Tickets Now Available Online for Inaugural IHRA National Event at State Capitol Raceway

Fastest cars in the world and the long-awaited return of the “King of Quake” will highlight IHRA season-opener in Baton Rouge    

By Mike Perry | IHRA Communications    

March 6-8 is a heavily anticipated date for drag racing fans everywhere for a number of reasons. Not only will the 2009 IHRA Nitro Jam season get underway that weekend at State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge, La., the biggest showman in motor sports, Bob Motz, the “King of Quake” will be making his long-awaited return to the strip after his catastrophic accident two seasons ago.

Tickets for the 2009 Inaugural Nitro Jam race at State Capitol Raceway are now available at www.nitrojam.com.

“This is going to be such an amazing weekend, I can’t wait for it,” IHRA president Aaron Polburn said. “The big boys of drag racing are coming back to Louisiana and it’s going to be a thrill to see Bob Motz back on the track. The fans at State Capitol Raceway are in for a treat…Bob is going to put on a show unlike anything they have ever seen before. And IHRA has the fastest dragsters in the world as well so it’s going to be a historic weekend.”

The Inaugural IHRA Nitro Jam race will mark IHRA’s return to the Bayou State. The last time IHRA was there was the 2002 season when it hosted the K&N Filters Nationals at Red River Raceway in Shreveport.

“Louisiana is a great market for drag racing and we missed going down there to put on a show for those amazing fans,” Polburn said. “I can’t think of a better way to kick off the 2009 season, to build momentum for the rest of the schedule. We expect to have unbelievably tight competition all season for the 2009 world championships across the board and every race counts, so the fans at State Capitol Raceway will be seeing these drivers going for broke. There is no such thing as ‘easing your way’ into the Nitro Jam season…you have to go all-out from Day One if you hope to compete for a championship. Our drivers know that.”

IHRA boasts the fastest Top Fuel dragsters in the world, frequently seeing the 320 mph barrier eclipsed as they are the only sanctioning body in the United States to run the 8,000 horsepower nitromethane-burning rails a full quarter-mile.

“I love the fact that IHRA is sticking with the quarter-mile, both as a racer and as a fan of the sport,” IHRA Top Fuel driver Bobby Lagana Jr. said. “I’ve raced both the quarter-mile and 1,000-feet and there are advantages to both…but there is something special about seeing those scoreboards light up with a big 300 mph. There’s really nothing like it in the world.”

Fans can purchase tickets to the 2009 Inaugural Nitro Jam event at State Capitol Raceway by clicking on this link: https://t2.clicknprint.com/tix/SilverStream/Pages/pgIndex.html?siteID=2064

There will be two professional qualifying sessions Friday, March 6…one at 3pm and another at 6pm. Bob Motz, in his new Jet Kenworth, will close the Friday show after professional qualifying is completed. There will be two pro qualifying sessions on Saturday as well, one at 3pm before final pro qualifying as part of IHRA’s world-renowned Night of Fire starting at 6pm. Motz will again close the show Saturday night.

Professional eliminations will begin Sunday at 11am. Championship finals are scheduled to take place at 4pm March 8 with Motz putting the cap on the Nitro Jam season opener when professional eliminations are complete.

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POSTED 01.13.09

IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals will feature the return of the King of Quake   

 Fans who head to State Capitol Raceway in Baton Rouge for the 2009 Nitro Jam season opener, even if they have attended IHRA national events in the past, have no idea what they’re in store for. It will be a race, true, but IHRA president Aaron Polburn wants people to know this event will have a unique attitude.

“We’re throwing our own Mardi Gras at the track, and everyone is invited,” he said. “This is the inaugural event at this facility and we are going to throw one heck of a party. Bring your beads.”

The IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals fill feature a full slate of professional and sportsman drag racing and will be hosted at a track with a lot of history. State Capitol Raceway is the third-longest continually running quarter-mile strip in the nation and was even used in the filming of the recent “Dukes of Hazzard” movie. There will be plenty to see at the IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals, including Saturday evening’s IHRA “Night of Fire.”

The Saturday evening “Night of Fire” has become the signature of IHRA Nitro Jam events. The Saturday evening session has a power-packed line-up that will feature some of the most outrageous exhibition vehicles in racing. The Mardi Gras Nationals will take things one step further as Bob Motz, the original “King of Quake,” will make his triumphant return to the IHRA at State Capitol Raceway. Motz will thunder down the quarter-mile strip in his legendary Jet Kenworth, a flame-throwing semi truck that has become the single-most recognizable truck in the racing world.

