NHRA: Heartland Park Topeka added to schedule

NHRA has announced that NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series will return to Kansas’ capital city in 2016.

NHRA officials were able to reach an agreement quickly with Heartland Park Topeka’s new ownership group, Heartland Park Topeka, LLC, led by Chris Payne and Todd Crossley.

The 28th annual NHRA Kansas Nationals will be contested May 20-22 at Heartland Park Topeka, one of the quickest and fastest drag strips in the world. The event, which will be televised live on FOX Sports 1, will be race No. 8 in the regular season, bringing the season total of events for the NHRA Mello Yello Series to 24.

“Heartland Park Topeka has such a great history with NHRA as the site of many performance milestones and record-setting achievements.  We are looking forward to continuing that legacy with today’s announcement,” said Peter Clifford, NHRA president. “The fans in the Topeka and Kansas City area are some of the most passionate in the country and we are excited for them to be able to continue to enjoy the NHRA Mello Yello Series. And for NHRA Sportsman racers, the track is one of the busiest in that region, and it will continue to offer many racing opportunities for those hot rodding enthusiasts.”

Said Payne: “We’re honored and excited to work with NHRA and ensure drag racing will once again thrive in Topeka for years to come. We’re grateful to be a part of such a great community who loves all forms of racing and look forward to revitalizing one of Topeka’s greatest assets.” 

In addition to back-to-back divisional events in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series in late July, NHRA will offer a full menu of sportsman racing action at Heartland Park Topeka, including the NHRA Summit Racing Series, NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League, NHRA Jr. Street and the NHRA Drags: Street Legal Style presented by AAA.

“We thank new owner Chris Payne for his commitment to NHRA drag racing,” Clifford added. “His love for the sport and commitment to the Heartland Park facility should be a big win for the Topeka community and for all of our racers.” 

The full 2016 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series schedule is below.

Headquartered in Glendora, Calif., NHRA is the primary sanctioning body for the sport of drag racing in the United States. NHRA presents 24 national events featuring the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and NHRA J&A Service Pro Mod Drag Racing Series. NHRA provides competition opportunities for drivers of all levels in the NHRA Summit Racing Series and the NHRA Drags: Street Legal Style presented by AAA. NHRA also offers NHRA Jr. Street for teens and the Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League for youth ages 5 to 17. In addition, NHRA owns and operates five racing facilities: Atlanta Dragway in Georgia; Gainesville Raceway in Florida; National Trail Raceway in Ohio; Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis; and Auto Club Raceway at Pomona in Southern California. For more information, log on to NHRA.com, or visit the official NHRA pages on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.

2016 NHRA MELLO YELLO DRAG RACING SERIES SCHEDULE

NHRA MELLO YELLO SERIES REGULAR SEASON

56th annual         Circle K NHRA Winternationals                                                                                Feb. 11-14

                              Pomona, Calif.  

32nd annual        CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Nationals                                                                 Feb. 26-28

                              Phoenix

47th annual         Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals                                                                March 17-20

                              Gainesville, Fla. (PSM)    

17th annual         NHRA Silver State Nationals                                                                                     April 1-3

                              Las Vegas           

Seventh annual  NHRA Four-Wide Nationals                                                                                      April 22-24

                              Charlotte, N.C. (PSM)     

29th annual         NHRA SpringNationals                                                                                               April 29-May 1

                              Houston              

36th annual         Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals                                        May 13-15

                              Atlanta (PSM)    

28th annual         NHRA Kansas Nationals                                                                                            May 20-22

                              Topeka, Kan.

Fourth annual     NHRA New England Nationals                                                                                 June 3-5

                              Epping, N.H.

47th annual         NHRA Summernationals                                                                                            June 9-12

                              Englishtown, N.J. (PSM) 

16th annual         NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals                                                                              June 17-19         

                              Bristol, Tenn.     

10th annual         Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals                                                         June 23-26         

                              Norwalk, Ohio (PSM)

19th annual         Route 66 NHRA Nationals                                                                                        July 7-10              

                              Chicago (PSM)   

37th annual         Mopar Mile-High NHRA Nationals                                                                          July 22-24

                              Denver (PSM)     

29th annual         Toyota NHRA Sonoma Nationals                                                                            July 29-31

                              Sonoma, Calif. (PSM)      

29th annual         NHRA Northwest Nationals                                                                                     Aug. 5-7

                              Seattle 

35th annual         Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals                                                                                         Aug. 18-21

                              Brainerd, Minn. (PSM)    

62nd annual        Chevrolet Performance U.S. Nationals                                                                  Aug. 31-Sept. 5

                              Indianapolis (PSM)           

NHRA MELLO YELLO COUNTDOWN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP

Ninth annual       NHRA Carolina Nationals                                                                                          Sept. 16-18

                              Charlotte, N.C. (PSM)     

Fifth annual         AAA Insurance NHRA Midwest Nationals                                                              Sept. 23-25

                              St. Louis (PSM)  

32nd annual        NHRA Keystone Nationals                                                                                        Sept. 29-Oct. 2

                              Reading, Pa. (PSM)          

32nd annual        AAA Texas NHRA FallNationals                                                                                Oct. 13-16

                              Dallas (PSM)       

16th annual         NHRA Toyota Nationals                                                                                            Oct. 27-30

                              Las Vegas (PSM)

52nd annual        Auto Club NHRA Finals                                                                                              Nov. 10-13

                              Pomona, Calif. (PSM)