Bret Kepner

I know many folks who won't attend the NHRA O'Reilly Midwest Nationals at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois, this weekend, (May 1-3),because of the price of tickets. General admission tickets alone are $32 (Friday), $42 (Saturday) and $52 (Sunday) and reserved seats are $10 more per day. Complete ticket price info can be found HERE.

However, I wanted to make everybody aware of a program which Lenny Batycki (GIR General Manager) and Rich Schaefer (GIR Drag Racing manager) just cleared with the NHRA on Tuesday. It's a one-off deal which is not available at any other NHRA event, (although it might start a trend!), which allows Gateway to sell a Friday adult general admission ticket AFTER 4:30 PM ON FRIDAY ONLY for only $16!

The daily event schedule can be found HERE, and the $16 ticket will allow you to see one round, (the second round of the day), of Pro Modified, Pro Stock Motorcycle, Pro Stock, Funny Car and Top Fuel Eliminators. This is guaranteed, (weather permitting), since the second round of Pro Modified is scheduled for 4:30 PM, (in other words, it won't happen any earlier than 4:30 PM), and the second round of the other professional classes are scheduled to begin at 5:30 PM. In fact, with a major delay, (oildown, rain, earthquake, etc.), you may actually see quite a bit more than one round of qualifying.

This really is a heckuva deal and, in recent history, there has been no way to see pro cars at an NHRA National Event for $16. Unfortunately, GIR hasn't had much time to promote this deal since the NHRA just agreed to it twenty-four hours ago. However, if you wanted to go and still have Friday open, I highly suggest you take advantage of it. It's also a perfect deal for somebody who has never been to an NHRA National Event to sample it for a truly nominal charge.

The $16 ticket is only available on Friday beginning at 4:30 PM and can only be used on Friday. It's also only available at the ticket gate. If Friday gets rained out, I would imagine the $16 can be applied toward Saturday or Sunday tickets at standard prices but don't hold me to that.

In any case, Lenny and Rich struggled to think of a program which would benefit local folks and I think they came up with a very novel idea which makes attending at least one day of the biggest race of the year a viable option for many folks. Let me know if you go and if you think it was worth it.