NEWS NUGGETS
COUNTDOWN IS ON TO NHRA MELLO YELLO SERIES 2013 OPENER:
The 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns to Southern
California and historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona for the 53rd annual
O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start
Batteries, February 14–17. With kids 12 and younger allowed into general
admission seating for free with a paying adult, this family-friendly event
is one of the gems at the venerable Los Angeles County Fairplex. The
season-opening event of what promises to be an action-packed 24-race
schedule will be the perfect opportunity for dedicated NHRA fans to
reconnect with their favorite drivers and continue to make memories they
will carry with them for a lifetime. Many drivers will be sporting new
sponsors, paint schemes and new crewmembers, and this event will allow
fans to see the new combinations early in the competitive season. Fans
will also be treated to a sensory-overload environment with the sights
and sounds of the tradition-rich event as drivers rocket down the track
at speeds of more than 320 mph in an attempt to join the list of
O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals winners.
Amalie Oil Co. has agreed to a multi-year title-rights sponsorship of
the NHRA Gatornationals at Auto-Plus Raceway at Gainesville. The Amalie
Oil NHRA Gatornationals is scheduled for March 14–17, and is the third
event in the 24-race 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule.
NEWS NUGGETS
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW FOR 2013 O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA WINTERNATIONALS AT AUTO CLUB RACEWAY AT POMONA: Tickets for the 53rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, February 14–17—the season-opening event of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series—are going fast. NHRA’s season-opening event will be contested at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and will be every NHRA fan’s first opportunity to see all of the new cars and paint schemes and meet all of the drivers who will be racing at speeds of more than 320 mph in an attempt to become O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals champions. A win at this event can mean great momentum as drivers chase NHRA Mello Yello world championship glory during the 24-event season that crisscrosses the United States. All of the stars in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will be competing at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, including defending Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher and Brandon Bernstein; Funny Car fan favorites “Fast Jack” Beckman, Ron Capps, Courtney Force and 15-time champ John Force; and defending Pro Stock world champ Allen Johnson, four-time champ Greg Anderson and four-time 2012 winner Erica Enders. To purchase general-admission, reserved-seat or Top Eliminator Club tickets for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, log on to NHRATix.com or call the NHRA Ticket Sales Center, 800-884-NHRA (6472). Tickets for children 12 and younger are free in general admission with any paid adult ticket.
GET YOUR TICKETS NOW FOR 2013 O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA WINTERNATIONALS AT AUTO CLUB RACEWAY AT POMONA: Tickets for the 53rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, February 14–17—the season-opening event of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series—are going fast. NHRA’s season-opening event will be contested at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and will be every NHRA fan’s first opportunity to see all of the new cars and paint schemes and meet all of the drivers who will be racing at speeds of more than 320 mph in an attempt to become O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals champions. A win at this event can mean great momentum as drivers chase NHRA Mello Yello world championship glory during the 24-event season that crisscrosses the United States. All of the stars in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will be competing at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, including defending Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher and Brandon Bernstein; Funny Car fan favorites “Fast Jack” Beckman, Ron Capps, Courtney Force and 15-time champ John Force; and defending Pro Stock world champ Allen Johnson, four-time champ Greg Anderson and four-time 2012 winner Erica Enders. To purchase general-admission, reserved-seat or Top Eliminator Club tickets for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, log on to NHRATix.com or call the NHRA Ticket Sales Center, 800-884-NHRA (6472). Tickets for children 12 and younger are free in general admission with any paid adult ticket.
NEWS NUGGETS
TICKETS ON SALE FOR 2013 O’REILLY AUTO PARTS NHRA WINTERNATIONALS: Tickets for the 53rd annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, February 14–17, the season-opening event of the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, are now available for purchase. The NHRA’s season-opening event will be contested at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona and will be every NHRA fan’s first opportunity to see all of the new cars and paint schemes as well as meet all of the drivers who will be racing at speeds of more than 320 mph in an attempt to become O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals champions. A win at this event can mean great momentum as drivers chase NHRA Mello Yello world championship glory during the 24-event season that crisscrosses the United States. All of the stars in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will be competing at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, including defending Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown, Tony Schumacher and Brandon Bernstein; Funny Car fan favorites “Fast Jack” Beckman, Ron Capps, Courtney Force and 15-time champ John Force; and defending Pro Stock world champ Allen Johnson, four-time champ Greg Anderson and four-time 2012 winner Erica Enders. To purchase general-admission, reserved-seat, or Top Eliminator Club tickets for the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries, log on to NHRATix.com or call the NHRA Ticket Sales Center, 800-884-NHRA (6472). Tickets for children 12 and younger are free in general admission with any paid adult ticket.
