It was supposed to be a big holiday weekend of drag racing on the East Coast but unfortunately Mother Nature had other plans. The IHRA preemptively canceled their event earlier in the week slated for Reading, Pa, while PDRA gave it a shot it Dinwiddie, Va.
As for the IHRA Triple Crown event scheduled for May 22-24 at Maple Grove Raceway has been postponed due to a weather forecast dominated by rain throughout the weekend. After reviewing the latest forecast and evaluating the potential impact on racers, fans, teams, track personnel, and event operations, IHRA officials made the proactive decision to postpone the event rather than risk an interrupted or incomplete race weekend.
Mother Nature’s curve ball was not one young Top Fuel Motorcycle racer Elmeri Salakari wanted after traveling from Finland to compete.
Due to persistent rain and mist, as well as more inclement weather in the forecast, Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series officials have cancelled the PDRA Mid-Atlantic Showdown presented by Classic Graphix, May 21-23, at Virginia Motorsports Park. The event will not be rescheduled. The Mid-Atlantic Showdown was the third of seven races on the 2026 PDRA schedule.
“Due to constant heavy mist this morning and rain returning to the hourly forecast for Friday, continuing worsening conditions for Saturday and Sunday, the Mid-Atlantic Showdown is officially cancelled,” said Tyler Crossnoe, series director, PDRA. “We are sorry for the decision and we hate that we could not complete the event this weekend.”
All race entries, crew passes, racer motorhome, and pit parking passes will be rolled over to the next event that each participant attends this season. All spectator tickets purchased online will be refunded to the card they were purchased on.
The 2026 Red Line Oil PDRA Drag Racing Series season will continue in one month at the Hoosier Racing Tire North vs. South Shootout presented by Callies Performance, June 25-27, at Maryland International Raceway in Budds Creek, Maryland.
The IHRA Maple Grove Raceway event was set to open the three-race IHRA Triple Crown schedule, a new premier program featuring Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Mod, Pro Stock, and Mountain Motor Pro Stock. Those five professional categories will each have a $1 million bonus on the line for any driver who can sweep all three Triple Crown events.
In addition to the five featured classes, the weekend lineup included a number of sportsman and specialty categories, along with a full slate of off-track entertainment. Scheduled festivities included a pit party, a concert featuring Jake Owen and Dwight Yoakam, and “Bulls & Burnouts” featuring bullriding, bull games, and freestyle bull fighting.
“While this is never the decision we want to make, we believe it is the right one for our racers, fans, partners, and everyone involved in producing this event,” IHRA officials said. “The forecast gives us little confidence that we could deliver the full Triple Crown experience that racers and fans deserve. Rather than ask everyone to travel and invest in a weekend facing significant weather challenges, we felt it was best to make this decision proactively.”
IHRA officials are currently working with Maple Grove Raceway and event partners to secure a new date for the Triple Crown event. Additional details regarding the rescheduled event, ticketing, racer entries, and weekend activities will be announced as they become available.
“We appreciate the patience and support of our racers, fans, sponsors, vendors, and the Maple Grove Raceway team,” IHRA officials added. “The excitement surrounding the Triple Crown has been tremendous, and our goal remains to deliver the kind of high-level, full-scale event this program was built to showcase. Even though we have a full schedule of activities planned, we are working on rescheduling this race into our schedule so that this date merges into a smooth program.”
Updates will be posted through IHRA’s official channels as soon as more information is available.
