NHRA Top Alcohol Champion Julie Nataas Set to Make Top Fuel Debut

The future is now for NHRA racer Julie Nataas.

Finally.

Julie Nataas, the defending NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Dragster world champion, is scheduled to make her Top Fuel debut as part of the Scrappers Racing is the NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madision, Ill., Sept. 27-28.

She'll team with fellow Top Fuel driver Jasmine Salinas and Pro Stock Motorcycle racer Jianna Evaristo when the team competes at WWTR near St. Louis.

"We’ve had all the pieces in place for a second team, but plans obviously changed earlier this year with my dad having to step out of the driver’s seat," said Jasmine Salinas. "After Julie licensed with Scrappers Racing, she approached us with her sponsors about running the St. Louis race. We felt this would be the perfect opportunity to trial run a two-car team while my dad continues to heal.

"This is an exciting moment for Scrappers Racing. It is the first step towards bringing our vision of expansion to life.”

The 27-year-old Nataas earned her Top Fuel license in a Scrappers Racing dragster in June at Virginia Motorsports Park. For her debur, she’ll work with a second Scrappers crew led by tuners Troy Fasching and Adem Cave.

“I am over the moon excited for this debut but I’m taking this single race opportunity very seriously,” said Nataas, who is fifth in the NHRA Top Alcohol standings this season. “It’s no secret this has been my dream and my ultimate goal. With hundreds of laps in the A-Fuel car under my belt and several sub-three-second passes in the Scrappers Top Fueler, there’s no time like the present to throw my name in the 2025 mix by getting on the track in St. Louis. The field of Top Fuel drivers is getting deeper every day and it’s important to get some side-by-side experience while I hunt for sponsorship.”

The dragster will be easy to spot this weekend, as it will sport the Batman logo, a special symbol for the Nataas family. Growing up in the small town of Drøbak, Norway, Julie’s father, Thomas Nataas, raced throughout Europe and adopted the logo early on.

“The Batman symbol has been on all of my cars and my dad’s,” Nataas said. “It started when my dad built a new Pro Mod car years ago in 1997. It was all black and they didn’t really have a plan for what it was going to look like until one of his friends walked into the shop and kind of joked that it looked like the Batmobile. So they stuck a couple of Batman logos on the car and it’s been a part of our racing heritage since then.”

Added dad Thomas Nataas, “Our race shop in Norway is in the basement of an old farm and we actually do have bats flying around. So not only did our race shop look like a bat cave when our friend walked into the shop but the newly built Pro Mod matched the Batman vibe.”