NHRA officials announced today details of the NHRA Traxxas
Nitro Shootout in Top Fuel and Funny Car, a program first identified last month
with the announcement of Traxxas as the Official Radio Controlled Performance
Products of the NHRA.
The NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootouts, which are races within a
race, will be conducted at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway at
Indianapolis, with Top Fuel showcased on Saturday, Sept. 1, and Funny Car
featured on Sunday, Sept. 2.
“The NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootouts redefine what a race
within a race is all about,” said Mike Jenkins, owner and president of Traxxas.
“We worked with NHRA to craft a program that rewards the winners of NHRA Full
Throttle events and the leaders in the points standings while at the same time
provides an opportunity for fans to vote for their favorite drivers.”
There will be three ways for Top Fuel and Funny Car teams to
qualify for the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootouts.
First, the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series points
leaders in Top Fuel and Funny Car after the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at
Brainerd International Raceway in Brainerd, Minn., Aug. 16-19, will
automatically qualify as top seeds for the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootouts, even
if the respective points leaders have yet to win a national event.
Second, the first seven winners in both categories of the
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series season will qualify, beginning at the
O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super Start Batteries,
Feb. 9-12 at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California, and concluding
at the Brainerd event. If the points leaders do not win one of the first 16
events of the season in each category, their provisional spots will bump the
seventh event winner in each category. If there are less than seven different
winners in each category prior to the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, rankings in
NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series points standings after the Brainerd event
will fill any open positions up to No. 7. Seeding for the top seven positions
will be based on the season-long points standings in both categories after the
Brainerd event.
Third, once the first seven positions in the fields are set,
the eighth and final spot in each category will be determined by a fan vote and
a lottery-style drawing. The fan-vote selections in each category will be
eligible to become the eighth seeds in the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootouts.
The fan vote for the eighth seeds will be conducted on
NHRA’s Facebook page and through a lottery-style drawing at the Mac Tools U.S.
Nationals. All remaining unqualified drivers in Top Fuel and Funny Car who have
competed in all 16 NHRA Full Throttle events this season leading up to the Mac
Tools U.S. Nationals will be included in the NHRA Facebook fan-voting process.
Based on the percentage of fan votes received, drivers will receive an
equivalent percentage of chances in the lottery. For example, if a driver earns
15 percent of the fan vote, he or she will have 15 chances out of 100 in the
lottery-style drawing. All eligible drivers will have at least one chance in
the drawing.
The NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootouts will award $100,000 to the
winners in both the Top Fuel and Funny Car events. The program will award the
top four finishers in each event, with the runners-up receiving $15,000 and the
semifinal losers earning $7,500 each. The NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootouts will be
featured on the Sunday, Sept. 2, qualifying shows on ESPN2 and
ESPN2HD.
In addition to backing the NHRA Traxxas Nitro Shootouts,
Traxxas is the Official Radio Controlled Performance Products of the NHRA and
the primary sponsor for Courtney Force, who will make her debut in the Funny
Car class at the O’Reilly Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals presented by Super
Start Batteries in the Traxxas Ford Mustang.
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