INDIANAPOLIS — NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster World Champion Julie Nataas finished all the requirements to earn her Nitro Funny Car license last week at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park.
She completed a multi-month licensing journey with Del Worsham as several of the category’s top drivers watched and celebrated the next step in her career.
Nataas, who earned her Top Fuel license last summer, began her Nitro Funny Car journey in early March in Gainesville, Fla., after competing in the Alcohol Funny Car category at the Gatornationals.
Making five passes in Worsham’s CP Carrillo Supra, she overcame day-one visibility issues from helmet slippage to clock a blistering 3.94 ET at 319 mph in the Florida sunset on her second day of testing.
“My helmet just wasn’t used to that much kick at midtrack. I had to borrow helmets from both JR [Todd] and Antron [Brown] to keep us on schedule while ordering a new, tighter helmet for the next session.”
The journey continued after the Arizona Nationals in Phoenix, Ariz., where she made two additional runs. Neither counting toward her license — but gaining her valuable track awareness after dropping a cylinder and clipping a timing block on her away across the centerline.
“Going into my fourth full day of testing, it was a balance of trusting the process and not being overly eager to finish my license” said Nataas. “These cars are a handful and I was feeling defeated after not lifting sooner in Phoenix. I came out to Indy with no expectations and a great group of drivers to give me feedback alongside Del and the team.”
Known for her cool and calm demeanor, that patience and focus paid off last week when the Nataas-Worsham combo joined several NHRA teams for a day of Nitro testing.
After a short rain delay, and an early aborted tire shake run, Nataas ran a 3.96 ET at 315 MPH straight down the groove of the iconic race track. With ten passes under her belt, this run met and exceeded the requirements to add her to the short list of female Nitro Funny Car pilots.
Licensing sign-offs came from J.R. Todd, Blake Alexander, Austin Prock and Worsham.
“I love these Funny Cars,” Nataas added. “I love the challenge of driving one. My goal has always been to continuously challenge myself as an athlete and to be prepared for any opportunity in our sport.”
