SPRINGFIELD, IL: The second installment of the WDRA Summit Sportsman Drag Racing Series (SSDRS) will include a few changes in response to the rapid growth of the World Drag Racing Alliance. Ahead of its second season, the WDRA has welcomed ten new facilities to the member track network to participate in the lucrative programs. To provide a more centralized venue, the WDRA Summit World Championship qualifiers will now congregate at the world-class Montgomery International Dragway this October. The recently announced addition of a Motorcycle/Sled class now provides an opportunity for those racers to compete for the inaugural WDRA Summit Motorcycle World Championship title. However, one thing that will not change is the amount of dedication and drive it takes to earn an invitation to the WDRA Summit World Championships presented by SunCoast Performance.
“What makes this program different from the rest is how strict our rules package is when it comes to eligibility for attending the WDRA Summit World Championships,” said Skooter Peaco with WDRA. “The lengths we go to internally to validate the authenticity of every single qualifier before they get an invite ensures that each person in the staging lanes is equally as qualified to be racing for the World Championship.”
The WDRA qualifying process and rules package prevent substitutions for SSDRS track champions who are unable to attend the Summit World Championships and there aren’t any local races that can qualify a racer to compete. Although this limits the number of entries at the event, it provides the prestige that should be awarded by being crowned a national champion.
Peaco continues, “The Summit World Finals features only the legitimate SSDRS track champions and eligible champions that win the Summit Bracket Finals main events. When we spoke with racers at the end of this season, that is what they liked most about our format and they thanked us for making the effort to verify the authenticity of every racer.”
It’s a tedious, month-long, verification process that the WDRA utilizes to analyze each racer’s home track points program totals alongside their registration database, which can sometimes lead to difficult conversations. “It is hard to tell someone that they can’t participate because they earned points on a Saturday, but didn’t register until the following Monday, and losing those points cost them the invitation,” said Peaco. “We hate those conversations, but they are necessary to maintain the integrity of the program. Our racers worked their tails off to get that invitation and we work our tails off to make sure that the integrity of the qualifiers is unquestionable. I want our racers to know they didn’t just win a race…they won THE race.”
The WDRA Summit World Championships presented by SunCoast Performance will be contested at Montgomery International Dragway on October 24-26, 2024, and will be live streamed on MotorManiaTV. To learn more about the Summit Sportsman Drag Racing Series and the perks of racing at a WDRA member track, visit www.racewdra.com/summit-sportsman-drag-racing-series. Racers can get ahead of the 2024 season by getting their WDRA SSDRS license now at www.racewdra.com/license.
About WDRA
The mission of the WDRA is to provide value as a sanctioning body to racers and facilities through process modernization, unparalleled service, and value-driven partnerships. For more information, visit our website at www.racewdra.com.
