A major “Wow Moment” for Canada during last weekend’s NHRA Nationals!….
A rather remarkable result from within NHRA’s Lucas Oil Drag Racing series racing at the Summit Racing NHRA Nationals event in Ohio.
At that race – the championship final round trophy dash for the coveted TAD “Wally” featured two talented Canadian drivers, one being defending NHRA Lucas Oil World Champion Shawn Cowie (from Langley BC) and the other a rookie newcomer to the class, McKenna Bold (from Red Deer AB).
And in what could very well be a preview of more to come for this season — it was McKenna Bold earning the biggest win-light of her newly budding career when she took the event decider by a 5.313 secs 271.57 mph to 5.321 secs 272.39 mph count.
McKenna Bold – won her first NHRA nationals event title in only her 4th start!
While that moment was maybe unexpected by some, it was in fact an early equation result for McKenna after her Bold Racing Team venture (founded by her father Mark Bold) struck a formidable and strategic alliance with highly respected Randy Meyer Racing (based from Kansas) for the 2025 season.
McKenna was behind the wheel of one of that team’s highly formidable injected nitro cars.
McKenna’s win at Norwalk was a convincing wire-to-wire affair. She defeated a very competitive field from the #1 qualifying slot where her low ET of the race 5.180 secs set the pace and was also her career best run. Prior to her final round face off with Cowie Racing, she was super confident in the driver’s seat while defeating Tom Fox Jr., Melanie Johnson and Jamie Noonan during rounds 1 through 3.
The victory for McKenna Bold came during what was only her 4th start within the NHRA’s national event level circuit, after previously being entered at NHRA Pomona, Las Vegas and Concord this season.
McKenna Bold defeated non other then NHRA defending Lucas Oil World Champion Shawn Cowie in the final round at Norwalk!
“The weekend meant the world to me — I’ve dreamed of that moment for longer than I can remember,” she said. “Growing up racing Jr’s and then my family’s Top Dragster, I have countless pictures as a kid from national events with my favourite top fuel drivers, and I knew I wanted to be in the position I currently am one day. So, to win at this level and have those same drivers approach me to congratulate me — it was truly a pinch me moment.”
“This race weekend couldn’t have gone better. Heading into eliminations in the #1 position and then racing none other than the defending world champ and fellow Canadian, Shawn Cowie in the finals — was simply amazing. We laid down low e.t of the round for 6/7 passes we made, and luckily, I did my job behind the wheel. The conditions were tricky due to the crazy heat and humidity so I truly owe it to Randy for giving me the fastest car in the class and my crew guys for working non-stop to give me the best race car possible.”
“The support from everyone back home in Canada — has meant more than i can put into words. I’m so pumped to bring some hardware back to Alberta!”
McKenna’s first out of the gate NHRA national event venture came at Pomona’s iconic Winternationals this year at which she qualified #10 and ran an impressive 5.189 secs ET.
McKenna, who is a graduate of both Junior Dragster and Top Eliminator class racing from her home track RAD Torque Raceway in Edmonton, is an example of driving talent product from Randy Meyer Racing’s reputed operation – which is known for developing young new drivers for NHRA — and in particular female racers.
Prior to NHRA TAD — McKenna Bold honed her racing talents within RAD Torque Raceway’s thriving Top Eliminator class.
Randy Meyer Racing has a total of 6 NHRA Lucas Oil World Championships to its credit. In addition to Randy himself winning (1983) — his team had parlayed his daughters Megan (2019 & 2020) & Rachel (2021) to NHRA Lucas Oil World Championships. More recently, Norway’s Julie Nataas raced one of their team cars to the 2023 season title. Nataas has since moved on to fuel FC racing.
Posted by Bruce Biegler
Photos by Dave DeAngelis – Steve Embling – Phil Hutchison – Louren Sansregret
