NHRA shortens its 2020 season from 24 to 19 events; cancels its playoffs

The NHRA announced Wednesday that it will resume its 2020 schedule June 5-7 with the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway.

Because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the season will be shortened from an original slate of 24 events to 19 races, and the points won’t be reset for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs after the U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis.

The championship finale will be Nov. 13-15 in the Auto Club Finals at Pomona, California.

The NHRA completed its first two events at Pomona and Chandler, Arizona. Of the remaining 17 events, six will be condensed to two-day shows. The calendar has two makeup dates for further delays.

The following events have been canceled: April 3-5 Four-Wide Nationals at Las Vegas, Nevada; May 15-17 Southern Nationals at Atlanta Georgia; May 29-31 Virginia Nationals at Richmond, Virginia; Aug. 21-23 New England Nationals at Epping, New Hampshire; Sept. 25-27 Carolina Nationals at Concord, North Carolina.

The NHRA suspended all drag racing for 30 days on March 16 because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

All other NHRA-sanctioned drag racing (beyond the national level) remains suspended until further notice.

Here’s the release from the NHRA:

In consideration of the COVID-19 global pandemic, NHRA officials have announced revisions to the 2020 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The series is tentatively planned to resume June 5-7 with the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. The season will conclude with the crowning of the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series champions November 13-15 at the Auto Club Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

The revised schedule will consist of 19 total events, with 17 of those events being contested when the series resumes in June. Six of these events will be condensed to two-day competition schedules for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series classes due to economic and logistical factors. As a result of the compressed schedule, points will not be reset after the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway. NHRA has held two make-up dates on the calendar in case there are further delays.  

Tentative schedule announcements for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Series, Mickey Thompson Tires NHRA Top Fuel Harley Series and Samtech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown Series will be announced soon. All NHRA-sanctioned drag racing series competition is still suspended until further notice.