NEWS NUGGETS
BROWN’S DRAGSTER AND FAMILY DRAGQUOIA ON DISPLAY AT L.A. AUTO SHOW: 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown's Matco Tools/Toyota Top Fuel dragster is on display at the L.A. Auto Show, as well as his DragQuoia, the Toyota Sequoia that Brown designed into a "family dragster" for the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge and captured the Sony Computer Entertainment America's Gran Turismo Award for Best Truck or SUV at the 2012 SEMA Show. In addition, NHRA fans can take photos at Toyota PitPass with a Toyota NHRA Funny Car and test their reaction time with a sensory game. The PitPass attraction will be located on Chick Hearn Way December 7–9. Toyota Funny Car racers Del Worsham (December 8) and Alexis DeJoria (December 9) also will be doing autograph sessions for Toyota during the show.
BROWN’S DRAGSTER AND FAMILY DRAGQUOIA ON DISPLAY AT L.A. AUTO SHOW: 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Top Fuel world champion Antron Brown's Matco Tools/Toyota Top Fuel dragster is on display at the L.A. Auto Show, as well as his DragQuoia, the Toyota Sequoia that Brown designed into a "family dragster" for the Toyota Racing Dream Build Challenge and captured the Sony Computer Entertainment America's Gran Turismo Award for Best Truck or SUV at the 2012 SEMA Show. In addition, NHRA fans can take photos at Toyota PitPass with a Toyota NHRA Funny Car and test their reaction time with a sensory game. The PitPass attraction will be located on Chick Hearn Way December 7–9. Toyota Funny Car racers Del Worsham (December 8) and Alexis DeJoria (December 9) also will be doing autograph sessions for Toyota during the show.
KALITTA MOTORSPORTS TAPS DELAGO AS DEJORIA CREW CHIEF: Kalitta Motorsports, helmed by drag-racing icon Connie “the Bounty Hunter” Kalitta, has announced that one recent NHRA world champion has been added to the team’s roster and another recent NHRA world champion, already on the team, will return to a familiar assignment in the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Tommy DeLago has been tapped as the crew chief on the Tequila Patrón Toyota Camry Funny Car driven by 2012 rookie of the year candidate Alexis DeJoria, and Del Worsham has been named as driver of the DHL Toyota Camry Funny Car. DeLago, a 43-year-old native of Benicia, California, will be making his second tenure at Kalitta Motorsports; he worked for the team from 1996 until 1999. Among DeLago’s many tuning achievements are the 2011 NHRA Funny Car championship with driver Matt Hagan and becoming the first crew chief to guide a nitro-fueled Funny Car to a pass under four seconds (3.995, Charlotte 2, 2011). DeLago served with other successful current and former nitro crew chiefs as a crewmember under the tuning tutelage of drag racing legend Ed “the Ace” McCulloch from 1997 until 1998 with Kalitta Motorsports.
2012 CHAMPIONS HONORED AT NHRA FULL THROTTLE AWARDS CEREMONY IN HOLLYWOOD:
A trio of first-time world-championship winners—Antron Brown, Jack
Beckman and Allen Johnson—headlined those drivers crowned Monday evening
during the 2012 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series awards ceremony
at the Grand Ballroom at the Hollywood and Highland Center.
Fifteen-time NHRA Full Throttle Funny Car Champion John Force will take
center stage at this year’s Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade
Show, joining Dave Despain on a live version of his popular "Wind Tunnel
TV" program during the Grand Opening Breakfast. The racing legend is
looking forward to getting back to ‘the three biggest business days in
racing’ for a variety of reasons.
NHRA news and updates for the week of October 14.
NEWS NUGGETS
NEFF, ALBALOOSHI, GAINES SCORE IN READING; PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE FINAL TO RUN IN LAS VEGAS: Funny Car racer Mike Neff kept his championship hopes alive by racing to victory Monday at the rain-delayed Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Khalid alBalooshi (Top Fuel) and V. Gaines (Pro Stock) also were winners at the fourth of six playoff events in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. Neff defeated veteran driver Johnny Gray with a time of 4.030 seconds at 317.94 mph in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to earn his fourth win of the season and his first of the year in the playoffs. With the win, Neff closed in on new series leader Jack Beckman, who set a national record and advanced to the semifinals over the weekend in his Schumacher Electric Dodge Charger. Neff trails Beckman by 54 points, and Ron Capps is in second place, 23 back of Beckman with only two races remaining in the season.
NEFF, ALBALOOSHI, GAINES SCORE IN READING; PRO STOCK MOTORCYCLE FINAL TO RUN IN LAS VEGAS: Funny Car racer Mike Neff kept his championship hopes alive by racing to victory Monday at the rain-delayed Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals at Maple Grove Raceway. Khalid alBalooshi (Top Fuel) and V. Gaines (Pro Stock) also were winners at the fourth of six playoff events in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. Neff defeated veteran driver Johnny Gray with a time of 4.030 seconds at 317.94 mph in his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang to earn his fourth win of the season and his first of the year in the playoffs. With the win, Neff closed in on new series leader Jack Beckman, who set a national record and advanced to the semifinals over the weekend in his Schumacher Electric Dodge Charger. Neff trails Beckman by 54 points, and Ron Capps is in second place, 23 back of Beckman with only two races remaining in the season.