What is the PRO Superstar Shootout Nitro Race at Bradenton Motorsports Park Everyone is Talking About?
A big nitro race is coming to Florida, with the announcement of the PRO Superstar Shootout bringing leading nitro teams together for an independent event.
While ‘big show’ nitro racing is typically limited to the NHRA’s Camping World Series, this race will take place a month before the NHRA season begins, at a time when most of the teams are engaged in pre-season testing.
While there will be plenty of test laps made before the event proper begins, this is a serious race with $1.3m in prizemoney on the line. The winner of Top Fuel will receive $250,000, as will the winner of Funny Car. The Pro Stock winner will receive $125,000.
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“We believe this is a dramatic new leap for professional drag racing,” said Alan Johnson, president of PRO (Professional Racers Owners). “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.”
While Florida is a highly-regarded destination for the NHRA Gatornationals at Gainesville Raceway, the PRO Superstar Shootout will be the first time fans in South Florida have felt the nitro thunder since the days of pro testing at the now-shuttered Palm Beach International Raceway.
“It’s a really big deal to bring an event of this magnitude to Bradenton,” said Victor Alvarez, the track owner of Bradenton Motorsports Park. “This has been a goal that we’ve worked towards, myself and Wade Rich [Dragway Operations Director] and Dave Lansberry [Track Manager]. We’ve all said we want to get to a point where we can host a race like this and have cars that people only really see on TV. It’s really cool for our local fans. Pro Mod has always been our thing, but to see some of these names and some of these cars at a small, hometown track like this is just really cool. It’s rewarding. It feels like all the upgrades we’ve done and a couple of years of just working really hard to have really good events is paying off.”
This event will be held the week after Sick Week. We think a good family vacation would consist of Sick Week, then a trip to the theme parks, then finish up at the PRO Superstar Shootout — what do you think?
Where will the event be held?
The event will be held at Bradenton Motorsports Park in Florida.
When will the event be held?
The PRO Superstar Shootout will be held from February 8 to 10. Qualifying will take place on the first two days with one session on Thursday and three on Friday. The three rounds of eliminations will take place on Saturday.
What will the format of the event be?
The teams will race over their usual NHRA distances — 1000 feet for Top Fuel and Funny Car, and 1320 feet for Pro Stock. Eliminations will use eight-car fields for the nitro classes and 16 cars for Pro Stock.
Who will be there?
The PRO Superstar Shootout will be an invite-only race for Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock teams. Judging by the press conference, it looks as though Tony Stewart Racing, Steve Torrence, Bob Tasca and Erica Enders are shoo-ins. Also expected to be in attendance based on their social media posts are Kalitta Motorsports and Ron Capps. No word yet from the John Force camp.
We expect the event will be based on the format used by Drag Illustrated for the World Series of Pro Mod, with drivers to be announced in the months leading up to February.
