ROCKINGHAM — Rockingham Dragway has been confirmed as the newest host of the elite NMRA Muscle Car Nationals and Holley NMRA Ford Nationals championship street car and drag racing series, crowning champions in Xtreme Pro Modified, Street Outlaw, Factory Super Cars, Renegade/Xtreme Street, Coyote Stock, Chevrolet Performance Stock, Factory Stock, N/A 10.5 and Nitrous Pro Street classes, among others.
The NMRA/NMCA All-Start Nationals, featuring drag racing, a Manufacturers’ Midway, and massive, two-day American-built car and truck show, will debut April 22-24, 2022 as one of three events in the joint NMRA/NMCA series which also includes stops at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois (just outside of St. Louis) and US131 Motorsports Park in Martin, Michigan.
“Becoming a part of this prestigious series has been on our bucket list for quite some time,” said Rockingham owner Steve Earwood. “We’ve had many inquiries from racers and fans about the possibility of bringing an NMRA/NMCA event to the Carolinas and we’re excited to finally make it happen.”
The All-Star Nationals will bring even more distinction to a schedule already considered among the most diverse in the country.
“You have to cater to the customer,” Earwood said. “Some folks would say that’s ‘old school’ but, trust me, it still applies. If you look at the events we were producing when we first bought the track, they’re entirely different from the races on our current schedule, but that’s what make’s this business so interesting and so competitive.”
Rollie Miller, National Event Director and General Manager of the NMRA/NMCA championship racing series shared, “Rockingham Dragway has a long, storied history in drag racing and we are honored to bring our series to this legendary facility. The region offers so much to our segment of drag racing and we are excited to create a new home in Rockingham.”
Significantly, the series brings professional Pro Mod racing back to The Rock for the first time in several years and Roxboro’s Chip King is expected to be one of the prime contenders in an All-Star field.
“We have a history with Pro Mods at The Rock,” Earwood said, “going back to the days of the original ADRL. The most questions I get from casual fans are ‘when will John Force be back’ and ‘when are we going to run Pro Mods’? Well, Force may not be back next year but now we can say that Pro Mods will run in April.”
The drag racing portion of the event, which also includes a Stock/Super Stock combo class as well as Open Comp, Super Stang, Modular Muscle, Nostalgia Super Stock, Street King, Nostalgia Muscle, Rumble, Truck & Lightning, Dodge/Mopar Hemi Shootout, Bracket Open and True Street classes, share billing with an all-American car show.
Not only will judges identify winners in 22 GM, 22 Ford and six Chrysler classes, there also will be awards for Best GM Muscle Car, Best Ford Muscle Car, Best Chrysler Muscle Car, Best Late Model, Best Street Rod, Best Traditional Hot Rod, Best Truck, Best Race Car plus Best Engine, Best Interior, Best Paint and Body and, of course, Best of Show.
According to Earwood, there will be an announcement on ticket pricing and availability in the near future.
