The ADRL announced on Monday its plans to continue its traditional championship points series for the 2012 season, and also released its purse and payout info for the 2012 ADRL Tour.
The eighth ADRL season begins March 30-31 with Dragpalooza VIII from Royal Purple Raceway in Houston.
To view full payout information, visit www.adrl.us/competition/purse.
In all, the world's premier eighth-mile drag racing league will award nearly $1.7 million in prize money for the 2012 season, including an impressive $260,250 points fund.
"This is all part of our plan to bring our purses in line with what our business model will allow. We're realigning our business plan for the long-term and we're investing in the future of the ADRL to maintain its viability," ADRL's Tim McAmis said.
"We've taken the purse and spread it over more classes. There will be more racers than ever before in the ADRL in 2012 and we want to make it a better experience for all of them.
"We're going to bigger tracks, we've got the best track prep equipment and team in the world, and these are all things we've invested in to make the racer's experience better."
In a continued sign of growth, the ADRL's 2012 payouts will be spread over eight classes for the first time in its eight-year history.
The ADRL will pay out nearly $150,000 total at each of its 10 events, including Pro Junior Dragster and the new Pro Modified class.
Pro Modified will have an eight-car qualified field in 2012, with the winner earning $5,000.
The highly-popular Top Sportsman class will run its first full season in the ADRL after becoming an official class midway through the 2011. Winners in Top Sportsman in 2012 will receive $3,000.
"After seeing the incredible response from fans, tracks, sponsors and teams, keeping the traditional points system was the best decision for everyone involved with the ADRL," ADRL Executive Vice President Jeff Fortune said.
"We've already received a tremendous amount of support from sponsors for the 2012 season, and we are committed to continuing to make the series grow.
"We will continue to be a world-class organization and create more opportunities for our teams that will make the ADRL more entertaining than ever before."
The world championship will go to the competitor recording the most points throughout the 10-race series in each professional class (Pro Extreme, Pro Nitrous, Extreme 10.5, Pro Extreme Motorcycle, Extreme Pro Stock, Pro Modified and Top Sportsman).
The points fund will pay the top 10 competitors in the points standings in each class at the conclusion of the 2012 season, which takes place at the World Finals VIII in October at the Texas Motorplex in Dallas.
"Like we saw in 2011, the World Finals will be a memorable way to wrap up what we think will be an amazing 2012 season," Fortune said. "We will have the individual race event that weekend and then we will also be awarding our world champions.
"It will be a thrilling way to conclude a 2012 season that will feature the ADRL going to many of the biggest and most prestigious tracks in the nation."
Full class and championship points payouts are available at www.adrl.us/competition/purse.
