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The Professional Racers Owners Organisation (PRO), a non-profit collective of team owners from the NHRA Drag Racing Series, has announced a partnership with the FloRacing streaming platform to form the PRO Superstar Shootout which will see more than $1.3 million (USD) in prize money on offer.
The five-day spectacular will be held in Bradenton, Florida on February 6-10, around the same time as the traditional ‘official’ NHRA pre-season test at Wild Horse Motorsports Park in Arizona, which was due to be shuttered in 2024 (coincidently, WHMP has confirmed in the last 48 hours that it will now remain open in 2024 with new operators).
The PRO Superstar Shootout will see Top Fuel and Funny Car teams race for $US250,000 to win in each category, with the Pro Stock winner scoring a $US125,000 payday.
The event will be live streamed on the FloRacing platform, with the broadcaster doubling as a co-promoter for the event.
“We believe this is a dramatic new leap for professional drag racing,” said Alan Johnson, President, PRO.
“The PRO Superstar Shootout will be unlike anything our teams have been a part of, and the result will be a one-of-a-kind show for our fans. This is an opportunity to try some new formats and to showcase our sport to a broad audience worldwide.
“Whether fans are joining us in-person or tuning in from home through the FloRacing livestream, they’re going to see the best professional drivers and teams in the sport compete in a different way. It’s going to be very exciting to take the expected boost of energy from this action-packed weekend into the start of the 2024 NHRA Drag Racing season.”
The race was announced at a star-studded press conference at FloSports HQ, featuring Championship winning professional team owners and drivers including four-time Top Fuel Champion Steve Torrence, five-time Pro Stock Champion Erica Enders and her team owner Richard Freeman (Elite Motorsports), Tony Stewart (TSR – Top Fuel and Funny Car) and Bob Tasca III (Tasca Racing – Funny Car), as well as Kalitta Motorsport’s team manager and vice president of PRO, Chad Head.
It is not believed that the NHRA has any affiliation with the PRO Superstar Shootout other than being the sanctioning body for Bradenton Motorsports Park.
The move is seen as somewhat of a signal to the NHRA management about growing discontent in the professional ranks regarding the lack of growth in the prizemoney over the last decade.
Currently, the winners in Top Fuel or Funny receive $US50,000 to win an NHRA National Event – an amount that was reduced throughout the COVID-affected years of 2020 and 2021 to $US35,000.
The NHRA is enjoying a banner year after the rebound from COVID, with six events sold out so far this season including the recent Mile High Nationals which was sold out for three consecutive days.
The event will be invitation only for professional teams, with 12 to 14 cars expected in both Top Fuel and Funny Car fighting to qualify for the eight-car shootout.
Pro Stock will remain at the usual 16 car limit.
Once qualifying is complete, each round of racing will be seeded by a random ‘chip draw’, meaning that there is no real advantage to qualifying #1 other than cementing a place in the qualified field.
Testing for the PRO Superstar Shootout will take place on February 6-7, 2024, with qualifying on the 8th and 9th and elimination racing on the 10th.
