Thu, 24 Jan 2013, 17:32 PM New Events, and Some Old Favorites, Highlight Maple Grove's '13 Schedule |
Courtesy of Evan Jones |
MOHNTON, Pa. --
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In fact a total of 89 NHRA records were set at The Grove during its 50th anniversary season.
What's going to happen in 2013? Racing fans will get their chance to find out beginning in April.
Maple Grove's 51st season will begin with a test and tune on April 6 and will feature racing just about every weekend until the beginning of November.
The 29th Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals on Oct. 3-6 should continue to be one of the fastest races on the Mello Yello Series schedule. Last year, national time records were set by Antron Brown (3.701 seconds) in Top Fuel, Jack Beckman (3.986 seconds) in Funny Car and Andrew Hines (6.728 seconds) in Pro Stock Motorcycle. Beckman also went 320.58 mph to set a speed record. As part of the NHRA's Countdown to the Championship, drivers will be vying for position in the final stretch to world championships.
Some of the other returning big events for the season:
• The Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series on May 23-26. The NHRA's Sportsman series returns for a 44th time with some of drag racing's up-and-coming stars. Saturday's round will conclude with 260-mph Top Alcohol Dragsters and Funny Cars finals as fans can take advantage of Maple Grove's popular $25 carload deal on Saturday night.
• Mega Mopar Action Series on June 22-23. The first of the three Manufacturers Series events, the weekend will feature a jamboree of enthusiasts who love Dodge, Chrysler, Plymouth and AMC Products. A Hemi Challenge race is also part of the event.
• Geezers Reunion at The Grove nostalgia race returns are a year's hiatus on Aug. 9-10 featuring nitromethane- and alcohol-powered Funny Cars. Also included in the show are jets, 7.0 index racing and nostalgia bracket racing.
• Super Chevy Show on July 18-21. The largest such show in the country featured over 600 race entries and hundreds of car show entries in 2012. It's a summer paradise for Chevy lovers.
• Fun Ford Weekend on Aug. 17-18. This event returned to Maple Grove last summer and was a great success as fans of the Blue Oval turned out in droves to race or show in honor of their favorite brand. Look for a bigger and better FFW in 2013.
• PCRichard.com Pennsylvania Dutch Classic on Oct. 17-20. It's one of the oldest Sportsman races in the country and it comes back for the 42nd edition. It's also part of the NHRA's Northeast Division Open Series, which invites the best Sportsman racers from all over the country to participate. A popular Hemi Challenge is also included.
Also returning are the Latin American Sports Compacts on Sept. 7-8; the VW June Bug Classic on June 9; Pontiacs at The Grove on June 16; and the Rumble at The Grove Outlaw Pro Mod Race on June 29.
Maple Grove will introduce some new and exciting events in 2013:
• An Index Series, sponsored by Boninfante Performance, will make its debut with races on May 19, June 29, and July 14. Featuring head's up racing in three different classes, this promises to be a fan favorite.
• The Keystone Diesel Nationals on July 27 will be a mecca for big truck racers in this part of the country. Ever want to see those big rigs on the Pennsylvania Turnpike rumble down a dragstrip in competition? Here's your chance!
Local racers will find plenty of action. The Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail Series, which features local racers competing for season points, is scheduled to have 17 races split into three sessions this summer. People wanting to test their cars on the drag strip will get over a dozen opportunities with Auto Locator Grudge Racing that will be held on Friday nights through the summer.
The ATI Stock-Super Stock Series returns with four dates that will be included as part of the Money Trail. Racers from this popular NHRA Sportsman class will compete for points on June 8-9 and Aug. 24-25.
The Grove will once again host three automotive flea markets: April 13-14, June 29 and Oct. 26.
Maple Grove Raceway 2103 schedule April 6 Grudge racing/Test and Tune/Gamblers 7 Import Faceoff 13-14 Spring Flea Market 14 Grudge racing/Test and Tune/Gamblers 19 Tech and Parking, Spring 10K Footbrake Nationals, 4-8 p.m. 20-21 Spring 10K Footbrake Nationals 27 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 1/Start Session 1 28 UTI High School Challenge May 3 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 4 NHRA King of the Track 1, Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 2 5 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 3 10 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 11 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 4 12 Closed - Mother's Day 17 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 18 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 5, SC, SG, SST 19 Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, Boninfante Index Series Ronald McDonald Charity, Test and Tune 23 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, Test and Tune 24-26 Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series 31 Auto Locator Grudge Racing June 1 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 6, End Session 1 2 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 7, Start Session 2 7 Auto Locator Grudge Racing - Ladies Night (all ladies free) 8 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 8, ATI Stock-Super Stock Series 9 VW June Bug Classic XXVI, ATI Stock-Super Stock Series 9 Doug Foley Drag Racing School (4-8p) 10 Doug Foley Drag Racing School 14 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 15 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 9 16 Pontiacs at the Grove 21 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 22-23 Mega Mopar Action 28 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 29 Rumble at the Grove, Outlaw Pro Mods, Boninfante Index Series, Top-Sportsman, Flea Market 30 Closed July 5 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 6 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 10 7 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 11, End Session 2 12 Auto Locator Grudge Racing/Ladies Night (all ladies free) 13 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 12, Start Session 3 14 No Time Showdown, B1 Products Index Series 18-21 Super Chevy Show 26 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 27 Keystone Diesel Truck Nationals, Pick-Ups to Big Rigs 28 Closed August 2 Auto Locator Grudge Racing/Ladies Night (all ladies free) 3 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 13 4 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 14 9-10 Geezers Reunion at The Grove, Nitro funny cars, Alcohol Funny Cars, jets, 7.0 index, nostalgia racing 11 Closed 16 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 16 Roy Hill's Drag Racing School 17-18 Fun Ford Weekend 20-21 Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School 23 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 24 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 15, ATI Stock-Super Stock Series 25 Sunoco Race Fuels Money Trail 16, ATI Stock-Super Stock Series 30 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 31 King of the Track 2/Sunoco Race Fuels MT 17/End Session 3 September 1 NHRA Jr. Dragster Challenge, ET Racing, no points 6 Auto Locator Grudge Racing 7-8 Latin American Sports Compacts 14 Humane Society of Berks County Walk for the Cause (no racing) 15 National Dragster Challenge, (no points), Ronald McDonald Charity 20-21 Doug Foley's Drag Racing School 22 UTI Funday Sunday 28-29 Track closed in preparation for Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals October 3-6 Auto-Plus NHRA Nationals 10-13 PCRichard.com Pennsylvania Dutch Classic 18 10K Footbrake Tech, (4-8 p.m.) 19 10K footbrake Nationals 20 Rain Date 10K Footbrake Nationals 26 Fall Flea Market 27 Ghosts & Goblins at the Grove November 2 Turkey Trots, ET race, Turkey Gift Cards
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