GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The National Hot Rod Ass’n has announced that the majority of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals, scheduled for this weekend at Gainesville Raceway, has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The sportsman categories contested on Thursday will complete competition this weekend without ticketed spectators.
However, the Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Mod, Factory Stock Showdown, Top Fuel Harley, Top Alcohol Dragster and Top Alcohol Funny Car categories will compete at a later date to be determined.
Current tickets will be honored at the rescheduled event or ticketholders may opt to use their tickets as a credit toward the 2021 Gatornationals. NHRA officials will determine the next step as additional information becomes available.
The postponement of the Gatornationals is the latest domino to fall in the motorsports world due to the coronavirus pandemic. NASCAR has announced that events at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Atlanta Motor Speedway will be run without fans.
MotoGP officials have already announced the cancellation or postponement of four races in Qatar, Thailand, the United States and Argentina. Formula E officials have also announced the postponement of events in Rome, Italy and Indonesia.
World Superbike has also announced the postponements of multiple events, with races in Spain and France already rescheduled for later in the year and a race in Qatar has been canceled. Officials from Monster Energy AMA Supercross confirmed Wednesday that the Seattle, Wash., round of the series that was scheduled for March 28 has also been postponed.
The NASCAR Whelen Euro Series is also postponing events. The series event that was scheduled for Spain’s Circuit Ricardo Tormo on April 25-26 has been postponed until Oct. 31-Nov. 1.
The NTT IndyCar Series season opener, the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg in Fla., is still scheduled to take place. However, general admission has been canceled for the event by event officials.
In the short-track world, World of Outlaws officials are monitoring the situation, but plan to continue with scheduled races. However, Thunderbowl Raceway in Tulare, Calif., has already announced the cancelation of its World of Outlaws event on April 3-4.