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Edition

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1998 television schedule

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: NHRA Communications (626) 914-4761 NHRA TV PACKAGE FEATURES MORE THAN 125 HOURS OF RACING IN 1998 GLENDORA, Calif. -- For the second consecutive year, the National Hot Rod Association television package includes ...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: NHRA Communications (626) 914-4761 NHRA TV PACKAGE FEATURES MORE THAN 125 HOURS OF RACING IN 1998

GLENDORA, Calif. -- For the second consecutive year, the National Hot Rod Association television package includes nearly 125 hours of NHRA Winston Drag Racing Series professional racing and Federal-Mogul Drag Racing Series sportsman racing. All 22 national events will be televised on ABC, The Nashville Network, ESPN or ESPN2. ABC will televise two races, TNN 11, and ESPN2 nine. Race highlights of the nine ESPN2 events will be televised on ESPN. It will be the third straight year that NHRA has divided its professional racing programming among ABC, TNN, ESPN and ESPN2. "After nearly doubling our hours of original programming in 1997, the focus of 1998 will be to vastly improve the quality of our telecasts," said Brian Tracy, NHRA vice president of broadcasting. "Innovative technology that will enable us to provide more actual racing on our TNN shows and a greatly enhanced qualifying show package on ESPN will much better utilize the valuable time we have to present our sport on television." A package of two-hour shows on ESPN2 featuring professional qualifying highlights and Pro Stock Truck eliminations is the newest addition to the schedule. The new shows will be televised on Saturday nights from all nine NHRA national events covered by ESPN and ESPN2. Highlights from all four rounds of professional qualifying and a preview of the next day's eliminations will be featured, with Pro Stock Truck eliminations also televised in five shows. ESPN and ESPN2 will provide six hours of coverage from each of its nine national events. Live final eliminations and the new qualifying highlights shows will be two hours each, and the delayed ESPN event highlights shows will be one hour each. ESPN2 will feature one hour of tape-delayed coverage of Federal-Mogul racing from nine national events and the Federal-Mogul Allstars event from Columbus, Ohio., for the second consecutive year. ESPN and ESPN2 will broadcast from the Southwest Nationals at Houston, the Fram Nationals at Atlanta, the Pennzoil Nationals presented by TrakAuto at Richmond, Va., the Lone Star Nationals at Dallas, the Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals at Denver, the Autolite Nationals at Sonoma, Calif., the Northwest Nationals at Seattle, the Champion Auto Stores Nationals at Brainerd, Minn., and the Pennzoil Nationals presented by AutoZone at Memphis, Tenn. NHRA will return to ABC Sports for the fourth consecutive year in 1998. ABC will provide 60 minutes of tape-delayed professional coverage from two NHRA national events: the Pontiac Excitement Nationals presented by Summit Racing at Columbus, Ohio, and the Sears Craftsman Nationals at Madison, Ill. TNN viewers will have either 2 1/2 or three hours of coverage on race day, depending on the event. TNN telecasts of final eliminations will range from 90 minutes to two hours. The popular, weekly magazine show, "NHRA Today," also will provide coverage from all 11 TNN events, with first-round Top Fuel and Funny Car racing from seven events. Once again, the highlight of the TNN package will be a three-hour telecast of the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, the richest and most prestigious drag race in the world. The telecast, scheduled for Monday, Sept. 7, will include coverage of the professional semifinals and finals. Other national events televised on TNN will be the Chief Auto Parts Winternationals presented by Pennzoil at Pomona, Calif., the ATSCO Nationals at Phoenix, the Mac Tools Gatornationals at Gainesville, Fla., the Mopar Parts Nationals at Englishtown, N.J., the inaugural national event near Chicago, the Pioneer Electronics Keystone Nationals at Reading, Pa., the Parts America Nationals at Topeka, Kan., the Revell Nationals at Dallas, the Matco Tools SuperNationals at Houston and the Winston Finals at Pomona, Calif. TNN also will televise one-hour shows from the four NHRA specialty events, the Pro Stock Challenge at Englishtown, N.J., the Pro Bike Dash and the Big Bud Shootout at Indianapolis, and the Big Bud Shootout at Pomona, Calif. TNN also will cover the non-points Winston Invitational at Rockingham, N.C., as part of its "Race of the Week" series. Fox Sports will feature "The Autolite Challenge." That series is comprised of 10 tape-delayed shows highlighting Pro Stock Motorcycle, Federal-Mogul Dragster and Federal-Mogul Funny Car racing. The series is distributed via Fox Sports Net, as well as SportsChannel, Empire, NESN, Madison Square Garden and Sunshine networks.

