NHRA SPORTSMAN RACERS WILL CONVERGE ON NO PROBLEM RACEWAY

BELLE ROSE, La. (April 1) — For the fifth consecutive year, No Problem Raceway Park will host the JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals, the popular program designed to showcase NHRA’s Sportsman racers. This year’s event is slated April 4-6 and will feature drivers in six NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series categories who will vie for valuable points leading to divisional and national championships.

The JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals boasts a guaranteed purse of more than $50,000. Competing classes include Comp Eliminator, Super Stock, Stock Eliminator, Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street. The event will also include the division’s popular Top Sportsman and Top Dragster categories as well as Sportsman Motorcycle. Jet Car and Top Fuel Harley Motorcycle exhibitions are also planned throughout the weekend.

“NHRA Sportsman racers are the foundation of this organization,” said Eric Lotz, NHRA Director of Field Marketing and Contingency Programs. “The three SPORTSnationals events give us the opportunity to put the spotlight on those racers for a change. It can be easy to overlook the efforts of these dedicated men and women. Most of the time the “team” is one or two people working on cars late into the night or giving up their weekends to work on the cars or to be at a race. We understand that and we certainly appreciate it.”

While the focus of the event will be on competition in the core NHRA Sportsman categories, other special attractions include Super Stock and Stock Class eliminations, the Mopar Hemi Challenge, the Top Sportsman and Top Dragster Shootout and “King of the Bayou” Shootout for Super Comp, Super Gas and Super Street.

NHRA reintroduced the SPORTSnationals five years ago at No Problem Raceway Park to rave reviews from racers and spectators. Prior to that NHRA had hosted the SPORTSnationals from 1974-1986 at a trio of tracks, including Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ky. (1974-‘80; 1985-‘86), the old Houston International Raceway (1981-‘82) and O’Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis (1983-‘84).

This season NHRA will host three SPORTSnationals events, including the JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals; the JEGS NHRA Northern SPORTSnationals in Columbus, Ohio, in September and the JEGS NHRA Pacific SPORTSnationals in Fontana, Calif. in October.

TICKETS: General admission tickets for the JEGS NHRA Cajun SPORTSnationals are $20 each day, $50 for a three-day pass, and $35 for a two-day ticket. For ticket information, contact No Problem Raceway Park at (985) 369-3692. For additional information about the event visit www.NHRA.com or www.NoproblemRaceway.com.

ABOUT JEGS HIGH PERFORMANCE: In 1960, Jeg Coughlin Sr. opened JEGS High Performance in Columbus, Ohio. Jeg was a speed freak, but was limited by his Midwest location which made it difficult to find the parts he wanted. As he slowly found his parts, friends came to him to build their engines. Soon he opened a retail business. In 1988 Jeg’s four sons, John, Troy, Mike and Jeg Jr., purchased the operation with the assistance of their father. After several expansions at the original location, what started out as a 4,000 square-foot speed shop now encompasses a 100,000 square-foot warehouse, a chassis shop, a call center and the original retail store. Two other stores and two additional call centers are also located in the metropolitan Columbus area. In the fall of 1999 a newly built state-of-the-art distribution center and headquarters opened. There are now over 350 associates.