by Tim Glover – photos by Wanda Glover
The 36th Annual NHRA Summit Racing Equipment Southern Nationals are coming to Atlanta Dragway in Commerce, GA on May 13-15, 2016 for three days of Nitromethane fueled thunder delivered from the fastest cars on the planet, 300mph Top Fuel Dragsters and Funny Cars. Racers will be competing on a new concrete starting line surface, and their times will be shown on brand new scoreboards installed just a couple of weeks ago. Fox Sports 1 will also be televising the event.
Both Brittany Force (Top Fuel Dragster) and Courtney Force (Funny Car) are coming into the Southern Nationals leading the points in their respective classes. Courtney is also currently sharing the points lead with Tim Wilkerson. Wilkerson has been hot lately, winning the 2015 Southern Nationals, two more 2016 events and finishing runner up two weeks ago at Houston to Courtney. Brittany and Courtney are both daughters of the legendary 16 time Funny Car champion John Force.
2016 NHRA Pro Stock points leader and 2015 Southern Nationals winner Jason Line has been on a win streak all year, winning three of the first six events. One can count on him to have a great weekend at the Southern Nationals.
Don’t count Leah Pritchett out of Top Fuel. Pritchett advanced to her first final round at the 2015 Southern Nationals, won her first event in 2016, and will be racing under the Schumacher team umbrella during the 2016 Southern Nationals.
The 2015 Southern Nationals professional class winners were Antron Brown (Top Fuel), Tim Wilkerson (Funny Car), Jason Line (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle).
Look for Atlanta Dragway regulars at this event, as some are already pre-entered into the Lucas Oil Series events, like Howard Bowman (Super Comp) and Jeremy Hancock (Super Comp and Super Street).
Mello Yellow Series Professional class qualifying begins at 4:00 and 6:30pm on Friday and at 1:30 and 4:00pm on Saturday. Finals start at 11:00am on Sunday.
At NHRA events, every ticket into the event is also a pit pass, where one can get up close to the racers, and watch as they rebuild their race cars between each round of racing or simply get an autograph and cheer for their favorite drivers.
To purchase general-admission or reserved seats, log on to www.NHRA.com/tickets or call (800) 884-NHRA (6472). Children 12 and younger are free. For more information about the NHRA visit www.NHRA.com.
Atlanta Dragway
500 E. Ridgeway Road
Commerce, GA 30529
www.atlantadragway.com
Elevation: 1,100 feet
Tickets: www.NHRA.com/tickets; 800-884-NHRA (6472)
On-Track Radio Frequency: 96.7 FM
How to Get There: The track is about 65 miles north of Atlanta on Interstate 85 at U.S. Highway 441. From Atlanta, take I-85 north to Exit 149 (Highway 441). Travel north on Highway 441 to Steven Tanger Boulevard. Go left on Tanger Boulevard, then right on E. Ridgeway Road, and follow the signs to the track (approximately a half-mile on the right).
Visitor Information: Atlanta Dragway, 706-335-2301; Banks County Chamber of Commerce, 706-677-2108; Banks County Convention and Visitors Bureau, 706-677-5265
Share this article:
Discover more from Drag Racing List
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
You must be logged in to post a comment.