Hot Rod Heritage Series announces 2013 schedule

NHRA officials have announced the 2013 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series schedule, with several new tracks being added, including Mission Raceway in Mission, B.C., and Rocky Mountain Raceways in West Valley City, Utah.

Entering its sixth season, the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series features Nostalgia Funny Cars and Dragsters and is quickly becoming a fan-favorite series among drag racing enthusiasts across the United States.

The season-opening March Meet will be held March 7-10 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, followed by the Arizona Fuel & Gas Championships, which has been pushed back to April 13-14 at Speedworld Dragstrip in Northwest Phoenix.

The Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky., has been added to the Top Fuel points-earning stops as well as the inaugural New England Hot Rod Reunion, giving racers in the class five events at which to accumulate points. They will count their best four of five events toward the year-end championship. The new stops at Mission Raceway and Rocky Mountain Raceways will both feature the Nostalgia Funny Car class, giving those racers six events at which to compete. They will count their best five of six events. Rocky Mountain Raceways will also host Group 1; that will be the season-ending event for those racers.

“The Holley Hot Rod Reunion has always been an affiliate event, but with Top Fuel teams from across the country participating in the series, we felt it was time to include this great event in the points championship,” said Larry Fisher, executive director of the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. “The two new Funny Car events just show how strong the Funny Car class and the series have become. We are very pleased to have these two great facilities join the series.”

The 2013 schedule features 12 events and will end in the same spot it begins, at Auto Club Famoso Raceway, with the California Hot Rod Reunion presented by Automobile Club of Southern California, Oct. 18-20.

Additionally, the series will make two stops at Firebird Raceway in Boise, Idaho, for the annual Ignitor Nitro Opener and Nightfire Nationals, visit Sacramento Raceway in July, and have an additional stop at Auto Club Famoso Raceway, where the Group 2 champions will be crowned.

Tulsa Raceway Park (Okla.) has been added to the schedule as the site of an affiliated event with its annual Nostalgia Nitro National Reunion, which is scheduled for Sept. 13-14. Racers will not score points toward the series championship at this event.

The NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series consists of two nitro categories — Nostalgia Top Fuel dragster and Nostalgia Funny Car — and two groups of additional classes. Group 1 includes A/Fuel, Jr. Fuel, and 7.0 Eliminator, and Group 2 includes Nostalgia Eliminator I, Nostalgia Eliminator II, Nostalgia Eliminator III, A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas, and Hot Rod eliminator. Racers in each class will run a combination of events at which they will score points toward the championships.

The NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series was developed in 2008 to help preserve NHRA’s rich history and tradition while providing racing opportunities for those enthusiasts who enjoy nostalgia drag racing competition. (NHRA)

Key for class descriptions:
TF – Nostalgia Top Fuel
FC – Nostalgia Funny Car
Group 1 – A/Fuel, Jr. Fuel, 7.0 Eliminator
Group 2 – NE I, NE II, NE III, A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas, Hot Rod