1998 NHRA WINSTON DRAG RACING SERIES NATIONAL EVENT TELEVISION SCHEDULE

Event date Event Network Air date (Times Eastern, subject to change) Jan. 29-Feb. 1 Chief Auto Parts Winternationals presented by Pennzoil TNN Finals, 8-9:30 p.m., Feb. 1 "NHRA Today" first round, 2:30-3:30 p.m., Feb. 1 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA Feb. 19-22 ATSCO Nationals TNN Finals, 7-8:30 p.m., Feb. 22 "NHRA Today," 11-11:30 a.m., March 5-8 Mac Tools Gatornationals TNN Finals, 5-6:30 p.m., March 8 "NHRA Today" first round, noon-1 p.m., March 8 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA March 19-22 Southwest Nationals ESPN2 Finals, 5-7 p.m., March 22 Qualifying/Pro Stock Truck highlights, 8-10 p.m., March 21 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA April 3-5 Winston Invitational* TNN Finals, 1:30-2:30 p.m., April 16-19 Fram Nationals ESPN2 Finals, 7-9 p.m., April 19 Qualifying/Pro Stock Truck highlights, 10 p.m.-midnight, April 18 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA April 23-26 Pennzoil Nationals presented by Trak Auto ESPN2 Finals, 4-6 p.m., April 26 Qualifying highlights, 7-9 p.m., April 25 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA April 30-May 3 Lone Star Nationals ESPN2 Finals, 5-7 p.m., May 3 Qualifying highlights, 8-10 p.m., May 2 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA May 14-17 Mopar Parts Nationals TNN Finals, 5-7 p.m., May 17 "NHRA Today" first round,noon-1 p.m., May 28-31 National Event (Chicago) TNN Finals, 6-8 p.m., May 31 "NHRA Today," 11-11:30 a.m., June 11-14 Pontiac Excitement Nationals presented by Summit Racing ABC Finals, 5-6 p.m., June 21 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA June 25-28 Sears Craftsman Nationals ABC Finals, 3-4 p.m., July 5 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA July 16-19 Mopar Parts Mile-High Nationals ESPN2 Finals, 6-8 p.m., July 19 Qualifying highlights, 9-11 p.m., July 18 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA July 24-26 Autolite Nationals ESPN2 Finals, 7-9 p.m., July 26 Qualifying/Pro Stock Truck highlights, 10 p.m.-midnight, July 25 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA July 31-Aug. 2 Northwest Nationals ESPN2 Finals, 7-9 p.m., Aug. 2 Qualifying/Pro Stock Truck highlights, 10 p.m.-midnight, Aug. 1 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA Aug. 20-23 Champion Auto Stores Nationals ESPN2 Finals, 5-7 p.m., Aug. 23 Qualifying highlights, 8-10 p.m., Aug. 22 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA Sept. 2-7 U.S. Nationals TNN Semifinals and finals, 5-8 p.m., Sept. 7 "NHRA Today," 11 a.m.-noon, Sept. 6 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA Sept. 17-20 Pioneer Electronics Keystone Nationals TNN Finals, 5-6:30 p.m., Sept. 20 "NHRA Today" first round, 11 a.m.-noon, Sept. 20 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA Oct. 1-4 Parts America Nationals TNN Finals, 6-8 p.m., Oct. 4 "NHRA Today" first round, 1-2 p.m., Oct. 4 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA Oct. 8-11 Pennzoil Nationals presented by AutoZone ESPN2 Finals, 5-7 p.m., Oct. 11 Qualifying/Pro Stock Truck highlights, 8-10 p.m., Oct. 10 Sportsman highlights, TBA ESPN Pro highlights, TBA Oct. 22-25 Revell Nationals TNN Finals, 5:30-7:30 p.m., Oct. 25 "NHRA Today" first round, 12:30-1:30 p.m., Oct. 25 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA Oct. 29-Nov. 1 Matco Tools SuperNationals TNN Finals, 6-7:30 p.m., Nov. 1 "NHRA Today," 11-11:30 a.m., Nov. 1 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA Nov. 12-15 Winston Finals TNN Finals, 7-9 p.m., Nov. 15 "NHRA Today" first round, 2-3 p.m. Nov. 15 Fox Sports Sportsman highlights, TBA * -- non-points special event

1998 NHRA SPECIALTY RACE TELEVISION SCHEDULE

Event date   Event   Network   Air date (Times Eastern)
May 16   Pro Stock Challenge   TNN   Finals, 5-6 p.m., May 16
June 13   Federal-Mogul Allstars   ESPN2   Highlights, TBA
Sept. 5   Pro Bike Dash   TNN   Finals, 5-6 p.m., Sept. 5
Sept. 6   Big Bud Shootout (Funny Car)   TNN   Finals, 5-6 p.m., Sept. 6
Nov. 14   Big Bud Shootout (Top Fuel)   TNN   Finals, 7-8 p.m., Nov. 14

1998 NHRA SPECIAL EVENT TELEVISION SCHEDULE

Event date Event Network Air date (Times Eastern) Nov. 16 NHRA Winston Awards Ceremony TNN Highlights, 9-11 p.m., Nov. 20 -30-

12/22/97-GR52-187

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