POMONA, Calif. – In consideration of the global COVID-19 pandemic, National Hot Rod Ass’n officials have announced revisions to the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
The series is tentatively planned to resume June 5-7 with the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.
The season will conclude with the crowning of the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series champions Nov. 13-15 at the Auto Club Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.
The revised schedule will consist of 19 total events, with 17 of those events being contested when the series resumes in June.
Six of these events will be condensed to two-day competition schedules for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series classes, due to economic and logistical factors.
As a result of the compressed schedule, the points will not be reset after the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway, eliminating the Countdown to the Championship format for 2020.
Among the other changes on the schedule is the reduction of zMAX Dragway’s two dates down to just one under the compressed plan, with the NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals – originally scheduled for April 24-26 – postponed until Sept. 18-20.
As a result of that change, the Sept. 25-27 NTK NHRA Carolina Nationals have been canceled and will not be rescheduled this season.
“The NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals is a world-class celebration of all that is great about drag racing,” said Greg Walter, executive vice president and general manager of Charlotte Motor Speedway. “But in these unprecedented times, we feel it is in the best interest for the health of our fans, vendors, competitors and staff members to postpone the race, so that we as an industry can enjoy it to its highest extent.
“While the revised schedule only allows for one of our national NHRA events this year, this just makes our team hungrier to produce our biggest race ever when we go four-wide in September. America’s going to come back strong from this and we’ll be ready to lead the way at zMAX Dragway.”
Other NHRA races aside from Charlotte’s second date that have been canceled for this season include the DENSO Auto Parts NHRA Four-Wide Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas (Nev.) Motor Speedway, the NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, Ga.; the Virginia NHRA Nationals at Virginia Motorsports Park in Petersburg, Va.; and the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway in Epping, N.H.
NHRA has held two make-up dates on the calendar in case there are further delays.
Tentative schedule announcements for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Series, Mickey Thompson Tires NHRA Top Fuel Harley Series and Samtech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown Series will be announced soon.
All NHRA-sanctioned drag racing series competition is still suspended until further notice.
Revised 2020 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series Calendar
Date – Event – Location
June 5-7 – Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals (PSC/PSM) – Gainesville, Fla.
June 12-14 – Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals (PSC/PSM) – Houston, Texas
June 19-21 – NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals (PSC/PSM) – Bristol, Tenn.
June 26-28 – Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals (PSC/PSM) – Norwalk, Ohio
July 9-12 – Route 66 NHRA Nationals – Joliet, Ill.
July 17-19 – Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals (PSM) – Morrison, Colo.
July 24-26 – NHRA Sonoma Nationals (PSC/PSM) – Sonoma, Calif.
July 31-Aug. 2 – NHRA Northwest Nationals (PSC/PSM) – Seattle, Wash.
Aug. 13-16 – Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals – Brainerd, Minn.
Aug. 21-23 – Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals (PSC) – Topeka, Kan.
Sept. 3-7 – NHRA U.S. Nationals (PSC/PSM) – Indianapolis, Ind.
Sept. 11-13 – Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals (PSC/PSM) – Reading, Pa.
Sept. 18-20 – NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals (PSC/PSM) – Concord, N.C.
Sept. 25-27 – Make Up Date If Needed – Gainesville, Fla.
Oct. 2-4 – AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals (PSC/PSM) – St. Louis, Mo.
Oct. 9-11 – Make Up Date If Needed – Houston, Texas
Oct. 15-18 – AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals (PSC/PSM) – Dallas, Texas
Oct. 29-Nov. 1 – Dodge NHRA Nationals (PSC/PSM) – Las Vegas, Nev.
Nov. 12-15 – Auto Club NHRA Finals (PSC/PSM) – Pomona, Calif.