NHRA NEWS: 2007 NHRA POWERADE DRAG RACING SERIES SCHEDULE
ANNOUNCED
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: NHRA Communications Dept., (626) 914-4761
2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Schedule Announced
Dates change for six national event tracks including Atlanta, St. Louis,
Bristol, Topeka, Reading, and Memphis; Norwalk, Ohio joins NHRA
GLENDORA, Calif. (Aug. 30, 2006) - NHRA announced today its new 23-race
NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule for 2007. During the
announcement, the world's largest motorsports sanctioning body announced
the addition of Norwalk Raceway Park, which sits between Cleveland and
Toledo, Ohio, to the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule.
Also announced was the addition of a 16th event for the Pro Stock
Motorcycle category, to take place at Texas Motorplex near Dallas.
In all, six national events have been moved on the schedule. The series
will continue to book-end the 23-race, 10-month season at Auto Club
Raceway at Pomona in Southern California, officially kicking off the
season Feb. 8-11 with the CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals and
concluding the season and crowning the NHRA POWERade Series World
Champions at the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals,
Nov. 1-4.
The schedule features only one stretch where the competitors are off for
more than one week, that being between the Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA
Nationals in Phoenix, Feb. 23-25, and the traditional East Coast opener,
the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville, Fla., which will be held
March 15-18.
Among the many changes to the 2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series
schedule is the relocation of the Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals
from National Trail Raceway in Hebron, Ohio to Norwalk Raceway Park, one
of the premier drag racing facilities in the country, June 28-July 1.
Located near Cleveland, Ohio and not too far from the metropolitan
markets of Toledo, Ohio and Detroit, Mich., the new summer race
optimizes the 23-race schedule bringing the excitement of the NHRA
POWERade Drag Racing to not only the entire state of Ohio, but residents
of Southern Michigan.
NHRA also announced significant changes to its schedule, moving the
Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway to
April 26-29, followed by the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals at Gateway
International Raceway in St. Louis, May 4-6. The O'Reilly NHRA Thunder
Valley Nationals at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway, which traditionally held a
late-April date, will move to May 18-20, while the NHRA Supernationals
at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, N.J., just outside
New York City, will continue to run June 21-24.
Another change to the schedule will be the move of the Toyo Tires NHRA
Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading, Pa. to Aug. 16-19, which
will be the last race to determine the Top Eight positions for the NHRA
POWERade Countdown to the Championship.
The O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals at Heartland Park Topeka (Kan.), will
move off Memorial Day weekend to the following week, becoming a
three-day event, June 1-3, followed by the NHRA Nationals at Route 66
Raceway, just south of Chicago.
The world's largest, most prestigious and longest running drag racing
event, the 53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, will be held once again
on Labor Day weekend, Aug. 29 - Sept. 3 at O'Reilly Raceway Park at
Indianapolis. The race, which already features two lucrative bonus
events, the Skoal Showdown and Ringers Gloves NHRA Pro Bike Battle, will
deliver further excitement as it will be the first race of the NHRA
POWERade Countdown to the Championship.
The O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals at Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports
Park, will move to be included as part of the NHRA POWERade Countdown to
the Championship, Sept. 14-16.
The final race to secure the top four teams remaining in the Countdown
to the Championship will be the Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals at
Virginia Motorsports Park near Richmond, Va., Oct. 5-7. NHRA also
announced that the Pro Stock Motorcycle class will add a 16th event to
its current schedule, competing at the O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals at
Texas Motorplex outside Dallas, Sept. 20-23.
The Western Swing will remain in tact, beginning with the Mopar
Mile-High Nationals at Bandimere Speedway near Denver, July 13-15,
followed by the Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals presented by Lucas
Oil, July 20-22 at Pacific Raceways in Seattle and the FRAM-Autolite
NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway, in Sonoma, Calif., July 27-29.
The final two races of the season, the ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Oct. 18-21, and the Automobile
Club of Southern California NHRA Finals in Pomona, Calif., Nov. 1-4,
will represent the Countdown to One in the drag racing world competing
for the claim to the NHRA POWERade World Championship.
ESPN2, a part of the ESPN network, the worldwide leader in sports, will
once again provide exclusive television coverage, on a same-day basis,
of all 23 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events.
Headquartered in Glendora, Calif., the NHRA is the primary sanctioning
body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. It presents 23
national events through its NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series. The NHRA
has 80,000 members nationwide and 140 member tracks. The
NHRA-sanctioned sportsman and bracket racing series provide competition
opportunities for drivers of all levels. The NHRA develops the stars of
tomorrow by offering the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, NHRA Summit
Racing Series, NHRA Xplod Sport Compact Racing Series and the NHRA
Street Legal Drags presented by AAA. The NHRA also offers the NHRA
O'Reilly Auto Parts Jr. Drag Racing League for youths ages 8 to 17.
2007 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series Schedule
-Countdown to Eight -
47th annual CARQUEST Auto Parts Winternationals
Feb. 8-11
Pomona, Calif.
23rd annual Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals
Feb. 23-25
Phoenix
38th annual ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals
March 15-18
Gainesville, Fla. (PSM)
20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals
March 30- April 1
Houston (PSM)
Eighth annual NHRA SummitRacing.com Nationals
April 12-15
Las Vegas
27th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern
Nationals April 26-29
Atlanta (PSM)
11th annual O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals
May 4-6
St. Louis (PSM)
Seventh annual O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals
May 18-20
Bristol, Tenn.
19th annual O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals
June 1-3
Topeka, Kan.
10th annual NHRA Nationals at Route 66 Raceway
June 7-10
Chicago (PSM)
38th annual NHRA SuperNationals
June 21-24
Englishtown, N.J. (PSM)
Inaugural Pontiac Performance NHRA Nationals
June 28-July 1
Norwalk, Ohio (PSM)
28th annual Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals
July 13-15
Denver (PSM)
20th annual Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals
July 20-22
presented by Lucas Oil
Seattle
20th annual FRAM-Autolite NHRA Nationals
July 27-29
Sonoma, Calif. (PSM)
26th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals
Aug. 9-12
Brainerd, Minn. (PSM)
23rd annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals
Aug. 16-19
Reading, Pa. (PSM)
- Countdown to Four -
53rd annual Mac Tools U.S. Nationals
Aug. 29- Sept. 3
Indianapolis (PSM)
20th annual O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals
Sept. 14-16
Memphis, Tenn. (PSM)
22nd annual O'Reilly NHRA Fall Nationals
Sept. 20-23
Dallas (PSM)
Second annual Torco Racing Fuels NHRA Nationals
Oct. 5-7
Richmond, Va.
-Countdown to One-
Seventh annual ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals
Oct. 18-21
Las Vegas (PSM)
43rd annual Automobile Club of Southern California
NHRA Finals Nov. 1-4
Pomona, Calif. (PSM)
(PSM) - Event will include Pro Stock Motorcycle
-30-
Editors Note: NHRA also announced today the NHRA POWERade Countdown to
the Championship, a program assuring every event in the 23-race series
will have a significant impact on the championship as teams in each
professional category vie in the first 17-races to secure a spot in the
Top Eight, those eight teams over the next four races to secure a place
in the Top Four, and finally a chance for any of the final four teams in
the last two races to be crowned NHRA POWERade World Champions. A
release announcing the NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship was
distributed in conjunction with today's schedule announcement.
