50th Winternationals Web Site Launched at Noon ET Today

NHRA LAUNCHES EVENT-SPECIFIC WEB SITE TO KICK OFF COUNTDOWN TO THE HISTORIC 50TH WINTERNATIONALS

Web site will provide a memorable look back at every decade and a road map of planned activities including Cacklefests, Tribute Cars, Autograph sessions, “Golden 50” cars and unveiling of the Greatest Moment in Winternationals history

GLENDORA, Calif. (Jan. 4, 2009) — As millions of Americans go back to work today marking the end of the holiday season, for NHRA fans today is not an end but a beginning, the beginning of the Countdown to the historic 50th running of the Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline.

NHRA will kick off the Countdown to the Feb. 11-14 event at Auto Club Raceway at Pomona by unveiling a Web site dedicated specifically to the 50th Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline: http://www.50thwinternationals.com/.

The Web site is chock full of features that will help fans heading to Pomona for the once-in-lifetime event, including details about autograph sessions with many of NHRA’s legendary drivers, the Golden 50 car show, Cacklefests and the Legends Dinner.

The site also features lists of all past winners, plenty of vintage video and a decade-by-decade look back at the second-longest running event on the NHRA circuit behind only the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals.

To complement the online look back at the storied history of the Winternationals, NHRA fans can find and purchase a companion book or DVD on the site detailing the history of the Winternationals. The book is an encyclopedia of one of NHRA’s most prestigious events, complete with stats, facts, photos and feature profiles of NHRA Legends like Don Garlits, Don Prudhomme, Jim Dunn, Connie Kalitta and Shirley Muldowney. It will be a great keepsake and, if you’re one of the tens of thousands of fans heading to Auto Club Raceway at Pomona Feb. 11-14 for this historic NHRA event, a great autograph book as autograph sessions with NHRA Legends will be just one of the many off-track activities scheduled for the fans lucky enough to possess a ticket to this special race.

Already renowned as “the best value in sports” by the SportsBusiness Journal for all of the ways fans can entertain themselves at an NHRA event, they’ll have to come up with a new category to characterize the value of a ticket to the 2010 NHRA season-opener (ticket information at 800-884-NHRA or ticketmaster.com).

To mark the milestone 50th running of the iconic Winternationals, NHRA has scheduled a series of “events-within-the-event” that will transform Auto Club Raceway at Pomona into a virtual hot rodding amusement park for the weekend.

In addition to the aforementioned autograph sessions with legends like Muldowney and Garlits, there will be a once-in-a-lifetime car show with up to 75 vintage cars including Roland Leong’s Hawaiian and Prudhomme’s Hot Wheels Funny Car, static- and push-start Cacklefests, Tribute-Car races and much, much more.

It will be a week overflowing with nostalgic activities as NHRA pays tribute to its past throughout what figures to be one of the most memorable race weeks in the sport’s history as many of the legendary cars, drivers and magical moments will be honored.

“This will be a once-in-a-lifetime event not just for fans in Southern California, but for drag racing and hot rodding fans throughout the country,” said Gary Darcy, NHRA senior vice president, sales and marketing. “With all of the ancillary events we’re planning for that weekend, we believe the 50th annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals presented by Valvoline at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona will be a must-see, must-experience destination event for racing fans nationwide.”

The weekend also will include the unveiling of the Greatest Moment in Winternationals history (the complete list of moments can be found on NHRA.com).