NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

The NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will rumble into Atlanta Dragway, Georgia’s House of Speed, May 13-15 for the 36th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals.

The ground will shake and nitro will fill the air as the best in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and Pro Stock Motorcycle attempt to power their way into the winner’s circle at the revered track located just northeast of metropolitan Atlanta. Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock), and Hector Arana Sr. (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were last year’s winners of the event. The race will be televised on FOX Sports 1 with qualifying shows on Friday and Saturday and three hours of finals coverage on Sunday.

The Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals provides fans in the Peach State with a weekend of high-performance fun from the world’s fastest motorsport. Atlanta Dragway is one of the fastest facilities on the circuit and a favorite among both drivers and fans. Crowds trickle in from all over the South to experience the sensory overload that is NHRA Drag Racing, which features 10,000-horsepower, fire-breathing machines blasting down the dragstrip at speeds exceeding 320 mph.
 
The excitement and energy on the track will be as adrenaline pumping as ever, but in 2016, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series is shifting gears and venturing boldly into a brand-new era. It’s one of the most eagerly anticipated seasons for the NHRA community in many years.

New TV partner FOX Sports will aim its cameras at the exciting side-by-side racing on the dragstrip and showcase the sport with live coverage of Sunday eliminations at 17 events and provide more than 500 hours of NHRA programming on its family of networks. There are new rules for the Pro Stock category that will help the factory hot rods recapture the 200-mph thrills that makes the class a fan favorite. There are many new rules in place to improve competition in other classes, and there’s even a bold new NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series logo.

In addition, NHRA will ask its legion of fans and highly-skilled drivers what they love about the sport in the new “MY NHRA is …” marketing campaign. NHRA’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of Funny Car is sure to be a fan-favorite attraction as well.

While there will be a lot of newness floating around the Atlanta track during the event, one thing fans can count on is the same high-intensity, drama-filled competition that they have become accustomed to.

In addition to the Mello Yello Series classes, Atlanta’s racing menu is filled with plenty of NHRA’s high-revving racing categories, including the exciting doorslammers of the NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series, as well as a full complement of thrilling Sportsman racing action in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, including Super Stock, Stock, and Top Sportsman.

In Top Fuel, Brown raced to his second victory of the 2015 season when he defeated Leah Pritchett in the Atlanta final one year ago. The driver of the Matco Tools dragster went on to win five more events and earned his second career Top Fuel world title with a career-high and category-best seven victories in 2015. He has tallied four victories in Atlanta, the most of active Top Fuel drivers, and earlier this year raced to victory in Las Vegas, but defending his Atlanta title will not be easy.

Points leader Brittany Force opened the 2016 season with fire in her eyes, racing her Monster Energy dragster to a runner-up finish in Phoenix and then grabbing her first career victory in Gainesville and a second in Charlotte. Talented Texan Steve Torrence also got off to a nice start by winning the season opener in Pomona in his Capco Contractors/Torrence Racing dragster. Torrence earned his first career victory in Atlanta in 2012 against eight-time world champ Tony Schumacher, who has yet to win the NHRA Southern Nationals.

Others to watch in the fierce Top Fuel class include recent Houston event winner Doug Kalitta, Gatornationals runner-up Terry McMillen, Clay Millican, J.R. Todd, 2014 rookie of the year Richie Crampton, and the newest members of the Don Schumacher Racing team, Shawn Langdon and Leah Pritchett.

Wilkerson raced to the Funny Car title at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals last year in his Levi, Ray & Shoup Ford Shelby Mustang. He beat Ron Capps, the winner of the 2016 season opener in Southern California, to earn his only victory of 2015. It didn’t take Wilkerson long to hoist the Wally in 2016, though, beating 16-time Funny Car world champion John Force in the final in Phoenix in February, then added another win at the NHRA Four-Wide Nationals and a runner-up in Houston to pull into a tie for the points lead with Houston champ Courtney Force.

Kalitta Motorsports’ Alexis DeJoria will ride into Atlanta with momentum from her win in Las Vegas. DeJoria, driver of the Tequila Patron Toyota Camry, ended a 33-race winless streak by speeding past teammate and reigning world champ Del Worsham in the Vegas final round.

