WHAT: Fourth annual Dollar General NHRA Four-Wide Nationals Fueled by Full Throttle, the fifth of 24 events in the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series. Drivers in four categories – Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – earn points leading to 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series world championships.
WHERE: zMAX Dragway- Track is located on Hwy 29 off I-85 at exit 49 (Speedway Blvd.) in the Concord, N.C. area.
WHEN: Friday through Sunday, April 19-21
FORMAT: Qualifying sessions and elimination rounds will be conducted using four lanes in the four Mello Yello Series classes; Lanes will be identified from left to right facing downtrack as 1-4; The standard Friday qualifying procedure of a top 12 format will not be in use; Two Christmas trees will be in use, one between each two lanes; The Compulink Autostart system will continue to be utilized and it will not activate until all four vehicles are pre-staged and one vehicle has staged; The ladder structure will feature Race A: qualifiers 1, 8, 9, 16, Race B: qualifiers 4, 5, 12, 13, Race C: qualifiers 2, 7, 10, 15, and Race D: qualifiers 3, 6, 11, 14; Race A and Race B will be on one side of the ladder, while Race C and Race D will be on the other; Lane choice for eliminations goes to the driver with the quickest E.T., then the second-quickest, and so on; The first two drivers in each elimination round to cross the finish line advance to the second round and final; In the final round, teams will finish in the order they cross the finish line (barring any red-light starts), with winner, runner-up and two semifinalists in that order.
SCHEDULE:
FRIDAY, April 19 – LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying
PRO MOD DRAG RACING SERIES qualifying at 2 and 4:15 p.m.
MELLO YELLO SERIES qualifying at 2:30 and 4:45 p.m.
SATURDAY, April 20 – LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations
PRO MOD DRAG RACING SERIES final qualifying session at 2 p.m. and first round of eliminations at 4 p.m.
MELLO YELLO SERIES qualifying at 12:15 and 2:30 p.m.
SUNDAY, April 21 – Pre-race ceremonies, 11 a.m.
MELLO YELLO SERIES eliminations begin at noon
TELEVISION:
Saturday, April 20, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise two hours of qualifying highlights at 5 p.m. (ET).
Sunday, April 21, ESPN2 and ESPN2HD will televise three hours of coverage starting at 7 p.m. (ET).
2012 EVENT WINNERS: Spencer Massey, Top Fuel; Robert Hight, Funny Car; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock.
TRACK RECORDS:
Top Fuel – 3.749 seconds by Tony Schumacher, Sept. ’12; 332.18 mph by Spencer Massey, April ’12.
Funny Car – 3.995 seconds by Matt Hagan, Sept. ’11; 322.27 mph by Hagan, Sept. ’11.
Pro Stock – 6.493 sec. by Jason Line, April ’12; 213.91 mph by Line, April ’12.
Pro Stock Motorcycle – 6.810 sec. by Eddie Krawiec, Sept. ’11; 196.79 mph by Krawiec, Sept. ’11.
NATIONAL RECORDS:
Top Fuel – 3.701 sec. by Antron Brown, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 332.18 mph by Spencer Massey, April ’12, Charlotte, N.C.
Funny Car – 3.986 sec. by Jack Beckman, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 320.58 mph by Beckman, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.
Pro Stock – 6.473 sec. by Mike Edwards, March ’13, Gainesville, Fla.; 214.35 mph by Jason Line, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.
PS Motorcycle – 6.728 sec. by Andrew Hines, Oct. ’12, Reading, Pa.; 199.26 mph by Eddie Krawiec, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.
TICKETS: Order tickets by phone at (800) 455-FANS. Tickets also are available online at www.zmaxdragway.com.