Special Section
PDRA POSTPONES SEASON-OPENING EAST COAST
NATIONALS IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19 PANDEMIC
BY NATE VAN WAGNEN | PHOTOGRAPH BY TARA BOWKER
I
n response to the COVID-19 pandemic, PDRA
has decided to postpone the series’ season-
opening East Coast Nationals presented by
FuelTech at GALOT Motorsports Park in
Benson, N.C, series officials announced March
23. Originally scheduled for April 2-4, the race will
be made up at a date to be determined later. The second race on the eight-race 2020 PDRA
schedule is the Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented
by Modern Racing, May 7-9 at Virginia Motorsports
Park. It’s yet to be determined how the coronavirus
pandemic will affect that event, but PDRA officials
are now turning all their attention to this event
as the hopeful season-opening date.
“We waited an extra week to see if things would
calm down, but at this time we feel it’s best to
postpone the East Coast Nationals,” said Tyler
Crossnoe, series director, PDRA. “Without knowing
what’s going to happen next with this coronavirus,
it’s hard to lock down a make-up date. As time
passes and we get closer to knowing when this
will be over, we’ll look at our options and we’ll
announce a new plan as soon as it’s safe to get
back to racing.” “We stay in touch with the CDC, the state govern-
ment agencies where our races are held, and we
keep in mind our racers who have to travel to and
from those events,” said Lonnie Grim, competition
& tech director, PDRA. “We continue to look for
updates that will inform our decisions regarding
when we can start the season. The whole PDRA
staff – Tyler, myself, Tommy and Judy [Franklin,
PDRA owners] – we all stay in constant contact
and try to stay as positive as we can.”
44 PDRA660.com
On the positivity note, Grim added that PDRA of-
ficials are continuing to work with racers as they
prepare for the PDRA’s seventh season to begin.
“As much as we look forward to getting the season
started at whatever point it will be safe to do so,
we’re carrying on with business as usual behind the
scenes,” Grim said. “We’re still taking care of PDRA
license requirements, providing medical physical
forms and answering any rules questions that racers
might have. We encourage racers to take this time
to make sure they’re ready to go racing: check over
cars front to back, take care of any maintenance
issues and check certification dates.”
Further updates on the 2020 PDRA schedule can
be found at www.Facebook.com/pdraracing and
www.PDRA660.com.