GLENDORA, Calif. (Nov. 22, 2013) – NHRA announced today that the 2014 NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League’s Western Conference Finals and Eastern Conference Finals will be held at Rocky Mountain Raceways near Salt Lake City and Bristol Dragway in Tennessee, respectively.
The NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Western Conference Finals will move to Utah’s scenic Rocky Mountain Raceways for the first time, July 10-12, 2014, while the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern Finals will return to Eastern Tennessee’s famed Thunder Valley, July 24-26.
“We are extremely excited about the 2014 NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League season,” said Gary Darcy, senior vice president of sales and marketing, NHRA. “We welcome Rocky Mountain Raceways as the host of the Western Conference Finals and we are pleased that Bristol Dragway is returning to host the Eastern Conference Finals. Both venues will provide great backdrops for these very important events where the future stars of NHRA Drag Racing will be showcased.”
In 2014, both tracks will also be hosting activities and events throughout each of their respective race weekends in addition to the racing action that will occur on the track. Both will also host events earlier in the week leading up to the Conference Finals events.
“We are proud that the Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern Conference Finals once again will take place in Thunder Valley,” said Julie Bennett, vice president of Bristol Dragway. “Imagine the excitement of these kids knowing their first national event win could take place at a track with the history and tradition of Bristol Dragway. These drivers are our future, and we can’t wait to show them a good time here in Bristol.”
Bristol Dragway has played host to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2004 and Rocky Mountain Raceways takes over the Western Conference Finals from Denver’s Bandimere Speedway, which held the event for the past 14 years.
“We are really excited for the opportunity to host the 2014 Western Conference Finals,” said Mike Eames, general manager, Rocky Mountain Raceways. “We will work really hard to put our own touches on what is already a great event. I know that our staff and local racers will roll out the red carpet for all participants traveling both near and far to race with us in July.”
Nearly 1,000 kids compete for individual and team honors at the NHRA Jr. Drag Racing League Eastern and Western Conference Finals, with nearly $50,000 being awarded at each event including $2,500 and an NHRA Wally champion’s trophy to each individual winner.
Created in 1992, the NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League allows kids between the ages of 8 and 17 to experience the thrill of motorsports competition in a controlled environment at tracks in each of NHRA’s seven geographic divisions. The NHRA Summit Racing Jr. Drag Racing League creates family involvement in drag racing at an affordable level. Many of the league’s former participants have gone on to compete in other NHRA classes. Top Fuel racers Shawn Langdon (the 2013 NHRA Mello Yello Series Top Fuel world champion and a two-time Super Comp national champion in the Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series) and seven-time NHRA Pro Stock winner Erica Enders-Stevens, are among the league’s most accomplished graduates, while 2011 NHRA Lucas Oil Stock national champion Joe Santangelo II and the 2010 Lucas Oil Super Stock national champion Ryan McClanahan are both former Conference Finals champions.
