Motors series announces revised schedule. Why you won’t see it in Northern California
Coronavirus concerns caused it to stall. Now weather worries have contributed to its shutdown.
The National Hot Rod Association and Sonoma Raceway announced Wednesday the NHRA Sonoma Nationals Mello Yello Drag Racing Series event has been canceled.
The event, originally scheduled for July 24-26, was postponed May 4 due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. The NHRA announced the Sonoma event was one of seven canceled when the series released a revised schedule Wednesday.
According to raceway officials, this is the first time the NHRA Nationals event in Sonoma has been canceled or rescheduled since the series first visited Sonoma in 1988. Sonoma Raceway and NHRA worked on selecting another weekend, but a possible late-fall date left raceway officials uncertain of the event’s success.
“In working with NHRA’s revised 2020 season schedule, the best option for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals would have been in November, and with the uncertainty of weather, which would affect the racing and camping experience, we are not confident we could provide an event up to the standard our fans have come to expect,” Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager, said in a statement. “We are thankful for our passionate NHRA fans and can’t wait to get back to racing in 2021.”
The NHRA also said the Mickey Thompson Tires Pro Bike Battle, originally on the Sonoma schedule, will be moved to the Denso Spark Plugs NHRA U.S. Nationals, set for Sept. 3-6 in Indianapolis.
Sonoma Raceway officials say tickets can either be fully refunded, or customers can get a 120 percent credit toward next year’s event. Fans are urged to visit sonomaraceway.com/nhra-exchange within the next 30 days to seek refunds or credits.
It’s been a tough 2020 season for Sonoma Raceway, which also had to cancel the Toyota/Save Mart 350, one of NASCAR’s few road course races each season. An alternate race took place May 28 in Charlotte and was won by Chase Elliott.