ROCKINGHAM, N.C. — San Antonio Raceway will be the site of a historical season opener for IHRA, as for the first time in history a major drag racing sanctioning body will host a scheduled eighth- mile national event.
The Amalie Oil Texas Nationals will take place April 4-6, bringing IHRA racing to the eighth-mile strip for the third time ever. Track conditions caused two events on the ’07 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam schedule to be switched from quarter-mile events to the eighth-mile and the response from fans, sponsors and racers opened IHRA officials’ eyes to the possibility of scheduling a race under this format.
“Last season we really learned something in San Antonio,” IHRA president Aaron Polburn said. “While the quarter-mile has been the standard drag race for a long time, we learned an eighth-mile national event is a viable, exciting format. The buzz and excitement the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals generated caused us to take a good, hard look at this format.”
Two events at Rockingham (N.C.) Dragway, including the season finale Oct. 17-19, highlight the remainder of the 2008 IHRA slate.
The schedule:
April 4-6, San Antonio Raceway, San Antonio, Texas; April 18-20, Rockingham Dragway, Rockingham, N.C.; May 23-25, Milan Dragway, Milan, Mich.; July 4-6, Castrol Raceway, Edmonton, British Columbia; July 18-20, Grand Bend Motorplex, Grand Bend, Ontario; Aug. 1-3, Knoll Gas Motorsports Park, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Aug. 22-24, Tulsa Raceway Park, Tulsa, Okla.; Sept. 5-7, New England Dragway, Epping, N.H.; Sept. 19-21, Toronto Motorsports Park, Toronto, Ontario; Oct. 3-5, Maryland Int’l Raceway, Budds Creek, Md.; Oct. 17-19, Rockingham Dragway.