GIR High School Eliminator Series

 Kicks Off April 6

 

MADISON, Ill. – Gateway International Raceway’s High School Eliminator series kicks off April 6 as part of the Tuesday night NHRA Drags Street Legal Style Presented by AAA program. The series, won by Derek Allen of Waterloo, Ill., in 2009, is scheduled to run every Tuesday with the final race on July 27. There is one scheduled “off week” on July 13 as the facility prepares for the NASCAR Nationwide Series/Camping World Truck Series doubleheader on its 1.25-mile oval that weekend.


A new aspect of the series is the inclusion of “drop races.” Rich Schaefer, GIR’s drag strip manager, said this was done to provide racers a chance to race for the title and still miss up to two races in the event of school-related activities, family functions, or emergencies.


“We know these kids have hectic schedules and we didn’t think it was fair for some of them to lose a shot at a championship because they had after-school activities or finals to study for,” he said. “That’s a lot of consecutive weeks of racing. With the rules change, we would drop their two worst finishes or two no-shows so they wouldn’t have to choose between school or the drag strip.”


For more information on how to compete in Gateway’s High School Eliminator program, contact Schaefer at rschaefer@gatewayraceway.com. For details on all of GIR’s racing programs and schedule of events, visit them on the Web at GatewayRaceway.com.


Race fans can follow all the action throughout the season at Gateway International Raceway on its official Twitter site at Twitter.com/GatewayRaceway and its official page on Facebook, Facebook.com/GatewayRaceway.