Reposted from a Jan. 27 article (Baton Rouge replacing San Antonio Nitro Jam event) on IHRA.com.

“...Professional classes at the Mardi Gras Nationals will include AMSOIL Nitro Funny Car, Nitro Harley, U.S. Bounty Hunters Pro Stock, Jet Dragster and exhibition runs of the U.S. Fire Force Jet Fire Truck. The sportsman program will be E.T. bracket classes.

'We made a decision not to include the Pro-Am classes at this event namely due to a lack of notice for the Division 4 Summit Pro-Am competitors” said Skooter Peaco, IHRA’s Vice President of Race Operations. “We have handled a lot of calls from Texas racers regarding the San Antonio date and I really didn’t want to throw a venue change at the Division 4 competitors this late in the planning process. I know with the uncertainty of San Antonio’s reopening date many racers may have made other plans for that weekend. We will open the Division 4 Summit Pro-Am season at Pine Valley March 27-29 as scheduled. When we return to San Antonio in the fall we will put the event back together and we can give all the competitors plenty of notice on the new national event date.' ”

The International Hot Rod Association (IHRA) Nitro Jam Drag Racing Series heads to the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, area for the second race of the 2015 season at State Capitol Raceway in Port Allen on March 13-14. The IHRA Nitro Jam Mardi Gras Nationals will mark the biggest drag race in the history of Louisiana at one of the sanctioning body’s most prestigious tracks in United States.

The International Hot Rod Association™ (IHRA) is proud to announce its Master and Advanced Jr. Dragster classes have been added to the annual Summit Racing Equipment Tournament of Champions presented by AMSOIL – held during the World Finals in Memphis, Tennessee – and will be will be sponsored by longtime series partner Summit Racing Equipment.

“The JR Race Car Jr. Dragster racers are the future of our sport and this announcement is exciting news for them,” said IHRA President Scott Gardner. “We would like to thank Summit Racing Equipment, our valued and longtime partner, for adding their support to this class by including them in the Summit Tournament of Champions and posting a most generous purse.”

With sadness we note the passing of Carmen Tedesco on Saturday, February 21. Carmen was on the management team of Pittsburgh Raceway Park in New Alexandria, Pennsylvania, from 2001-2011.

“Carmen was a larger-than-life personality who had a love for our sport and a passion for Pittsburgh Raceway Park and all the history it holds,” said Skooter Peaco, IHRA Vice President of Race Operations. “He created Carmen’s Cafeteria, which was more than the food service end of the business.  It was a fun place where people gathered to socialize and have fun while at the track, which is exactly the way Carmen wanted it.  It was an extension of his personality.  Everyone was family at Carmen’s.  I don’t ever recall seeing Carmen at an event without a smile on his face and a bounce in his step.  The IHRA team will really miss his warm Italian greeting which usually was, ‘Hey, great to see you! You hungry?’ “ 

IRG Sports + Entertainment™ and the International Hot Rod Association™ (IHRA) are proud to announce The New Onondaga Dragstrip, located in Onondaga, Michigan, has signed a multi-year sanctioning agreement to join the IHRA as a member track.

The New Onondaga Dragstrip, owned by Dan Pranshka, is an eighth-mile track constructed on a retired airstrip, south of Lansing and east of Kalamazoo. The track had been closed for 35 years but was reopened by Pranshka in 2013. Pranshka has made a number of upgrades to his facility.