57th ANNUAL MAC TOOLS U.S. NATIONALS presented by Lucas Oil FACT SHEET
WHAT: 57th Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, 16th of 22 events in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series and the last race in the NHRA Full Throttle Series regular season. At the conclusion of this event, the top 10 drivers in four categories - Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle – will be locked in to begin the six-race Countdown to the Championship playoffs, leading to 2011 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series world championships. NHRA is celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2011 and is paying tribute to the evolution of the hot rod and honoring its legendary racers as well as the sport’s current stars.
WHERE: Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis, Clermont, Ind. From I-465, exit Crawfordsville Road (Hwy. 136). Head west for four miles past downtown Clermont. The facility’s main entrance is on the left, one-half mile past Raceway Road.
COURSE: Championship drag strip; Track elevation is 700 feet above sea level; Track direction is south to north.
WHEN: Wednesday, Aug. 31 through Monday, Sept. 5.
PURSE: Cash and contingency awards of more than $2 million.
SCHEDULE:
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 31 - LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying, 8:30 a.m.
THURSDAY, Sept. 1 - LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying and eliminations, 8 a.m.
FRIDAY, Sept. 2 - LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations, 7:30 a.m.
GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 4:30 p.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 5:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, Sept. 3 - LUCAS OIL SERIES qualifying and eliminations, 7:30 a.m.
GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 2:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 3 and 6 p.m.
SUNDAY, Sept. 4 - LUCAS OIL SERIES eliminations, 7:30 a.m.
GET SCREENED AMERICA PRO MOD SERIES qualifying at 1:30 p.m.; first round of eliminations at 4:30 p.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES qualifying at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.
MONDAY, Sept. 5 - Pre-race ceremonies, 9:30 a.m.
FULL THROTTLE SERIES eliminations begin at 11 a.m.
TELEVISION:
Sunday, Sept. 4, ESPN2 HD will televise three hours of qualifying coverage at 11 a.m. (ET).
Sunday, Sept. 4, ESPN2 HD will televise two hours of qualifying coverage at 5 p.m. (ET).
Monday, Sept. 5, ESPN2 HD will televise six hours of eliminations coverage at noon (ET).
SATELLITE (Digital HD feed):
Friday, Sept. 2, 10:30 - 11 p.m. (ET) – Galaxy 16 / Transponder 14C
Saturday, Sept. 3, 10:30 - 11 p.m. (ET) - Galaxy 16 / Transponder 14C
Sunday, Sept. 4, 7:30- 8 p.m. (ET) - Galaxy 16 / Transponder 14C
Monday, Sept. 5, 6:30 - 7 p.m. (ET) - Galaxy 16 / Transponder 14C
(Downlink: 3980 MHz, vertical; Data Rate: 40.461470554 Mbp; Transmission: MPEG-2; HD: 720p; Symbol Rate: 29.27 Ms; FEC: ¾; Bandwidth: 36 Mhz)
Video news release contains race action highlights each day and winners’ interviews on Monday.
2010 EVENT WINNERS: Larry Dixon, Top Fuel; Ashley Force Hood, Funny Car; Greg Stanfield, Pro Stock; LE Tonglet, Pro Stock Motorcycle;
MOST VICTORIES: Bob Glidden, Pro Stock, 9; Don Garlits, Top Fuel, 8; Tony Schumacher, Top Fuel, 8; Don Prudhomme, Top Fuel and Funny Car, 7; Warren Johnson, Pro Stock, 6; Dave Schultz, Pro Stock Motorcycle, 6; Ed McCulloch, Funny Car and Top Fuel, 6; Greg Anderson, Pro Stock, 5; John Force, Funny Car, 4; Larry Dixon, Top Fuel, 4.
EVENT HISTORY: The most historic and prestigious event in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil has been contested annually since 1955. Originally known as “The Nationals” and first held at an abandoned airstrip in Great Bend, Kan., the event made stops at Kansas City, Mo., Oklahoma City and Detroit before eventually moving to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in 1961. Past winners include “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, an eight-time winner in Top Fuel; Shirley Muldowney, 1982 Top Fuel winner; Don “The Snake” Prudhomme, a seven-time winner and one of a handful of drivers to win the event in both Top Fuel and Funny Car; and Bob Glidden, the legendary Pro Stock driver who dominated the race by advancing to the final round in 13 consecutive seasons from 1977-’89. The Indiana native won the event a record nine times. It is the only major motorsports event to be contested on Labor Day. In 2004 the event celebrated its 50th anniversary in memorable fashion with spectacular racing witnessed by one of the biggest crowds in NHRA history. This year during the NHRA’s 60th anniversary celebration, there promises to be major drama as the event will be the last race during the NHRA Full Throttle Series regular season, and the top 10 drivers in each of the four classes will be determined for the Countdown to the Championship playoffs.
