TMS Brings Back Friday Night Drag Racing

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Texas Motor Speedway’s Friday Night Drags, created to help curtail illegal street racing, will kick off its sixth season Friday evening as the general public can bring their personal vehicles to drag race on a 1/8-mile drag strip created on the speedway’s pit road.

The six-week amateur series will be run for consecutive weeks from Friday through June 27, break for the Fourth of July holiday and then resume from July 11-25. Friday Night Drags also will include a weekly “Show-N-Shine” competition, where car enthusiasts will display their prized possessions and the top entries earning awards from Texas Motor Speedway.

Drag racing practice will open at 6:15 p.m. CT and competition will begin at 9:10 p.m. while the “Show-N-Shine” car show begins at 6:15 p.m. with judging from 7:30-8 p.m. Cost to participate in the racing or car show competition is $20 and participants can access registration in the infield through the south tunnel. Registration for drag racing and the car show begins at 6 p.m.

All drag racing competitors will have their cars inspected during check-in to determine which of the six divisions they will be placed. The divisions consist of Tuner, Street Bandit, Sportsman, Super Cars, Street Outlaw and Blake Smoke Warrior. Division classification information can be found at www.texasmotorspeedway.com/at-track/friday-night-drags.

Weekly champions from each division will be announced the following week and

overall champions will be crowned during the season finale on July 25. The Show-N-Shine car show will present awards weekly for “Best of Show,” “Best Classic” (1972 or prior year), “Best Current Custom” (1973 to current) and “Best Motorcycle” categories.

Spectators also are encouraged to visit Friday Night Drags with admission at $7 and free parking outside Gate 6 in the PSL lot. General admission tickets may be purchased at Gate 6.

Infield parking with the opportunity to take parade laps around the 1.5-mile high banks of Texas Motor Speedway prior to opening ceremonies also is available for $20. Additional passengers will be charged the $7 general admission. Coolers will be allowed in the grandstands and infield.

The series began in 2009 to assist in curtailing illegal street racing in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex by providing a safer alternative at the speedway. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for people between the ages of 15 and 20 and an average of 135 people die in the United States annually in street racing-related accidents.

Earlier this year, two local men were sentenced to jail time for a 2011 street racing accident in Arlington that led to the death of an innocent driver. Texas Motor Speedway’s Friday Night Drags program was created to help prevent these tragedies by offering a safe, controlled drag racing environment equipped with fire and rescue personnel. Over its five-year existence, Friday Night Drags has seen over 1,500 different drivers participate in the program.

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