This summer’s Sonoma Nationals drag races canceled

The NHRA Sonoma Nationals Mello Yello Drag Racing Series race scheduled to be held from July 24-26 at Sonoma Raceway was canceled, the track announced Wednesday.

The news follows announcement in mid-May that NASCAR’s Toyota Save Mart’s annual stop to Sonoma would be canceled.

Since announcing the race postponement in early May, Sonoma Raceway and NHRA have worked closely to find an alternate date for the annual event, but with a limited number of options in the late fall, the raceway was not confident it could host a successful event.

“In working with NHRA’s revised 2020 season schedule, the best option for the NHRA Sonoma Nationals would have been in November, and with the uncertainty of weather, which would affect the racing and camping experience, we are not confident we could provide an event up to the standard our fans have come to expect,” said Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager. “We are thankful for our passionate NHRA fans and can’t wait to get back to racing in 2021.”

This marks the first time the NHRA Nationals event in Sonoma has been canceled or rescheduled since the series’ inaugural visit in 1988. The drag racing Series will return to Sonoma Raceway in 2021.

NHRA announced 16 of the events on the revised schedule will be condensed to two-day competition schedules for the Mello Yello drag racing series classes due to economic and logistical factors. It will include one day of tworound qualifications on Saturday and final eliminations on Sunday. The Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series classes will begin racing on Friday.

Besides Sonoma, events in Chicago; Norwalk, Ohio; Richmond, Virginia; and Epping, New Hampshire as well as spring events in Las Vegas and Charlotte, North Carolina, originally on the calendar have been canceled.

Elsewhere, the NHRA drag racing will resume its season in July with back-to-back events at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis with limited spectators allowed. The events will be run on July 11-12 and July 18-19.

Sonoma Nationals ticket holders may choose to receive an event credit or receive a refund of their purchase price.