Charlotte added to 2008 schedule

NHRA OFFICIALLY ANNOUNCES LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY AS ADDITION TO 2008 NHRA POWERADE DRAG RACING SERIES SCHEDULE

GLENDORA, Calif. (Jan. 24, 2008) -- NHRA has officially announced that Charlotte, N.C. will be the location of the Sept. 11-14 event in this year's 2008 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule. A new state-of-the-art drag racing facility, The Dragway @ Lowe's Motor Speedway, is being built by Speedway Motorsports Inc. (NYSE:TRK) in nearby Concord, N.C. It is the first addition to the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series schedule since 2000 and expands the season to 24 events.

"Bringing NHRA POWERade Drag Racing to Charlotte, which has evolved into a hot bed for motorsports, makes perfect sense," said Tom Compton, president, NHRA. "The fact that SMI is building yet another first-class facility to entertain our fans, sponsors and race teams speaks volumes to the future growth ahead for NHRA and the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series."

NHRA recently announced modifications to its playoff-style NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship. As a result, the NHRA Carolinas Nationals at The Dragway @ Lowe's Motor Speedway will begin the playoff round when the top 10 competitors in all four professional categories -- Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle -- compete in the six-race NHRA POWERade Countdown to the Championship and race for the chance to be crowned NHRA POWERade world champions.

""NHRA events have been hugely successful at our other SMI facilities. We've entertained more than 1.75 million fans at NHRA events at our tracks, and we expect nothing but tremendous things when the Carolinas Nationals comes to Charlotte," said O. Bruton Smith, chairman and chief executive officer of Speedway Motorsports Inc. "What a fabulous way to open the doors at what will be the world's premiere drag racing facility. It's the perfect compliment to the wide variety of motorsports entertainment already on the schedule at Lowe's Motor Speedway."

Several current NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series teams are based in the Charlotte metropolitan area including: Top Fuel driver Doug Herbert; Pro Stock drivers Greg Anderson and Jason Line, as well as the Pro Stock team of Cagnazzi Racing. Pro Stock Motorcycle riders Shawn Gann and Matt Smith also are North Carolina natives.

Since its inception in 1951, NHRA has sanctioned numerous drag strips throughout the state, running within Division 2 which encompasses the states of North Carolina, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, eastern Tennessee and Puerto Rico. The last time NHRA staged an event in the state of North Carolina featuring the professional classes was 1998. The specialty race was conducted for 10 years at Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, N.C.

This marks the second new venue on the NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series to cater to the growing fan base in the Southeast United States. In 2006, the series returned to Virginia Motorsports Park outside Richmond, Va.

-credit: nhra