San Antonio Raceway will be the site of a historical season opener for IHRA as for the first time in history a major drag racing sanctioning body will host a scheduled 1/8th mile national event. The Amalie Oil Texas Nationals will take place April 4-6 in San Antonio, bringing IHRA racing to the 1/8th mile strip for the third time ever. Track conditions caused two events on the '07 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam schedule to be switched from quarter-mile events to the 1/8th mile and the response from fans, sponsors and racers opened IHRA officials' eyes to the possibility of scheduling a race under this format.
"Last season we really learned something in San Antonio," IHRA president Aaron Polburn said. "While the quarter-mile has been the standard drag race for a long time, we learned an 1/8th mile national event is a viable, exciting format. The buzz and excitement the Amalie Oil Texas Nationals generated caused us to take a good, hard look at this format. We're very excited to grow this race and build our 1/8th mile national event slate in the future."
Polburn was alluding to the 2009 schedule when speaking of more 1/8th mile national events in the future. Pittsburgh Raceway Park in Western Pennsylvania has begun a $2 million facelift and will host a Knoll Gas Nitro Jam 1/8th mile event in June, 2009.
"We are very excited about the possibilities in the Pittsburgh market," Polburn said. "It is a great area full of extremely passionate sports fans. The Tedesco's have done an incredible job of turning that track into one of our most treasured venues on the Summit Pro-Am circuit and we want to better utilize Pittsburgh Raceway Park. This is a win-win situation…a national event in a sports-crazy market with track operators who know how to promote."
The 2008 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam schedule will kick off April 4-6 with the race in San Antonio. It will then head to North Carolina for the IHRA Spring Nationals, April 18-20 at Rockingham Dragway. The tour then heads north to Michigan for the Motor City Nationals May 23-25 at Milan Dragway. This will be followed by a trip to Western Canada for the July 4-6 Rocky Mountain Nationals at Castrol Raceway in Edmonton. The tour will remain in Canada for the Canadian Nationals at Grand Bend Motorplex July 18-20.
After the Canadian Nationals the Knoll Gas tour will head back to Michigan for the Torco Race Fuels Northern Nationals Aug. 1-3 at Knoll Gas Motorsports Park in Martin. This will be followed by a trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma for the Aug. 22-24 Skull Shine Sooner Nationals. The tour will then swing to the Northeast for the Amalie North American Nationals at New England Dragway Sept. 5-7. IHRA will close the Canadian portion of its schedule Sept. 19-21 at the IHRA Canadian Nationals at Toronto Motorsports Park. Oct. 3-5 will be the dates of the Torco President's Cup Nationals at Maryland International Raceway before the Knoll Gas Nitro Jam season wraps up in Rockingham for the World Finals Oct. 17-19.
2008 Knoll Gas Nitro Jam National Event Schedule
Date
April 4-6
April 18-20
May 23-25
July 4-6
July 18-20
Aug. 1-3
Aug. 22-24
Sept. 5-7
Sept. 19-21
Oct. 3-5
Oct. 17-19
From Mike Perry / IHRA
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