GLENDORA, Calif. — The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will return to competition with back-to-back weekends of racing at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis in mid-July.
The two events will be run July 11-12 and July 18-19 with 15 more events for the series to be run through the conclusion of the campaign Nov. 13-15 at the Auto Club NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.
The revised schedule is subject to changes due to evolving facts and guidelines regarding the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’re excited for our Mello Yello Series to return to action, not just for the racers and fans but also for everyone who loves and supports NHRA Drag Racing,” said NHRA President Glen Cromwell. “Because we are an outdoor sport, we feel comfortable opening these Indianapolis events to a limited number of fans who are the lifeblood of our sport and following the guidance of the state of Indiana to resume racing.”
The Indianapolis events, both of which will be televised on the FOX Broadcast Network, will be open to a limited number of spectators, with offers being extended via email to NHRA members and 2020 U.S. Nationals ticket holders.
The first event, July 11-12, will feature all four Mello Yello classes – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – while the second event, July 18-19, will feature Top Fuel and Funny Car along with the E3 Spark Plugs Pro Mod Series presented by J&A Service, Mickey Thompson Tires Top Fuel Harley Series, and the SAMTech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown. Neither event will include Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series competition.
The revised 2020 schedule will consist of 19 events, with 17 of those events being contested when the series resumes in July. The first four events – both Indianapolis events as well as the newly-sponsored Flav-R-Pac NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle and the Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil – will be broadcast on FOX.
Sixteen of the events on the revised schedule will be condensed to two-day competition schedules for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series classes due to economic and logistical factors. This will entail one day of qualifications (two rounds) on Saturday and Final Eliminations on Sunday.
The events in Chicago; Norwalk, Ohio; Richmond, Va.; Epping, N.H.; and Sonoma, Calif., and the spring events in Las Vegas and Charlotte, N.C., that were originally scheduled for the 2020 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season, have been canceled. The NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta, previously canceled, has been returned to the schedule in late August.
The JEGS Allstars competition, originally scheduled as part of the Chicago event, and the Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle, originally scheduled as part of the Sonoma event, will both be contested at the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals.
As previously announced, due to the compressed schedule, points will not be reset after the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
The revised schedule:
July 11-12, Lucas Oil Raceway, Indianapolis; July 18-19 Lucas Oil Raceway, Indianapolis; July 31-Aug. 2, Pacific Raceway, Seattle, Wash.; Aug. 7-9, Bandimere Speedway, Morrison, Colo.; Aug. 14-16, Brainerd Int’l Raceway, Brainerd, Minn.; Aug. 21-23, Heartland Park Motorsports Park, Topeka, Kan.; Aug. 28-30, Atlanta Dragway, Commerce, Ga.; Sept. 3-6, Lucas Oil Raceway; Sept. 11-13, Maple Grove Raceway, Mohnton, Pa.; Sept. 18-20, zMAX Dragway, Concord, N.C.; Sept. 25-27, Gainesville Raceway, Gainesville, Fla.; Oct. 2-4, Gateway Motorsports Park, Madison, Ill., Oct. 9-11, Bristol Dragway, Bristol, Tenn.; Oct. 16-18, Texas Motorplex, Ennis, Texas; Oct. 23-25, Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Texas; Oct. 30-Nov. 1, The Strip At Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nev.; Nov. 13-15, Auto Club Raceway, Pomona, Calif.