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The latest update as of March 25, 2020

NHRA ANNOUNCES REVISED SCHEDULE FOR MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES

In consideration of the COVID-19 global pandemic, NHRA officials announced today revisions to the 2020 Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule. The series is tentatively planned to resume June 5-7 with the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway. The season will conclude with the crowning of the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series champions November 13-15 at the Auto Club Finals at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona.

The revised schedule will consist of 19 total events, with 17 of those events being contested when the series resumes in June. Six of these events will be condensed to two-day competition schedules for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series classes due to economic and logistical factors. As a result of the compressed schedule points will not be reset after the U.S. Nationals at Lucas Oil Raceway. NHRA has held two make-up dates on the calendar in case there are further delays.

Tentative schedule announcements for the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Series, Mickey Thompson Tires NHRA Top Fuel Harley Series and Samtech.edu NHRA Factory Stock Showdown Series will be announced soon. All NHRA-sanctioned drag racing series competition is still suspended until further notice.

So what does the revised schedule look like? And how has it changed from the original lineup of races, locations, and dates? Here's what the 2020 NHRA Mello Yello season will look like.... at least until the next revision. Let's call the current version 2020.1 and go from there.

Lucas Oil NHRA Winternationals - February 6 - 9 - held as scheduled

NHRA Arizona Nationals - February 21 - 23 - held as scheduled

AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals - sportsman categories ran as scheduled March 12 - 15
PRO and PRO Sportsman categories to be held June 5 - 7

DENSO Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals - originally scheduled April 3 - 5 CANCELLED

NHRA Southern Nationals - originally scheduled May 15 - 17 CANCELLED

Virginia NHRA Nationals - originally scheduled May 29 - 31 CANCELLED

Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil - originally scheduled April 15 - 17
All categories to be contested June 12 - 14 - PROs on Saturday-Sunday only

NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals - as per original schedule June 19 - 21 - PROs on Saturday-Sunday only

Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals - as per original schedule June 26 - 28 - PROs on Saturday-Sunday only

Route 66 NHRA Nationals - as per original schedule July 9 - 12

Dodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil - as per original schedule July 17 - 19

NHRA Sonoma Nationals - as per original schedule July 24 - 26

NHRA Northwest Nationals - as per original schedule July 31 - August 2 - PROs on Saturday-Sunday only

Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals - as per original schedule August 13 - 16

NHRA New England Nationals - originally scheduled August 21 - 23 CANCELLED

Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals presented by Minties - originally scheduled June 12 - 14
All categories to be contested August 21 - 23 - PROs on Saturday-Sunday only

NHRA U.S. Nationals - as per original schedule September 3 - 7 (minus one day - September 2)

Mopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil - originally scheduled September 17 - 20
All categories to be contested September 11 - 13 - PROs on Saturday-Sunday only

NGK Spark Plugs NHRA Four-Wide Nationals - originally scheduled April 24 - 26
All categories to be contested September 18 - 20

NHRA Carolina Nationals - originally scheduled September 25 - 27 CANCELLED

Make Up Date if needed - AMALIE Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals - September 25 - 27

AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals as per original schedule October 2 - 4

Make Up Date if needed - Mopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals Presented by Pennzoil - October 9 - 11

AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals - as per original schedule October 15 - 18

Dodge NHRA Nationals Presented by Pennzoil - as per original schedule October 29 - November 1

Auto Club NHRA Finals - as per original schedule November 12 - 15

In addition to the dates on the revised schedule, NHRA has held open two weekends, September 25 - 27, and October 9 - 11, in the event that further delays to the schedule occur. That certainly doesn't give them much wiggle room and unfortunately we can expect to see further shrinkage and rearrangement in the schedule before racing resumes. Sad, but true. As always: STAY TUNED! for changes and updates.

A thorough re-read of the revised schedule shows that the two "open" weekends would allow the NHRA to begin national event racing as late as June 19 with the Thunder Valley Nationals and still complete the 19-race schedule on time in mid-November at Pomona. BUT, that would mean racing SEVEN weeks in a row - from the U.S. Nationals through to the Texas FallNationals, and leave only two free weekends from June through October (July 3-4 and August 29-30). Following that possible seven week stretch, there would also be open weekends on October 24-25 and November 7-8, but that would be the only breaks in a nearly six month drag racing marathon.

Of the five cancelled events, two were scheduled for Bruton Smith's "MEGA-tracks", the spring four-wide race in Las Vegas, and the fall two-wide event at ZMax Dragway in Charlotte, NC. Even though it impacts Smith's bottom line, it appears that NHRA decided to share the pain with everyone and the other three races dropped from the 2020 schedule were in weaker markets: Epping, NH; Atlanta, GA; and Richmond, VA.

One surprise that slipped into the revision was to reduce PRO class competition to two days (from three), which presumably means qualifying on Saturday and eliminations on Sunday. The question that immediately comes to mind is: how many qualifying sessions on Saturday? Two or three? Considering the dearth of overflowing fields in recent years, the answer is most likely two sessions. Go quick right out of the box or go home will be the new mantra in the nitro pits this season. UPDATE: A quick look at NHRA FAQ's on the revised schedule gives us the official answer - Drivers will make two qualifying passes on Saturday before competing in eliminations on Sunday.

The PRO Sportsman categories of Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car may see a reduction in national event opportunities, as the cancelled spring Las Vegas and fall Charlotte events were on their list of 16 nationals. That really shouldn't be a problem for racers as it takes away one western and one eastern race and still leaves 14 events to choose from for the seven races that can be counted towards the national championships. There is one racer that may be disappointed by the deletions, and that's Shawn Cowie who had a real hot streak going at Charlotte a few years back, winning the spring event in 2016, and the fall race back-to-back in 2016 - 2017.