2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season | |
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League | NHRA |
Sport | Drag racing |
The 2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series season was announced on August 31, 2023.[1]
It will be the 69th season of the National Hot Rod Association's top drag racing competition. The NHRA will have 20 Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock events, marking the first time since 2018 that Pro Stock car will compete the full season.[2] There are typically 15 Pro Stock Motorcycle, ten Pro Modified, and ten Factory Stock Showdown races during the season, and the rounds which all three will compete will be announced at a later date.[1] There will be All-Star Call Out races, which are based on a format used by the Discovery television program Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings, where the drivers select their opponents in early rounds.[3]
On October 25, 2023, Camping World, which had been the title sponsor of the series since late 2020 in a four and a half year contract, and the NHRA agreed to relinquish naming rights sponsorship in renewing its NHRA professional category sponsorship while expanding to premier partner status that includes professional and sportsman series sponsorship for the next three seasons through 2026.[4] That allowed the NHRA that day to announce Mexican food producer Gruma, S.A.B. de C.V. will become the new naming rights sponsor of the series.[5] Gruma will promote their Mission Foods brand, which also expands their Mission Foods Challenge to all 14 regular season rounds in 2024, unlike 2023 when the event was not scheduled for the two four-wide rounds.
On November 9, 2023, the NHRA announced Virginia Motorsports Park in Dinwiddie, Virginia will return to the schedule to fill the June unannounced date that replaces Denver on the schedule. Originally planned to be a three-day event, the NHRA announced on April 2, 2024 that the event would be modified to a two-day format with three qualifying sessions taking place on Saturday. [6]
The season was originally scheduled for 21 races with one unannounced date. The unannounced date was anticipated to be held at I-70 Motorsports Park in Odessa, Missouri and would replace the Heartland Nationals event, held at Heartland Motorsports Park in Shawnee County, Kansas, which closed because of land and tax disputes between circuit ownership and the local government. The NHRA announced on March 10, 2024 that the planned Odessa round will not take place in 2024 because the drag strip, which during development was called the new Kansas City International Raceway and later Central Power Raceway, is still under construction.[7] That circuit opened April 11, 2024 for club competition, with national event suites and towers still under construction.
Schedule[edit]
Schedule released August 31, 2023. Last revision March 10, 2024
2024 NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Schedule[1] | |||||||||
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Date | Race | Site | TV | Winners | |||||
Top Fuel | Funny Car | Pro Stock | Pro Stock Motorcycle | ||||||
Mar 7-10 | Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals TFCO | Gainesville, FL | FS1 | Shawn Langdon (1) | J.R. Todd (1) | Erica Enders (1) | Gaige Herrera (1) | ||
Mar 21-24 | Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals | Pomona, CA [a] | FS1 | Justin Ashley (1) | John Force (1) | Dallas Glenn (1) | N/A | ||
Apr 5-7 | NHRA Arizona Nationals | Chandler, AZ | FS1 | Shawn Langdon (2) | Austin Prock (1) | Greg Anderson (1) | N/A | ||
Apr 12-14 | NHRA Four-Wide Nationals 4 Lanes | Las Vegas, NV | FS1 | Doug Kalitta (1) | Bob Tasca (1) | Jeg Coughlin Jr. (1) | N/A | ||
Apr 26-28 | NHRA Four-Wide Nationals 4 Lanes | Concord, NC | FS1 | Justin Ashley (2) | Matt Hagan (1) | Greg Anderson (2) | Gaige Herrera (2) | ||
May 17-19 | Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance PSCO | Joliet, IL | FS1 | Antron Brown (1) | Matt Hagan (2) | Dallas Glenn (2) | Gaige Herrera (3) | ||
May 31 - June 2 | NHRA New England Nationals | Epping, NH | FS1 | Doug Kalitta (2) | John Force (2) | Troy Coughlin Jr. (1) | N/A | ||
Jun 7-9 | Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals | Bristol, TN | FS1 | Tony Schumacher (1) | Austin Prock (2) | Jeg Coughlin Jr. (2) | Gaige Herrera (4) | ||
Jun 22-23 | Virginia NHRA Nationals | Dinwiddie, VA | TBA | ||||||
Jun 27-30 | Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals | Norwalk, OH | FS1/FOX | ||||||
Jul 19-21 | NHRA Northwest Nationals | Kent, WA | FOX | ||||||
Jul 26-28 | DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals PSMCO | Sonoma, CA | FOX | ||||||
Aug 15-18 | Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals | Brainerd, MN | FOX | N/A | |||||
Aug 28 - Sep 2 | NHRA U.S. Nationals 1.5 FCCO | Brownsburg, IN | FS1/FOX | ||||||
Countdown to the Championship | |||||||||
Sep 12-15 | Pep Boys NHRA Nationals | Mohnton, PA | TBA [b] | ||||||
Sep 20-22 | betway NHRA Carolina Nationals | Concord, NC | TBA [b] | ||||||
Sep 27-29 | NHRA Midwest Nationals | Madison, IL | FS1 | ||||||
Oct 10-13 | Texas NHRA FallNationals | Ennis, TX | TBA [c] | ||||||
Oct 31 - Nov 3 | NHRA Nevada Nationals | Las Vegas, NV | FS1 | ||||||
Nov 14-17 | In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals 1.5 | Pomona, CA | FS1 | ||||||
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Additional rules for specially marked races[edit]
4 Lanes: The Nationals in both Las Vegas and Charlotte in the spring will compete with cars on four lanes.
- All cars will qualify on each lane as all four lanes will be used in qualifying.