“We’re thrilled Bob is making his IHRA return at the IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals,” Polburn said. “He puts on a breathtaking show and, to be honest, seeing Bob return with his Jet Kenworth will be worth the price of admission right there. But throw in all the professional qualifying and the other exhibition vehicles we have lined up and you get a very busy weekend. Our goal is to provide our ticket buying public with unmatched value…and that’s exactly what the IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals will provide.”

 

 

The competition in the professional classes will be heated as, for the first time in over a decade, 8,000 horsepower Top Fuel Dragsters will tear down a Louisiana drag strip. IHRA boasts the fastest Top Fuelers in the world and fans at State Capitol Raceway can expect to see speeds in excess of 320 mph as the drivers will look to keep their six-foot header flames lit the length of the track. Nowhere else can race fans see dragsters move this fast.

 “This is the first race of the year so everyone can’t wait to get out of the winter layoff and smell some nitro,” Lagana said. “I’m also looking forward to going to a track where we’ve never been before to put on a show for the fans. The competition will be very strong and everyone has really stepped up their performance over the last few years.”

The battle to be the King of Pro Modified racing will kick off in Baton Rouge as well. 2009 will be the 20th season of professional Pro Modified racing with IHRA, widely recognized as the true home of Pro Mod. Last season Canadian Kenny Lang jumped out to a big early lead in the points chase, but he had to battle to hold off nitrous drivers Mike Castellana and Jim Halsey down the stretch.

Castellana has added nitrous hot-shot Burton Auxier to his team so the Awesome Al-Anabi Motorsports team will be loaded…and they have the championship in their sites.

“That’s the goal, we want to go after the championship,” Castellana said. “It’s been a long winter and I was a little disappointed because last season we stumbled down the stretch. Sometimes you can’t wait for the season to end, then after it ends two weeks later you can’t wait to be back out there racing again. We’re looking forward to Baton Rouge.”

The world’s quickest and fastest Pro Stockers will be on display in Baton Rouge as well when the Elite Motorsports Pro Stock championship points chase will begin at the IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals. IHRA’s Mountain Motor Pro Stockers consistently turn laps in the 6.30 range at speeds in excess of 220 mph.

“We can’t wait to get out of this weather and go somewhere warm,” Berner said. “This class in the last 10 years has evolved into something special. Everyone is so aggressive with what they put into their team and everyone is working hard on developing their stuff. Every month something changes and it gets that much more competitive. The fields are getting tighter which shows how competitive the racers in this class are and how hard they work on getting better.”

Berner is looking forward to seeing what State Capitol Raceway has to offer, and he thinks the IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals could be the scene for some IHRA Pro Stock history.

 

 

“I’ve heard great things about the track and the area,” he said. “We’re going down to Louisiana to test and going to visit the track to see what it looks like. If the conditions are right you are going to see some very fast times…you could see some records set.  We’ve been working very hard in the off-season, but I know everyone else has been working just as hard. Either in Baton Rouge or in Rockingham I think the records are going down…you might see these cars run low 20s or high teens if the conditions are right.”

Racers in seven sportsman classes will begin their journey to an IHRA championship at State Capitol Raceway as well. IHRA will host the Tournament of Champions run-off in Rockingham in the Top Sportsman, Top Dragster, Stock, Super Stock, Quick Rod, Super Rod and Hot Rod classes.

“One thing that I am very proud of is that our sportsman racers have become part of the show,” Peaco said. “There are a couple of reasons for this…first our sportsmen are the best in the world and second we have very knowledgeable fans who appreciate racing at all levels. And with the Tournament of Champions this season, where each national event gives racers the chance to punch their ticket to the world championship run-off, I fully expect our sportsman racers to raise the bar even more.”

Tickets for the Inaugural IHRA Mardi Gras Nationals are now on sale. You can purchase your tickets by visiting www.nitrojam.com, navigating to the event page and clicking on the “buy tickets” link. You can also purchase tickets at the track’s website located at https://t2.clicknprint.com/tix/SilverStream/Pages/pgIndex.html?siteID=2064.