FAST FACTS: The Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil is the final of 16 regular season Full Throttle Series races. At the conclusion of this event the top 10 drivers in each Full Throttle Series category will qualify for the Countdown to the Championship, NHRA’s six-race playoffs that begin Sept. 15-18 at zMAX Dragway in Charlotte, N.C. … Tony Schumacher is a 10-time U.S. Nationals finalist in Top Fuel (winning eight)… Schumacher’s first career NHRA start came at the U.S. Nationals in 1996 and the then rookie posted a runner-up finish to Cory McClenathan… Pro Stock dominator Greg Anderson has won the race five times in the past 10 seasons… Six female drivers representing three professional categories are pre-entered for the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil… John Force, 15-time NHRA Full Throttle Series world champion and winner of a record 133 events, has won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil four times, his last coming in 2002… Last season track performance records for E.T. and speed were set in all four Full Throttle Series categories… Pro Stock’s Bob Glidden, who will be honored as a legend during the event, is the winningest driver in the history of the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals presented by Lucas Oil, with nine victories… Since 2000, only two drivers – Tony Schumacher and Larry Dixon – have won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Top Fuel.
WHAT TO WATCH: Tony Schumacher, who is winless this season but has advanced to the last four final rounds, is seeking his ninth Top Fuel victory at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals; with a win he will break his current tie with “Big Daddy” Don Garlits for most U.S. Nationals Top Fuel wins… A victory by Schumacher would tie Pro Stock’s Bob Glidden for most U.S. Nationals victories with nine… Four-time Pro Stock world champion Greg Anderson, the defending world champion and series points leader entering the event, is seeking his sixth Mac Tools U.S. Nationals victory… Don Prudhomme, Kenny Bernstein, Ed McCulloch and Jim Head have won the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in both Top Fuel and Funny Car. Top Fuel points leader Del Worsham, who won here in Funny Car in 2005, could join the elite group with a victory this weekend… The official NHRA 60th anniversary legends of the event will be nine-time Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Pro Stock winner Bob Glidden and 1982 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals Top Fuel winner Shirley Muldowney… Funny Car points leader Mike Neff is pulling double duty as both driver and tuner of his Castrol GTX Ford Mustang. He has raced to four victories this season… Erica Enders has raced to three final rounds this season in Pro Stock and with a victory at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals would become the first female to win a Pro Stock race in NHRA history. The Houston racer, who got her start in NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League, would become the 12th female winner in the Full Throttle Series in NHRA history… Defending Pro Stock Motorcycle winner and world champ LE Tonglet is riding a hot streak into the event, as he has posted four victories this season aboard his Nitro Fish Suzuki… Two other drivers riding momentum into the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals are Antron Brown in Top Fuel and Ron Capps in Funny Car. Brown won at Sonoma and Brainerd, while Capps also won at Sonoma and was runner-up at Brainerd… Three rookie drivers – Pro Stock’s Vincent Nobile and Pro Stock Motorcycle’s Hector Arana Jr. and Jerry Savoie – enter the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in the top 10; Nobile has won two races this season while Arana Jr. has posted a runner-up finish.
TRACK HISTORY: In 1958, led by Tom Binford, Frank Dickie, Rodger Ward and Howard Fieber, 15 Indianapolis-area businessmen and racing professionals invested $5,000 each to fund the development of what would become Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. The group purchased a 267-acre farm about seven miles from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and developed a multipurpose auto racing facility. The original intention in creating Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis was to design a 15-turn, 2.5-mile road course. Nearly as an afterthought, and as an insurance measure against economic problems, the investment group decided to incorporate a quarter-mile drag strip into the long straightaway of the 2.5-mile road course design. Constructed with assistance from the NHRA, the drag strip was the first of the three courses to be completed, with the facility’s first event held on the strip in the fall of 1960. During the 1960 U.S. Nationals in Detroit, a handshake agreement between Binford and NHRA founder Wally Parks promised that the event would move to Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis in 1961. The historic three-year pact was signed and sealed under a tree in Detroit Dragway’s pits, and Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis eventually became the home of NHRA’s biggest annual event. The NHRA purchased the entire facility in 1979. The first major improvement came in 1983 with the construction and dedication of Parks Tower, the four-story drag strip tower. In 1998, new grandstands, suites and a tower complex on the front straightaway were completed at the oval track at a cost of nearly $2.5 million, which included the repaving of the entire oval surface as part of a three-phase facility improvement project. In 2001, NHRA and Lucas Oil Raceway constructed a new drag strip racing surface, replacing the strip with a 660-foot concrete pad and laying new asphalt on the remainder of the track and shutdown area. Prior to the 2003 Mac Tools U.S. Nationals, eight new luxury suites were added along the top of the west-side grandstands of the drag strip, giving fans a unique perspective of the action on the famed quarter-mile track. In 2006, new soft barrier walls were added to the oval. In 2007, the track announced its first track entitlement with O’Reilly Auto Parts. In 2011, the track announced a new track entitlement with Lucas Oil Products. The track – formerly known as Indianapolis Raceway Park – is now known as Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis. During the winter of 2008, a new main track office building was constructed near the track entrance.