- Three rounds with cars using all four lanes.
- In Rounds One and Two, the top two drivers (of four) will advance to the next round.
- The pairings are set as follows:
- Race One: 1, 8, 9, 16
- Race Two: 4, 5, 12, 13
- Race Three: 2, 7, 10, 15
- Race Four: 3, 6, 11, 14
- Semifinal One: Top two in Race One and Race Two
- Semifinal Two: Top two in Race Three and Race Four
- Finals: Top two in Semifinal One and Semifinal Two
- Lane choice determined by times in previous round. In first round, lane choice determined by fastest times.
- Drivers who advance in Rounds One and Two will receive 20 points for each round advancement.
- In Round Three, the winner of the race will be declared the race winner and will collect 40 points. The runner-up will receive 20 points. Third and fourth place drivers will be credited as semifinal losers.
1.5: The U. S. Nationals and In-N-Out Burger Finals will have their race points increased by 50% . Drivers who qualify but are eliminated in the first round receive 30 points, and each round win is worth 30 points. The top four receive 10, 9, 8, and 7 points, respectively, for qualifying positions, with the 5–6 drivers receiving 6 points, 7–8 drivers receiving 5 points, 9–12 receiving 4 points, and 13–16 receiving 3 points. Also, the top four, not three, drivers after each session receive points for fastest times in each round (4-3-2-1).
TF/FC/PS/PSM CO: All-Star Call Out competition for that category.
Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge[edit]
The Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge is a collaboration between NHRA and Mission Foods, introduced in the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series.[9] The challenge spices up Saturday qualifying schedule at regular-season events. Semifinalists from the previous race compete anew, culminating in a final during the last qualifying session. Winners gain a purse, as well as bonus points.
Bonus points are awarded as follows:
- Winner (3)
- Runner-up (2)
- Quickest losing semifinalist (1)
Bonus points earned from the challenge will be added to a driver’s total points at the start of the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
2024 Mission #2FAST2TASTY Challenge Schedule[10] | |||||
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Date | Race | Winners | |||
Top Fuel | Funny Car | Pro Stock | Pro Stock Motorcycle | ||
Mar 23 | Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals | N/A[a] | N/A[b] | ||
Apr 6 | NHRA Arizona Nationals | Tony Schumacher (1) | J.R. Todd (1) | Erica Enders (1) | N/A[b] |
Apr 13 | NHRA Four-Wide Nationals (Las Vegas) | Antron Brown (1) | Austin Prock (1) | Jeg Coughlin Jr. (1) | N/A[b] |
Apr 27 | NHRA Four-Wide Nationals (Concord) | Justin Ashley (1) | Bob Tasca (1) | Erica Enders (2) | Gaige Herrera (1) |
May 18 | Gerber Collision & Glass NHRA Route 66 Nationals presented by PEAK Performance | Justin Ashley (2) | J.R. Todd (2) | N/A[c] | Gaige Herrera (2) |
Jun 1 | NHRA New England Nationals | Steve Torrence (1) | John Force (1) | Dallas Glenn (1) | N/A[b] |
Jun 8 | Super Grip NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals | Clay Millican (1) | Austin Prock (2) | Erica Enders (3) | Matt Smith (1) |
Jun 22 | Virginia NHRA Nationals | ||||
Jun 24 | Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals | ||||
Jul 20 | NHRA Northwest Nationals | ||||
Jul 27 | DENSO NHRA Sonoma Nationals | N/A[d] | |||
Aug 17 | Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals | N/A[b] | |||
Sep 1 | NHRA U.S. Nationals | ||||
Overall Winners | |||||
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Notes[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c National Hot Rod Association, "2024 Camping World Series schedule includes returns to Phoenix and Chicago", Retrieved August 31, 2023.
- ^ https://www.nhra.com/news/2023/pro-stock-compete-all-21-races-during-2024-mission-foods-series-season
- ^ Wade, Susan. "How NHRA Is Thinking Outside the Box for Big-Money Callout Specialty Race". AutoWeek. Hearst Publications. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
- ^ https://www.nhra.com/news/2023/camping-world-and-nhra-announce-partnership-extension-through-2026
- ^ "Mission Foods enters multiyear deal as title sponsor of NHRA's premier series". NHRA.com. National Hot Rod Association. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
- ^ staff, Posted by NHRA com. "Virginia NHRA Nationals to feature three qualifying sessions on Saturday in shift to two-day event". NHRA. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "NHRA Adds Flying H Dragstrip to 2024 National Schedule". Speed Sport. Turn 3 Media/NASCAR Digital Network. Retrieved 2023-11-01.
- ^ staff, Posted by NHRA com. "Schedule set for Winternationals conclusion, Mission Challenge in Phoenix". NHRA.
- ^ ""Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge to debut during 2023 regular season"". NHRA. 19 January 2023. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
- ^ ""Mission Tortillas Partnership NHRA"". NHRA. Retrieved 8 April 2024.