ADRL Sets Its Schedule For 2011 Season

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O’FALLON, MO (December 11, 2010) - With the two new tracks debuting races for the first time in league history and a more fan-friendly summer program, the American Drag Racing League (ADRL) is excited to announce its 2011 ADRL Tour schedule.The 2011 season is slated to feature nine national events that will take place throughout the United States from March through October.Two new tracks - Palm Beach International Raceway and Maple Grove Raceway - will appear for the first time under the ADRL banner over a six-week stretch in late spring.“We firmly believe that this is the best schedule the ADRL has ever run,” ADRL Executive Vice President Jeff Fortune said. “As we continue to move forward and continue to grow, we are very excited to visit new tracks while keeping the facilities that have been a major part of the ADRL’s success to this point.”With the 2011 season featuring nine national events at nine unbelievable venues, the races will undoubtedly provide another memorable and record-breaking year. The seventh ADRL campaign starts at its traditional location, as Universal Technical Institute ADRL Dragpalooza VII presented by Safety-Kleen will take place March 25-26 at Royal Purple Raceway (formerly Houston Raceway Park) in Baytown, Texas.The race will also feature the finish of the LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals VI, which was postponed due to rain in October, making the first ADRL racing weekend in 2011 a double-race event.A month later, the ADRL makes it debut at the first of two new tracks. First on the list is a trip to Palm Beach International Raceway (pictured) on April 15-16.“We are very excited about getting an ADRL event for the first time,” Palm Beach International Raceway President Jason Rittenberg said. “I had a terrific experience working with the ADRL in Memphis, watched it continue to grow and this is a great addition to our schedule.”From there, the ADRL will take another exciting step during the month of May.The ADRL will race for the first time at Maple Grove Raceway in Maple Grove, Pa., racing in that major market on May 6-7.“I’ve been impressed and sold on the ADRL for years and we are very much looking forward to working with them,” Maple Grove Raceway Vice President and General Manager Lex Dudas said. “The show the ADRL puts on is great and people in this area have really wanted us to get the ADRL on the schedule.”The additional markets are yet another signal of the ADRL’s continued growth on a national level.The new spring schedule will also take the ADRL directly into an exciting revamped summer schedule.The summer slate kicks off on June 17-18 for the Hardee’s Independence Drags V at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kan. After typically taking place in early July over the holiday weekend, the move to June will make for a more race-friendly and fan-accessible event.The Ford Drive One Summer Drags VII will occur a month later in 2011, as it will take place at U.S. 131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Mich. on July 15-16.Less than a month later on the 2011 schedule, the ADRL will run its Speedtech U.S. Drags IV at Virginia Motorsports Park on Aug. 12-13 in Petersburg, Va., finishing off what should be a memorable three-stop summer run.“We’ve worked hard on this schedule and we’ve gotten great cooperation from each of the tracks to put together a well-rounded tour that will be terrific for sponsors, racers and fans,” Fortune said. The biggest annual stop on the ADRL Tour will keep its early September slot, as Simpson Dragstock VIII will take place Sept. 9-10 at Rockingham Dragway in Rockingham, N.C. The yearly occurrence has become the preeminent event for Rockingham Dragway and the ADRL, and the eighth version should be no different.Like the 2010 regular season, a short two-week break will happen before the final regular season event of the 2011 season, the Summit Racing Equipment Ohio Drags V, takes place on Sept. 23-24 at Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk, Ohio.The 2011 season will conclude in its usual October slot with the LenMar Motorsports ADRL World Finals VII and the Speedtech “Battle For The Belts” slated to take place at Oct. 21-22 at Texas Motorplex in Ennis, Texas.

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