnouts. We barely step on the gas pedal on the burnouts and in the fuel dragster, you do have to stay on it a little bit longer. So, the first couple of times I did my burnouts in the Top Fuel car, I got back and they’re like, ‘You’re not in your A/Fuel car. You need to do a little bit of longer burnout.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, cool.’”
Part of Nataas’ ascent into Top Fuel meant she would have new tuners, which she embraced.
“It’s been really cool to work with someone else other than Randy because I’ve only ever worked with Randy in this world at racing, except for my dad (Thomas), of course,” Nataas said. “But being a professional driver that’s been Randy. Rob Flynn (her crew chief at Scrappers) has been awesome, he’s someone that you look at and you’re like, ‘Yeah, that’s for sure a crew chief.’ The way you’re talking to him or the way he’s talking with you. That’s been great.”
Julie said her father, who is from Drobak, Norway, and was an accomplished racer in Pro Mod, Funny Car, and Top Fuel dragster in FIA European Championship, is now along for the ride with her.
“With my dad at this point, I think he’s just doing whatever I’m doing. He is just a proud dad,” she said. “Not really saying that much or interrupting as we’d say, because the worst thing you can have in your pit is, not just for me, that’s any driver which we have experienced that they’re in the Randy Meyer Racing pit is having parents that are always walking in there wondering what we’re doing, questioning the tune-ups or questioning the crew guys or even questioning the drivers. So, to have the parents, which is only because they’re so passionate about the sport and what their kid’s doing but having them get involved at that point is just a little too much and not always the greatest idea.
“And my dad has been … we’re very great at that. He is in the background, and he will step in and help if we do need it. He understands that. He understands the importance of each and every one of us having our own task that we are doing and that he can just come in there that one weekend, and that he’s there to do someone else’s job or start questioning what we’re doing because we all have a job. He doesn’t, other than being my biggest supporter, and that’s not saying that in a bad way. I love having my dad at the races, and I think my team does too. He is there to pack my parachutes and helps out and he’s backing me up in my A/Fuel car. So, he’s only a big supporter at this point.”
According to research, Julie and her father, joined Kim LaHaie and Dick LaHaie and Bobby and Krista Baldwin as the third father and daughter combination to qualify for an NHRA national event in Top Fuel,
“Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I actually didn’t know that. I haven’t even really thought about that, but that is true. My dad did race over here and that was in Top Fuel,” Julie said.
Julie also thrilled that her Top Fuel journey has been with Scrappers Racing owned by Mike Salinas.
“Well, it kind of just happened. Gainesville earlier this year, Mike kind of looked at me and he was like, ‘So are you going to get in the car or what’s going on? You got a car right here. Just jump in one of ours.’ I’m like, ‘Okay, maybe I’ll do that.’ And then Mike had his thing and all of that happened, and Jasmine jumped into the car for him or taking over for him as a driver,” Julie said. “So, we kind of didn’t talk a whole lot about it, but my friend Travis Shumake had bought a new to him, Top Fuel dragster and trailer. So, he started saying how I should get my license in his car and that would be great, and it would’ve been great. But the problem was that dragster is way too big for me. I cannot safely sit in that race car and go down the racetrack, so that was never something that we can make happen.
“And I just kept telling Travis that. But he was like, ‘No, we can make it work.’ And I’m like, ‘No, it’s not going to work.’ But since he had bought this trailer and dragster it was parked inside of the Scrappers shop, and I helped him with the renovation of that trailer. And Rob Flynn one day was like, ‘Travis, Julie cannot drive this race car. You got to stop this. But she will fit great in Mike or Jasmine’s car.’ And that’s kind of when that came up again.
“So, a couple months later we started talking more about it and we found a day to go testing and get my license, which was (Richmond) Virginia, Monday after that race (June 24). I got my license, and that was really all I had planned for at that point. Until Airmine, my main sponsor … a Norwegian technology company, they said that if I can make my debut this year and I can do that with a great car potentially in the car that I got my license in, then why not, they’re here for it.”
That opened the door for her Nataas to go back to Scrappers with a proposal in hand.
“So went back to Scrappers and they obviously wanted to try out this two-car team thing because that was already on their schedule and on their plan with Mike and Jasmine,” Nataas said. “But because Mike can now not drive it, well there was an extra car and two extra trailers kind of just halfway ready to go. They just needed someone to drive and use it. So, they put it all together, they found a team. It was pretty cool. It was all career guys that used to work full time on Top Fuel cars, cars in the past. They all came out to help me out and the Scrappers team.
“And that’s kind of how that all happened. But what not a lot of people know is that we have known the Salinas family for a long time. Mike Salinas and my dad, Thomas, they first became friends whenever they both raced Top Fuel here. They became friends, and Mike brought the girls over to Hockenheim, Germany, where my dad was racing. So, we spent some time with them as kids and whenever we would come back over here to either be spectators or my dad would be racing again, and we would hang out. So, we’ve known them for quite a long time.”
