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Cummings Wins Cleetus & Cars at Indy with Dominant Performance in the GUNK Dragster

The Randy Meyer Racing team delivered a powerful performance at Lucas Oil Indianapolis Raceway Park this past weekend during the Cleetus & Cars event featuring Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car, with Matt Cummings driving the GUNK dragster to victory and securing his seventh career Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series Wally — and his second win of the year with Randy Meyer Racing.

Cummings and teammate Gary Pritchett came out swinging in qualifying, locking down the top two spots in the 8-car field. Matt posted a stout 5.22-second run to take the No. 1 qualifier position, while Gary followed closely with a 5.23 ET to land second on the ladder. With only seven cars entered, Cummings received a first-round bye and threw down the fastest mph of the event — a blistering 5.189 at 277.94 mph.

Gary Pritchett, making his first appearance of the season with Randy Meyer Racing in the Hedinger’s Equipment-backed dragster, had a strong launch in round one but carried a massive wheelstand down track, forcing him to lift early to regain control. Despite an impressive .012 reaction time, he was edged out by Angelle Sampey with a 5.507 at 267.27 mph to her 5.315 at 272.23 mph.

Cummings continued to dominate through eliminations, defeating Jamie Noonan in the semifinals with a 5.175 at 272.72 to Noonan’s 5.389 at 269.08, the quickest quarter-mile ET of the event. In the final round, Matt posted a slower 5.261 at 268.01 to take down Sampey’s 5.751 at 248.11 and clinch the win.

“Second win of the year!” said Cummings. “It was a quick turnaround between races, and we had to come down off one emotional win last weekend and prepare for a whole different track and weather conditions this weekend. I really feel like Randy and the team are learning how I drive this dragster. We wanted to be number 1 after two very solid qualifying passes, and Randy gave me a great hot rod to grab number 1 and we never looked back from there. We dominated race day by over a tenth of a second. We made no mistakes, and we took home the trophy. We go home winners two weeks in a row. All the hard work my GUNK team goes through to prepare to win, it really shows.”

With the win, Cummings continues to extend his points lead in the NHRA Top Alcohol Dragster standings and proves that the GUNK dragster is a serious threat in 2025.

The team now sets their sights on the next event with confidence — the Top Alcohol Dragster Shootout race this weekend — where Megan Meyer will step into the GUNK dragster to make her first competition start of the season.

This story was originally published on May 5, 2025. Drag Illustrated

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