Members of the Randy Meyer Racing Team will appear at the Tennessee Tow Show this month to garner attention for the national Slow Down-Move Over campaign that helps to raise awareness about the men and women who risk their lives assisting motorists at the roadside.
The team – including founder Randy Meyer and racers Megan Lingner (Meyer's daughter) and Deni Jensen – will be at the Tennessee Tow Show on Sept. 27 and 28 to share their Slow Down-Move Over (SDMO) campaign message, autograph mementoes of their races, participate in the International Towing Museum Weekend held simultaneously with the tow show and to pay their respects at the museum's Name Unveiling Ceremony at the Wall of the Fallen.
The ceremony honors towing operators who have lost their lives while in service to the motoring public.
The campaign to raise awareness about SDMO, for which there are laws in all 50 states, is personal for the Meyer family.
They lost family member Joe Meyer while he was operating a tow truck in 2021. Last year Randy Meyer Racing teamed up with the Towing & Recovery Association of America on a national awareness campaign.
"Unfortunately, first responders, emergency workers and tow truck operators continue to be struck while aiding drivers on the side of the road because a passing vehicle didn't slow down and mover over," Ms. Lingner said. "My dad and I have wanted to bring awareness and we have a platform.0"
Laws in all 50 states require drivers to either slow down or move over one lane to give emergency and roadside workers space to work. Ms. Lingner and all racers have been promoting SDMO on their nitro-burning race cars.
Randy Meyer was a towing operator and a Midwest tow truck distributor, founding the Meyer Truck Center in 1989 in Olathe, Ks. The company was sold in 2023. He began racing in 1979 and has had a successful drag racing career spanning over 40 years and over 100 victories as a driver, team owner and crew chief.
In September, Randy Meyer Racing Team made history at the National Hot Rod Association’s event, the U.S. Nationals, solidifying the team's dominance in the Top Alcohol Dragster category. It was the team’s fourth U.S. Nationals victory, following triumphs in 2019, 2020 and 2022.
Ms. Lingner's 30-foot drag racing car will be displayed at the Tennessee Tow Show. She has been a drag racer for 20 years, securing two World Championships before retiring from NHRA competition at the end of 2020. She returned to the raceway in 2022, becoming the first female to win the Nitro Chaos at Mo-Kan Dragway in Asbury, Mo. She has scored 42 wins and clocked a top speed of 285.35 mph in 5.09 seconds, a record.
Ms. Jensen was added to the Randy Meyer Racing roster in 2023. She, too, has racing in her genes, as she was taught to drive race cars by her father and grandfather. "Racing for us is a family event," she said. Ms. Lingner and Ms. Jensen have participated in various match race events this year.
Fun Facts about Drag Racing:
• Top Alcohol Dragsters are the quickest and fastest cars that currently run the full quarter-mile track;
• Run on 95% nitro and 5% methane;
• Have no transmissions or suspension;
• 300? wheelbase; and
• The current record for the class is 5.090 seconds (held by Ms. Lingner) and 286.62 MPH in quarter mile, and 3.397 ET and 238.17 MPH for eighth mile (both held by Ms. Lingner).