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2018 NHRA schedule reduces number of consecutive race weekends
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) has tweaked its 2018 schedule nearly from start to finish, with the more extraordinary changes coming during the six-race playoffs it calls the Countdown to the Championship. Annie Proffit reports.
Anne Proffit
Edited: Oct 2, 2017, 7:25 PM
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NHRA’s 24-race Mello Yello Drag Racing Series – 18 “regular season” races and six Countdown challenges – starts and ends as it always has, at its ancestral Pomona, California home. From its initial race in February at Pomona, through to the end of May remains similar. Changes begin with the swapping of dates for Englishtown and Joliet (Chicago), allowing the troops to move from Topeka, KS to Joliet two weeks later, followed by Englishtown on the second weekend of June.
There’s a break before Epping, which takes place the weekend after July 4th and allows a quick break before the difficult three races in three weeks in the Western Swing in late July through early August. The regular season ends with traditions of racing at Brainerd, MN. Followed by the Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, the final race of the “regular” season, on Labor Day weekend.
Once the playoffs get underway after the Nationals at Indy, everything changes. While this year’s schedule takes the troops from Charlotte to Reading to St Louis and then to Dallas, 2018’s schedule has been rearranged.
From Indy, the racers head to Maple Grove Raceway at Reading and a week later it’s on to Gateway outside St. Louis, followed by a week’s respite before traipsing to Dallas and then, two weeks later, to Charlotte’s zMax Dragway. This year’s schedule saw the Countdown start with three races in three weekends.
As occurs this year, Las Vegas takes place right before Halloween and the annual SEMA show while the season-closing Finals are on the Auto Club Raceway at Pomona dragstrip the second weekend of November.
The changes are intended to give crews some respite in the middle of the season, rather than having three straight or four consecutive as seen this year, while the changes in the Countdown could allow some testing and technical changes that might not otherwise be possible.
2018 NHRA Mello Yello Series ‘regular season’
Feb. 8-11, Winternationals, Pomona, CA
Feb. 23-25, Arizona Nationals, Phoenix, AZ
March 15-18, Amalie Motor Oil Gatornationals, Gainesville, FL
April 6-8, DENSO Spark Plugs Nationals, Las Vegas, NV
April 20-22, SpringNationals, Houston, TX
April 27-29, Four-Wide Nationals, Charlotte, NC
May 4-6, Southern Nationals, Atlanta, GA
May 18-20, Menards Heartland Nationals, Topeka, KS
May 31-June 3, Route 66 Nationals, Chicago, IL
June 7-10, Summernationals, Englishtown, NJ
June 15-17, Thunder Valley Nationals, Bristol, TN
June 21-24, Summit Racing Equipment Nationals, Norwalk, OH
July 6-8, New England Nationals, Epping, NH
July 20-22, Mopar Mile-High Nationals, Denver, CO
July 27-29, Toyota Sonoma Nationals, Sonoma, CA
Aug. 3-5, Northwest Nationals, Seattle, WA
Aug. 16-19, Lucas Oil Nationals, Brainerd, MN
Aug. 29-Sept. 3, Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals, Indianapolis, IN
Countdown to the Championship
Sept. 13-16, Dodge Nationals, Reading, PA
Sept. 21-23, Insurance Midwest Nationals, St. Louis, MO
Oct. 4-7, AAA Texas Fall Nationals, Dallas, TX
Oct. 12-14, Carolina Nationals , Charlotte, NC
Oct. 25-28, Toyota Nationals, Las Vegas, NV
Nov. 8-11, Auto Club Finals, Pomona, CA
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