Press release from www.NHRA.com

No Problem Raceway Park will again serve as host to the JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals, the popular program designed to showcase NHRA’s Sportsman racers. This year’s event marks year seven and is slated for March 19-21, featuring drivers in six NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series categories who will vie for valuable points leading to divisional and national championships.

The JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals boasts a guaranteed purse of more than $50,000, and competing classes include Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street. The event will also feature the popular Top Sportsman and Top Dragster categories as well as Sportsman Motorcycle presented by Harley-Davidson. Jet-car and Top Fuel Harley Motorcycle exhibitions are also planned.

“We’re glad to be able to offer our premier Sportsman racers a national event to call their own,” said Eric Lotz, NHRA director of field marketing. “The three JEGS SPORTSnationals events are an opportunity for NHRA and some of our member tracks to put the spotlight on the dedicated men and women who make up the Lucas Oil Series. That’s also why JEGS makes the perfect partner for these events. The folks at JEGS know and understand these racers and what goes into fielding a car week in and week out.”

Though the focus of the event will be on competition in the core NHRA classes, other special attractions include Super Stock and Stock class eliminations, the Top Sportsman and Top Dragster Shootout, and the King of the Bayou Shootout for Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street.

NHRA reintroduced the SPORTSnationals seven years ago at No Problem Raceway Park to rave reviews from racers and spectators. Prior to that, NHRA had hosted the SPORTSnationals from 1974 to 1986 at a trio of tracks, Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky. (1974-80, 1985-86), the old Houston Int’l Raceway (1981-82), and O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis (1983-84).

This season, NHRA will host two other SPORTSnationals events, the JEGS NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals in Fontana, Calif., in May and the JEGS NHRA Northern SPORTSnationals in Hebron, Ohio, in September.

TICKETS: General-admission tickets for the JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals are $20 each day, $50 for a three-day pass, and $35 for a two-day ticket. For ticket information, call No Problem Raceway Park, 985-369-3692. For more information about the event, log on to www.NoproblemRaceway.com.

JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals

WHAT: Seventh annual JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals, a national event exclusively for competitors in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series. Racers in six categories will be featured in competition, and racers in five of those categories will earn points leading to 2010 NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series national championships. Featured NHRA Lucas Oil Series categories are Comp, Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, and Super Street. Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, and Sportsman Motorcycle presented by Harley-Davidson will also run in conjunction with the event.

Exhibition runs by jet cars and Top Fuel Harleys are slated throughout the weekend.

WHERE: No Problem Raceway Park, Belle Rose, La. Exit 1-10 at Sorrento (Exit 182). Follow exit to Highway 70 (Sunshine Bridge-Donaldsonville). Cross Sunshine Bridge and remain in the left lane. Follow Highway 70 for 12 miles toward Morgan City. Three miles past the intersection of Highways 70 and 1, turn right onto Highway 996. Track is 1 mile on the right.

WHEN: Friday through Sunday, March 19-21

PURSE: Guaranteed purse of more than $50,000

SCHEDULE
Friday, March 19
Qualifying and time trials, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Stock and Super Stock class eliminations, noon
Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, and Comp qualifying, 2 and 4 p.m.
Jet-car and Top Fuel Harley exhibitions, 6 p.m.

Saturday, March 20
Qualifying and time trials, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Top Sportsman and Top Dragster qualifying, 10 a.m. and noon
Comp qualifying, 1 and 4 p.m.
Top Sportsman/Top Dragster Shootout, 2, 4, and 6 p.m.
Jet-car and Top Fuel Harley exhibitions, throughout the day

Sunday, March 21
Final eliminations, 9 a.m.
Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, and Comp round 1, 10 a.m.
Opening ceremony, noon
Jet-car and Top Fuel Harley exhibitions, 5 p.m.

SPECIAL EVENTS: Stock and Super Stock class eliminations, Top Sportsman/Top Dragster Shootout, jet-car and Top Fuel Harley exhibition runs

DEFENDING CHAMPS: Kevin Self (Comp), Brad Zaskowski (Super Stock), Austin Williams (Stock), Tommy Phillips (Super Comp), Tommy Phillips (Super Gas), Mike DeSio (Super Street), Jeffrey Barker (Top Sportsman), Casey Spradlin (Top Dragster), Alex Barmettler (Motorcycle)

ABOUT THE TRACK: No Problem Raceway Park is a 200-acre, multiuse motorsports park 55 miles southwest of New Orleans in Assumption Parish on Highway 996. Nestled on a ridge in the backwoods of southern Louisiana, the quarter-mile track sits 12 feet above sea level. In addition to the dragstrip, the facility features a 14-turn, 1.8-mile road course. The track was built in October 2001 by four drag racers  with a $5 million initial investment. Pat Joffrion is the track’s general manager.

TICKETS: No Problem Raceway Park, 985-369-3692, or log on to www.NoProblemRaceway.com

GENERAL ADMISSION (includes pit pass): Friday, $20; Saturday, $20; Sunday, $20; three-day pass, $50; two-day pass, $35