Two-time and reigning NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Top Alcohol Dragster national champion Julie Nataas realized a lifelong dream last week by earning her Top Fuel license behind the wheel of a Scrappers Racing-prepared dragster at the Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, Virginia.

The 27-year-old sportsman drag racing star clocked 1,000-foot runs of 3.95 and 3.82 seconds to secure her competition license as she navigates her path to Top Fuel in the near future. 

“I’m officially a license Top Fuel driver,” Nataas said, with excitement in her voice. “This does not necessarily mean anything special for next year yet, this is just my first initial step of getting there. We’ll be making a lot more test passes and runs here coming up, but I’m still chasing the sponsorships for going to Top Fuel full-time next year, which is of course my ultimate goal. It’s just about continuing to work from here, but it’s been a great day with Scrappers — they’ve all been amazing and I feel I’ve got a good support system here.”

Julie’s father, Thomas, and her grandfather, Albin, blazed the family trail into the sport of drag racing in Europe; Thomas is a two-time FIA European Top Fuel champion in his own right, inspiring his daughter to follow in his footsteps. Julie got her start in Jr. Dragsters before transitioning to Super Comp in her native Norway. She has also raced in Top Dragster, go-karts, and Formula road-racing cars.

Nataas moved to California in 2015 to chase her drag racing dreams on the sport’s biggest stage. She landed a ride with Randy Meyer Racing’s multi-car team and made her Top Alcohol Dragster debut in 2017, and following partial campaigns in 2017 and 2018, competed full-time beginning in 2019. Along with her back-to-back championship seasons in 2022 and 2023, she has finished inside the top 10 in points nationally every year since 2018.

Julie Nataas shared early on in a DRAGZINE interview that Top Fuel was her ultimate goal, and her biggest step yet came on the Monday following the NHR Virginia Nationals, with the support of Top Fuel drivers and former Top Alcohol Dragster competitors Jasmine Salinas and Travis Shumake, Scrappers Racing crew chief Rob Flynn, and the entire Scrappers team.