NHRA announced its 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series schedule Aug. 26, featuring 22 national events. The most significant change to the schedule is the move of the NHRA Arizona Nationals at Firebird Int'l Raceway to the fall, where it will become one of the six races that make up the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. The Phoenix event, which also will feature the Pro Stock Motorcycle class for the first time, will be held Oct. 14-16.

NHRA also announced that New England Dragway will join the NHRA member-track network in 2011. NHRA is working with the track on facility improvements with the goal to bring an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event to New England Dragway as soon as possible. Given the location of the facility and NHRA’s well-known desire to bring a national event to New England and near the metropolitan Boston market, it promises to be one of the most popular spots on the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series tour.

NHRA will celebrate its 60th anniversary in 2011 with a number of special events and activities planned throughout the season at all NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events. Plans for the celebration, which will be announced in greater detail in the coming weeks, will include showcasing many of the sport’s greatest moments from the last seven decades.

NHRA’s 60th anniversary campaign kicks off with the 51st running of the Kragen O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals in Pomona Feb. 24-27, followed by the Tire Kingdom NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway two weeks later, March 10-13. After the East Coast opener in Gainesville, the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will head west for the SummitRacing.com NHRA Nationals at The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, April 1-3.

The 2nd annual NHRA Four-Wide Nationals, a spectacle unlike any other in motorsports, will take place at zMax Dragway April 14-17. The 24th annual O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Spring Nationals will take place April 29-May 1 at Royal Purple Raceway near Houston, followed by the 31st annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals, May 13-15 at Atlanta Dragway. The O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Summer Nationals in Topeka will be held May 20-22.

The month of June will again take the Full Throttle Series teams to three tradition-rich venues, beginning with the 42nd annual NHRA SuperNationals in Englishtown June 2-5, followed by the NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals in Bristol June 17-19 and the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals in Norwalk June 23-26.

In another change to the schedule, the United Association Route 66 NHRA Nationals in Chicago will move to July 7-10. In 2011, the Western Swing will begin at the Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals in Denver July 22-24, continue at the 24th annual Fram Autolite NHRA Nationals July 29-31 in Sonoma, and end at the NHRA Northwest Nationals in Seattle Aug. 5-7.

The other race scheduled during August, celebrating its 30th anniversary, is the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals in Brainerd, set for Aug. 18-21.

If the stakes weren’t already high for the most famous of all drag racing events – the traditional Labor Day weekend running of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil – they will be increased tenfold in 2011 as the prestigious event will represent the final chance for teams in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series to earn a top 10 position and qualify for the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship. The nearly weeklong event will take place Aug. 31-Sept. 5 at O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

The six races that will make up the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship include the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Nationals, Sept. 15-18 at zMax Dragway in Charlotte; O’Reilly Super Start Batteries NHRA Fall Nationals at Texas Motorplex near Dallas, Sept. 22-25; and the 27th annual Toyo Tires NHRA Nationals, Sept. 29-Oct. 2 at Maple Grove Raceway in Reading.

The season concludes with the last three events of the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship, beginning with the NHRA Arizona Nationals in Phoenix Oct. 14-16 and followed by the NHRA Las Vegas Nationals Oct. 27-30 and the Automobile Club of Southern California NHRA Finals at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona Nov. 10-13.

The Pro Stock Motorcycle class will compete in a 16-race schedule, with six of those races in the NHRA Full Throttle Countdown to the Championship.

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 of all NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series events featuring action from qualifying rounds Saturday and Sunday’s race.