This series will benefit everyone, from the racers to The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum, said Steve Gibbs, director of The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. It provides a great opportunity to preserve NHRA’s rich heritage through nostalgia drag racing competition.Hundreds of race-ready drivers are anxious to compete in competition that will be conducted under existing, well-established NHRA nostalgia rules. The year-end champions in each of the 14 categories will earn the most coveted trophy in all of drag racing, the NHRA Wally.
NHRA announces formation of Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series
March 05, 2008
Sports
To help preserve NHRA’s rich history and tradition while capitalizing on the success of nostalgia drag racing competition, NHRA has formed the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series that will crown year-end points champions in 14 categories.
“This new series is an exciting step that will appeal to drag racing fans young and old,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA executive vice president and general manager. “It’s a great way to introduce the younger generation to the history of our sport and give fans young and old a glimpse of racing the way it used to be.” Several Santa Paula drag racers will be competing. They include Ed Cook, Dean Lindsay, Ray Padgett, Ron Gribble, Mike Wortman, Doug Araiza, Jim Stewart and Charlie Whittaker.The NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series will kick off with the famed March Meet in Bakersfield, this Friday through Sunday and conclude Oct. 10-12 at the California Hot Rod Reunion presented by Automobile Club of Southern California back at Bakersfield’s Auto Club Famoso Raceway.Among the highlighted stops in between are Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho, for the 36th annual Pepsi Night Fire Nationals and Auto Club Dragway in Fontana, and The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.In all, there will be seven independently produced events with each class of competition competing at and earning points toward series championships at five of those seven events. The four groups comprising the 14 categories are Nostalgia Top Fuel Dragster; Nostalgia Funny Car; Group 1, consisting of A/Fuel, Junior Fuel A, Junior Fuel B, and AA/Gas Supercharged; and Group 2, containing the following eight categories: Nostalgia Eliminator 1, Nostalgia Eliminator 2, and Nostalgia Eliminator 3; A Gas, B Gas, C Gas, and D Gas; and Hot Rod.Each of the seven events will feature at least two of the four groups, and only the first two events, the March 7-9 March Meet and the April 18-20 So Cal Shootout in Fontana, will feature all four.
