PRO Board to Host New-Format Event—with Biggest Purse in Drag-Racing History

• FloRacing will livestream the race at Bradenton, Florida, that carries a payout of more than $1.3 million in total prize money.

• Top Fuel and Funny Car racers will vie for $250,000 winner’s share, and the Pro Stock winner will receive $125,000.

• Tony Stewart says the purpose of the event is “to create buzz” and “show people what drag racing’s all about.”

Aiming for sustainability and relevance, NASCAR initiated the Clash at the Coliseum, the street race at Chicago, dirt-track excitement at Bristol, and the throwback weekend at Darlington.

Likewise, forward-thinking IndyCar executives tried to rekindle interest for open-wheel fans with its “100 Days to Indy” program à la Formula 1’s über-popular Drive To Survive. Team owners have given opportunities to energetic, young drivers, have combined with NASCAR to co-headline events, and have staged concerts featuring top-tier entertainers.

Meanwhile, drag racing plodded along—until Elite Motorsports team owner Richard Freeman sparked a discussion at a board meeting of PRO, Professional Racer Organization. The association, founded in 1991, represents 33 teams and 47 drivers and serves as their liaison with the National Hot Rod Association, giving voice to their needs and concerns.

Discussions snowballed, and Wednesday PRO President Alan Johnson announced that it has partnered with Florida’s Bradenton Motorsports Park and Drag Illustrated magazine to present the February 8-10 PRO Superstar Shootout invitational that will boast a total purse of $1.3 million.

Been here before

It isn’t exactly a new concept, for the late George Howard started the Million Dollar Drag Race big-money bracket event in Alabama. This year the 28th edition, now called the Mickey Thompson Million Dollar Drag Race, will go September 12-16 at World Wide Technology Raceway, near St. Louis.

But for NHRA Camping World Series regulars, this is the biggest jackpot in their history.

The $250,000 PRO Superstar Shootout winner’s prize tops the $80,000 payout for both the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes at the new Pep Boys All-Star Call-Out. (That race for Top Fuel drivers took place in March at Gainesville, Fla., and the Funny Car version will be at Indianapolis in September.) The Pro Stock winner will earn $125,000.

So this new non-NHRA-sanctioned race, which will be a tune-up for the NHRA’s 2024 season opener at Gainesville Raceway, by far exceeds the rewards for Camping World Drag Racing Series premium-select drivers. Moreover, the format will introduce them to a chip draw to determine opponents. FloRacing will stream the entire event live.

New format, new audience

“We believe this is a dramatic new leap for professional drag racing,” PRO President Alan Johnson said. “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.”

Tony Stewart, a new PRO Board member as owner of a two-car nitro-class team, said the purpose of the Superstar Shootout “is just to create excitement, to create buzz, to show people what drag racing’s all about, the people that may not know what drag racing’s about.

“This is an opportunity to introduce them to it before the season starts and to do something that’s never been done before. Other forms of motorsports are getting their spot in the spotlight and their time for a big race. Drag racing has deserved that opportunity, as well.”

Johnson, tuner for 12 Top Fuel championship among six drivers, said the inspiration came from Freeman, who had orchestrated prosperous World Doorslammer Nationals at Orlando and the World Series of Pro Mod events at Bradenton.

“In one of our board meetings,” he said, “Richard Freeman had brought up their Pro Mod Shootout that they had in 2021, and it was such a success that we thought we might give it a try and build on that and invite Top Fuel and Funny Car cars to it.”

Johnson said the goal was to “build something that we could try some ideas that were a little out of the box, some things that are a little bit different, to promote the sport of drag racing.”

Tony Stewart provided an answer to the “why” of it: “The question was ‘Why?’ Well, why not? Why not do something big like this? I mean, we’ve seen other silos in motorsports this year and last year [that] there continues to be bigger and bigger events in motorsports. And drag racing deserves a big, big, big event.”

High-tide moment

Wes Buck, publisher of Drag Illustrated, said, “One of the things I’m inspired by is [this] group of people looking to solve a problem before there is one. This is a high-tide moment for the sport of drag racing: NHRA is celebrating multiple sell-outs, PDRA having a banner year, NMCA having a banner year, lots of sanctions reporting that things are good.

“When I look at this group of people, they’re not waiting until there is a problem to look for something new and try to create value and do something big and exciting. That’s worth celebrating.”

PRO Superstar Shootout drivers will run four qualifying sessions to determine the eight-car fields in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes and the 16-car field in Pro Stock. Random chip draws will determine the pairings for all rounds of eliminations preceding the final rounds.

Top Fuel driver Steve Torrence said, “This is going to be a whole different format, something completely off-the-wall-new. You go through qualifying, [and] you don’t know who you’re running until Flo is standing there, filing us, and we draw the chip.

“That emotion there, that’s going to run pretty high. And there’s possibly going to be some trash-talkin’. I know I’ll talk some trash. I got a little Connor McGregor in me, he said, referring to the MMA fighter. “I’m looking forward to it.

“The dynamic is something welcoming, new, that creates excitement, and generates people’s interest to check it out. This is the biggest thing in drag racing. This is the biggest deal ever done, the biggest payout in history. For us to come out and flip it on its end and put on a show that’s going to rock the whole drag-racing world, I’m excited about it,” Torrence said.

Funny Car driver Bob Tasca III said “to race for the biggest purse in the history of drag racing against the best of the best in the world, what I’m personally looking forward to is Flo. They’re going to bring the race in a unique way.

“They’re going to feature what goes on behind the scenes, in the trailer, the drama leading up to each and every run. And I think it’s going to be a spectacular race for the fans. I know a lot of sponsors are very interested in getting involved.”

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