50th Winternationals Tix On Sale to Gen. Public Sept. 15

50TH ANNUAL KRAGEN O’REILLY NHRA WINTERNATIONALS WILL BE A MUST-ATTEND, ‘DESTINATION’ EVENT

Tickets for the historic event that will pay tribute to 50 years of the greatest “cars and stars” of drag racing, will go on sale to the general public Sept. 15

GLENDORA, Calif. (Sept. 2, 2009) — Tickets for what is anticipated to be one of the most memorable events in NHRA history, the 50th annual Kragen O’Reilly NHRA Winternationals, will go on sale to the public Sept. 15, 2009.

The 50th running of the Winternationals, Feb. 11-14, 2010 at storied Auto Club Raceway at Pomona, will be a must-see event not just for fans of today’s 300-mph Nitromethane burning dragsters, but perhaps even more so for those NHRA fans who long for the days of front-engine dragsters being push-started under the iconic Winternationals banner.

If that’s an image you’d like to relive – or experience for the first time – then this will be an event you will not want to miss. And in spite of the heavy demand for Winternationals tickets, NHRA will be making it easier than ever to attend by lowering the cost of Top Eliminator Club tickets and reducing the price of Saturday and Sunday General Admission tickets to $50 to commemorate the 50th anniversary. Tickets can be purchased at ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-884-NHRA.

Among the scheduled events:

· The Golden 50: See 50 of the greatest cars in Winternationals history, including the Dragmaster Dart, the Freight Train and Dragmaster Two Thing twin-engine dragsters, the Winged Express fuel-altered, the Stone, Woods & Cook and Mallicoat Bros. gassers, Hugh Tucker’s roadster, Roland Leong’s Hawaiian fuel dragster and funny car, the Green Elephant funny car, Don Prudhomme’s Hot Wheels funny car and Big Daddy Don Garlits’ Swamp Rat V (winner of the 1963 Winternationals in Top Fuel)

· Classic Legends Dinner: NHRA will host a dinner on Sat., Feb. 13 at the Sheraton Fairplex that will include legends from every one of the five decades (60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s) of the Winternationals; NHRA announcer Bob Frey will host and present a chronological history of the event via a Q&A with the legends

· Exhibition runs by legendary tribute cars, including Blue Max, Jungle Jim, Pisano & Matsubara, Plueger & Gyger, Beach City Corvette, Fighting Irish and more

· Daily cacklefests and car parades, featuring a number of the vintage cars

· Daily Autograph sessions with stars of the last 50 years

· The Top 5 moments in “The Top 25 Moments in Winternationals History” countdown will be revealed

“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 at historic Auto Club Raceway at Pomona will be a must-attend, destination event for racing fans nationwide.”

NHRA founder Wally Parks hosted the first-ever running of the Winternationals in 1961, making it the second longest running event in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series behind only the U.S. Nationals, which debuted in 1955.

And while the U.S. Nationals has its own rich history, the Winternationals carry the additional significance of being run annually at the Southern California home of drag racing, Auto Club Raceway at Pomona.

The Hot Rodding culture’s roots are deepest in Southern California and Auto Club Raceway has been at the center of its growth and popularity here, from its position as the host of the Winternationals to the role it has played in a number of motion pictures, including Hot Rod Rumble (1957) and Bikini Beach (1964) with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.