DRIVER QUICK QUOTES:
Morgan Lucas, Indianapolis, GEICO Powersports dragster: “I'm as much a fan of the sport as I am a participant in it. There's a lot of history that goes into the U.S. Nationals. Your emotions build up to it. It's exciting to participate in something that's been such a part of the history of the sport. Also, my parents decided to sponsor the track this year, which is a pretty big deal. It's just another one of those massive business endeavors my dad goes in on. It'll be cool to have a good showing up there. I'll have all my family around and all the crew guys families there. Everybody who works on this car lives in Indianapolis, and a lot of the guys will have their family and friends out to the track. It's the one race of the year a lot of people get to show off for their families. For a lot of reasons, there's a lot of emotions that goes into it. It’s a really special deal for everybody. There’s nothing like coming home with a Wally after the longest weekend of the year.”
Tim Wilkerson, Springfield, Ill., Levi Ray & Shoup Ford Mustang, 2003 Funny Car winner at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: “I understand what some racers say, the whole thing about every race being just as important as the next one, and in terms of points that's correct, but as long as we race in Indy it will always be different. It may not be more valuable in terms of points, but it's more valuable in terms of the check they give you and it's way more valuable in terms of prestige. After I won Indy, back in 2003, the thing I got the biggest kick out of was the fact that Bob Frey introduced me on the P.A., every time I made a lap, for a full year, as Tim Wilkerson, your reigning Mac Tools U.S. Nationals champion. Let me tell ya, they don't do that for any other race, so that tells you all you need to know about winning Indy. It's also one of the closer races to our home, in Springfield, Ill., so we get a hefty contingent of Wilk's Warriors coming over there, and a lot of Levi, Ray & Shoup people, and all of them are fired up about it being Indy. That gets us a little more fired up too, and from the time you roll through the back gate there at the track, there's no getting around the feeling that it's something special.”
Erica Enders, New Orleans, ZaZa Energy Chevy Cobalt: “Indy's been an important part of my life since 1994 when NHRA held the inaugural Jr. Dragster Nationals there. At that first race, I finished runner-up, and that was pretty special. It's a place I've been going to since I was 10 years old. It's always been huge. I'm excited to go. This year, I'm really optimistic about the rest of the season. We've got a really consistent race car, which is awesome to have in Pro Stock. I have a great team, and truly feel like I could win the biggest race we have.”
Hector Arana Sr., Milltown, Ind., Lucas Oil Buell, 2009 Pro Stock Motorcycle winner at the Mac Tools U.S. Nationals: “Indy is our home track. That makes it important right from the start. I won the U.S. Nationals before, and it was a big win for me, so I'm looking forward to repeating. It’s the granddaddy of them all. For some reason, when you talk to anyone, the U.S. Nationals is the one they all know as our biggest event. It's the largest attendance we have for spectators and even racers. It's something special. Everyone wants to be there and participate and most of all, win it. I definitely want to do well there so Forrest and Charlotte (Lucas) can feel proud of us and keep participating in this sport. If you stop and think about it, where else have you seen sponsors so involved in a sport? They do everything they can to promote drag racing. And they go out of their way to promote this class. You go to Lucas Oil Stadium and you walk inside there, and you can see everything they support in drag racing. They're trying to educate those football fans about another sport, which is drag racing.”
NATIONAL RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.770 sec. by Larry Dixon, Feb. ’11, Pomona, Calif.; 327.03 mph by Tony Schumacher, Feb. ’11, Pomona, Calif.
Funny Car - 4.011 sec. by Matt Hagan, Oct. ’10, Reading, Pa.; 316.45 mph by Robert Hight, June ’11, Bristol, Tenn.
Pro Stock - 6.495 sec. by Rodger Brogdon, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.; 213.57 mph by Erica Enders, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.
PS Motorcycle – 6.777 sec. by Hector Arana, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.; 199.26 mph by Eddie Krawiec, March ’11, Gainesville, Fla.
TRACK RECORDS:
Top Fuel - 3.776 sec. by Larry Dixon, Sept. ’10; 324.83 mph by Tony Schumacher, Sept. ’10.
Funny Car - 4.039 sec. by Matt Hagan, Sept. ’10; 313.07 mph by Ashley Force Hood, Sept. ’10.
Pro Stock - 6.579 sec. by Mike Edwards, Sept. ’10; 210.28 mph by Allen Johnson, Sept. ’10.
Pro Stock Motorcycle - 6.815 sec. by Andrew Hines, Sept. ’10; 196.76 mph by Hines, Sept. ’10.
TICKETS: For tickets call (800) 884-NHRA (6472). Tickets also are available online at www.NHRATIX.com.
GENERAL ADMISSION (includes pit pass) – Wednesday: Adult, $10; Thursday: Adult, $14; Friday: Adult, $35; Saturday: Adult, $46; Sunday: Adult, $49; Monday: Adult, $49; Children (12 years and under), free in general admission and pit areas each day when accompanied by an adult.
RESERVED (includes pit pass) – Friday: Adult, $45; Saturday: Adult, $58; Sunday: Adult, $61; Monday: Adult, $61; Children (12 years and under), free in reserved seats each day when accompanied by an adult.
