SONOMA, Calif. – Sonoma Raceway’s drag strip heats up for another thrilling racing season, with more than 30 days of intense drag racing slated for the wine country facility.
The NHRA Sonoma Nationals will highlight the schedule for the 33rd consecutive year, as the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series returns for its only stop in Northern California. NHRA Division 7 Drag Races, Summit ET Bracket drag racing and the popular Wednesday Night Drags program also return to the drag strip throughout the 2020 season.
New this year, Sonoma Raceway will host the inaugural Gold Rush Big Bucks Bracket Drags, July 2-5. More than 250 drag racers will compete for a $10,000-$20,000 purse per day over the course of the three-day event, which will be run by Kyle Seipel, who is best known for promoting mega-buck Fling events around the country.
The 11,000-horsepower machines of the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series bring sensory overload to Sonoma as the world’s best drag racers go head-to-head in the world’s fastest race cars, reaching speeds over 330 mph, July 24-26.
The NHRA Division 7 Drag Races, presented by Korbel, set the stage for back-to-back weekends of drag racing in Sonoma, July 16-19. The NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series returns to Sonoma for a double-header event, featuring both a regional and divisional event for sportsman racers in one weekend. More than 500 drag racers will compete at two separate events; the first will span Thursday-Friday, with the second event on Saturday and Sunday. The event will feature the Top Alcohol Dragster and Funny Car classes for the second time at Sonoma Raceway in over a decade.
The raceway’s popular Wednesday Night Drags program enters its 32nd season this year, running most Wednesdays from March 11-Nov. 18. The amateur drag racing competition gives anyone with a driver license and a car that passes a simple technical inspection a chance to race down the quarter-mile drag strip. The fan-favorite Top the Cops™ program, which gives teens the chance to race against law enforcement officers, who compete in full uniform in their official vehicles on the quarter-mile drag strip, will run from April through August in conjunction with Wednesday Night Drags.
Throughout 2020, the Summit ET Bracket Drag Racing Series will feature eight races, including five classes of sportsman competition and generally attract more than 300 competitors.