Houston Raceway Park has many opportunities for Series or single Event Sponsorships that will enable an organization to promote brand awareness, provide a goodwill vehicle around other sales promotions, expose new customers to products and services, or even boost employee morale with a company-backed outing. Sponsorships come in an infinite variety of packages and will fit all budgets. HRP advertising can be focused on the drag strip, the speedway or a combination program with both tracks.
Friday Safe Street Night (Drag Strip) – Every Friday night, the drag strip comes to life with fans, drivers and those who want to race their own car down the world famous Houston Raceway Park quarter-mile. These events provide many racers the opportunity to test and tune their cars. More importantly, it helps curb Illegal Street racing by providing a safe, controlled environment to contest speed. This series runs from the first Friday following New Years day until the Friday just prior to Christmas.
ET Racing Series (Drag Strip) – This series is currently sponsored by O’Reilly Auto Parts and features the serious local drag racers competing monthly for cash awards and series points. This series culminates in a regional race that pits 17 track teams against each other to crown a yearly champion team and racer. The underlying Summit ET Racing Series provides many incentives to bring out the local dragsters, roadsters, coupes and other full-bodied cars to the track at every race. This series runs from April through October and will consist of 10 races each season.
Saturday Weekly Racing Series (Speedway) – Every Saturday night from March through October, local dirt track racers follow the grass roots racing tradition. Drivers in six classes of cars battle each week for track championship points and cash purses for each car qualifying for the night’s A-main. Classes include Thunder Bombers, Limited Modified, UMP Modified, Crate Late Model, and Sprint Cars. Old heroes and new ones in the making vie for position on the high-banked, lightning fast 1/4 mile clay oval at speeds over 100m.p.h. This fan favorite series pushes the envelope for family fun and breath taking spills. The Weekly Racing Series runs approximately 30 events per season.
Sunday Instant Green Light Street Racing (Drag Strip) – Similar to the Friday Night Safe Street Night, Sundays offer more of a true “street” feel as competitors line up at the starting line and receive only a green go light from the starter rather than the standard Christmas Tree countdown. This provides less intimidation to the novice racer and all but eliminates the dreaded red light disqualification. As with Friday, this series runs from January through December and directly targets the illegal street racer and the import enthusiast.
Event Sponsorships
Sportsman Challenge (Drag Strip) – This is a race on the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series and hosts more than 500 regional and national competitors. Dragsters and Funny Cars burning either Methanol or Nitromethane scream down the quarter mile at speeds topping 250 miles per hour. Extensive advertising and strong national support make this one of the best values for Event Sponsorship at the drag races.
NHRA National Event (Drag Strip) – Currently sponsored by O’Reilly Auto Parts and presented by Pennzoil, the NHRA National Event is the single largest race that Houston Raceway Park holds each season. Top Fuel Dragsters, Nitromethane burning Funny Cars, John Force, Ashley Force, Kenny Bernstein, and up to 700 other national competitors face off for four days of hotly contested races down the strip at speeds exceeding 330 m.p.h. Don’t miss the heart-pounding excitement, sights, sounds and smells that bring the fan face-to-face with the pros and sportsmen that battle it out in this event. National television coverage on ESPN2, local promotion and advertising helps the O’Reilly NHRA Spring Nationals achieve the status of Crown Jewel in HRP’s drag racing schedule and our sponsors’ marketing plans.
O’Reilly ASCS Sprint Car Series (Speedway) – Not much else needs to be said about this crowd-pleasing sprint car touring series. The touring series will come to Houston Raceway Park’s 1/4-mile oval six times in 2008.
Early Irons In Texas Swap Meet (Drag Strip) – A relatively new event for Houston Raceway Park, but one of the most sought after and followed types of happenings in the automotive world, this swap meet brings racers, car restorers, show car owners, antique car lovers and general automotive enthusiasts together in one place. People come from all over the region to buy, sell, trade or just view the tremendous supply of parts and automotive related equipment available at this huge summer spectacle. Each year Houston Raceway host two Saturday meets where hundreds of vendors and thousands of shoppers participate in a single day of treasure hunting and discovery.
SUPR Dirt Late Model Series (Speedway) – Late Model racecars are fan favorites throughout the country. The unlimited Late Model cars of the SUPR sanctioning body will wage war to see who emerges as the superior driver and superior series. Drivers will converge on the 1/4-mile clay oval in thundering, ground-pounding machines. Don’t miss being a part of one of the most exciting shows at the Speedway during the 2008 race season.
The Texas Grand (Speedway) – In what is becoming a Texas season ending tradition, Houston Raceway Park hosts the annual VP Racing Fuels Texas Grand. This event draws racers from across the region with its high profile facility, high dollar purses and reputation as a tough race to win. This is one of the last opportunities to catch live racing action before the off-season begins. Great racing action and last chance attitudes get any race fan itching to see the action.