John Force Racing’s Robert Hight, the Funny Car points leader, is a three-time Atlanta winner, with his most recent victory at the facility in 2014. Hight already has one win this year, which came in Gainesville, but he will find tough competition from his teammate John Force, who has seven wins at Atlanta Dragway but hasn’t been able to make his way to the facility’s winner’s circle since 2005.

Other Funny Car contenders include two-time event winner and 2015 runner-up Jack Beckman, Pomona winner Capps, defending champ Worsham, Chad Head, and two-time world champ Cruz Pedregon.

In Pro Stock, Line outlasted his Summit Racing Equipment Chevrolet Camaro teammate Greg Anderson in the 2015 final in Atlanta to earn his second win of the year – and that’s been the storyline of 2016 as well. Line and Anderson have dominated thus far in the redesigned factory hot rod class, combining to win the first six races. Anderson, a four-time Atlanta winner, won the season-opener in Pomona as well as in Gainesville and Houston. Points leader and two-time event winner Line won the races in Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Charlotte. The Ken Black Racing duo will try to keep the streak going in Georgia, but are fully aware the Pro Stock class is one of the most competitive categories of racing in all of motorsports.

Jeg Coughlin Jr. and Allen Johnson are the only other two active drivers with wins at Atlanta Dragway. Coughlin, a three-time event winner, returned to the Pro Stock ranks this year with Mopar and Elite Motorsports backing. He last won the event in 2014, while Johnson will hope to push his Marathon Petroleum Dodge Dart back to the winner’s circle in Atlanta for the first time since 2002.

Two-time and defending world champ Erica Enders, rookie of the year Drew Skillman, Las Vegas runner-up Bo Butner, and Phoenix runner-up Chris McGaha are also expected to make a push for the Wally in Atlanta in the thrilling 200-mph doorslammer class.

The Pro Stock Motorcycle category will hit the track for the third of 16 events in 2016 at the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals. Eddie Krawiec, the 2016 series runner-up, is the current points leader. He rode his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson past Arana earlier this year in Gainesville, a rematch of the 2015 Atlanta final, in which Arana and his Lucas Oil Buell were victorious.

Andrew Hines, Krawiec’s teammate, won the Four-Wide Nationals and is the reigning world champion and a two-time Atlanta winner, and three-time world champ Angelle Sampey leads all active Pro Stock Motorcycle racers with four wins at the Southern Nationals, her last in 2004. Others gunning for the Wally include alligator farmer Jerry Savoie, 2011 event winner LE Tonglet, Hector Arana Jr., Chip Ellis, and the 21-year-old rookie Melissa Surber.

The NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series will make its third stop of the 2016 season at Atlanta Dragway. Rickie Smith, who won in Atlanta in 2014, stormed to victory at the class’ season opener in Gainesville. Smith is a two-time Pro Mod world champion with nine career victories. Kenny Lang is the defending event winner and will again be a major contender for victory in the thrilling 250-mph doorslammer category.

The race will also feature plenty of thrilling action in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, showcasing the future stars of the sport.

As always, fans will have the opportunity to interact with their favorite drivers as they’re granted an exclusive pit pass to the most powerful and sensory-filled motorsports attraction on the planet. This unique opportunity in motorsports gives fans direct access to the teams, allowing them to see firsthand the highly-skilled mechanics service their hot rods between rounds, and get autographs from their favorite NHRA drivers.

Fans also will want to visit NHRA’s popular Nitro Alley and Manufacturers Midway, where sponsors and race vendors create a carnival atmosphere with interactive displays, simulated competitions, merchandise, food, and fun for the entire family.

As part of NHRA’s ongoing celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Funny Car class, one legendary Funny Car driver will be honored during the pre-race ceremony.

Qualifying for the Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals in Atlanta will feature two rounds at 4 and 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 13, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, May 14, at 1:30 and 4 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, May 15.

To purchase general-admission or reserved seats, call 800-884-NHRA (6472) or visit www.NHRA.com/tickets. Kids 12 and under are free in general-admission areas with a paid adult.