NHRA announces purse increase, ’09 schedule
Beginning in 2009, national event winners in both Top Fuel and Funny Car will each receive $50,000, an increase of 25 percent. Pro Stock national event winners will receive $25,000, and Pro Stock Motorcycle winners will receive $10,000. At the most prestigious drag racing event in the world, the 55th running of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, winners in the top two nitro classes will receive a check for $100,000, and Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle winners will earn $50,000 and $20,000, respectively.
Increases at national events also were announced for runners-up, semifinalists, and second-round finishers. At the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, increases were announced for semifinalists and second-round finishers in Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle received increases for runner-up and second-round finishers. In all, the total increase in event purses in the four Professional classes is $1,353,700.
In 2009, the total purse for professional categories for all POWERade Series races except the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals is $660,000 for events including Pro Stock Motorcycle and $625,000 for those without bikes. The total professional category purse for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in 2009 will be $862,500.
The 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series returns to the same venues as 2008, with only slight changes to the dates due to the change of holiday weekends. The series, however, will celebrate several landmark anniversaries at some of its long-standing and fan-favorite facilities. Celebrating its 40th anniversary and serving as the East Coast kickoff to the season will be the ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals in Gainesville (March 12-15). The NHRA SuperNationals in
The season will begin at historic Auto Club Raceway at
The six-race Countdown to 1 will feature a challenging four-week stretch of consecutive races: the NHRA Nationals in Concord (Sept. 17-20), the O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals in Dallas (Sept. 24-27), the O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals in Memphis (Oct. 2-4), and the Virginia NHRA Nationals in Richmond (Oct. 9-11). From there, the series heads to
Also on the schedule are the O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals (March 27-29) in Houston, the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals (April 16-19) in Atlanta, the O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals (May 1-3) in Madison, the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals (May 15-17) in Bristol, the O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals (May 29-31) in Topeka, and the NHRA Route 66 Nationals (June 4-7) in Chicago. The summer months will again include a stop in Norwalk for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals (June 25-28) and the historic Western Swing, beginning in Denver with the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals July 10-12 and continuing with the Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals in Seattle (July 17-19) and the Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals in Sonoma (July 24-26). The 28th annual Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in
ESPN2 and ESPN2HD, a part of the ESPN network, the worldwide leader in sports, will again provide exclusive television coverage, on a same-day basis, for all 24 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events featuring action from Saturday's qualifying rounds and Sunday's race.
Earlier this year, NHRA announced that Full Throttle, The Coca-Cola Company's energy drink, will replace POWERade as the series sponsor beginning in 2009.
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2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series Schedule |
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| 49th annual | NHRA Winternationals | Feb. 5-8 | Pomona |
| 25th annual | Checker Schuck's Kragen NHRA Nationals | Feb. 20-22 | Phoenix |
| 40th annual | ACDelco NHRA Gatornationals | March 12-15 | Gainesville (PSM) |
| 22nd annual | O'Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals | March 27-29 | Houston (PSM) |
| 10th annual | SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals | April 2-5 | Las Vegas |
| 29th annual | Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals | April 16-19 | Atlanta (PSM) |
| 13th annual | O'Reilly NHRA Midwest Nationals | May 1-3 | Madison (PSM) |
| Ninth annual | O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals | May 15-17 | Bristol |
| 21st annual | O'Reilly NHRA Summer Nationals | May 29-31 | Topeka |
| 12th annual | NHRA Route 66 Nationals | June 4-7 | Chicago (PSM) |
| 40th annual | NHRA SuperNationals | June 11-14 | Englishtown (PSM) |
| Third annual | Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals | June 25-28 | Norwalk (PSM) |
| 30th annual | Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals | July 10-12 | Denver (PSM) |
| 22nd annual | Schuck's Auto Supply NHRA Nationals | July 17-19 | Seattle |
| 22nd annual | Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals | July 24-26 | Sonoma (PSM) |
| 28th annual | Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals | Aug. 13-16 | Brainerd (PSM) |
| 25th annual | Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals | Aug. 20-23 | Reading (PSM) |
| 55th annual | Mac Tools U.S. Nationals | Sept. 2-7 | Indianapolis (PSM) |
| Second annual | NHRA Nationals | Sept. 17-20 | Concord(PSM) |
| 24th annual | O'Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals | Sept. 24-27 | Dallas (PSM) |
| 22nd annual | O'Reilly NHRA Mid-South Nationals | Oct. 2-4 | Memphis (PSM) |
| Fourth annual | Virginia NHRA Nationals | Oct. 9-11 | Richmond |
| Ninth annual | ACDelco Las Vegas NHRA Nationals | Oct. 29-Nov. 1 | Las Vegas (PSM) |
| 45th annual | Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals | Nov. 12-15 | Pomona (PSM) |
| (PSM) – Event will include Pro Stock Motorcycle | |||
2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event purses
(bold represents increases)
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Top Fuel/Funny Car |
Pro Stock |
Pro Stock Motorcycle |
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Winner: $50,000 |
Winner: $25,000 |
Winner: $10,000 |
|
Runner-up: $22,000 |
Runner-up: $11,000 |
Runner-up: $4,000 |
|
Semifinalists: $18,000 |
Semifinalists: $9,000 |
Semifinalists: $2,000 |
|
Second round: $14,000 |
Second round: $7,000 |
Second round: $1,600 |
|
First round: $10,000 |
First round: $5,000 |
First round: $1,200 |
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17th & 18th place: $3,000 |
17th & 18th place: $1,500 |
17th & 18th place: $500 |
2009 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals purse
(bold represents increases)
|
Top Fuel/Funny Car |
Pro Stock |
Pro Stock Motorcycle |
|
Winner: $100,000 |
Winner: $50,000 |
Winner: $20,000 |
|
Runner-up: $30,000 |
Runner-up: $15,000 |
Runner-up: $5,500 |
|
Semifinalists: $20,000 |
Semifinalists: $10,000 |
Semifinalists: $3,000 |
|
Second round: $15,000 |
Second round: $7,500 |
Second round: $2,000 |
|
First round: $11,000 |
First round: $5,500 |
First round: $1,500 |
|
17th & 18th place: $3,000 |
17th & 18th place: $1,500 |
17th & 18th place: $500 |