Schedule Update Made to Big-Money Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout in Gainesville

GAINESVILLE, FL – February 24, 2024 – (Motor Sports NewsWire) – NHRA announced today a pair of scheduling updates for the upcoming Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout, which takes place on Saturday, March 9 as part of the 55th annual Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals.

The autograph session for the participants will now take place at 12:30 p.m. ET on Friday at the Pep Boys display, while the first-round Callout selections will be made at 10 a.m. ET in the Top Eliminator Club. Steve Torrence is the top seed in the big-money specialty race and has the first pick to call out his opening-round opponent.

The rest of the current lineup, in order, includes Doug Kalitta, Brittany Force, Mike Salinas, Justin Ashley, Leah Pruett, Antron Brown and Shawn Langdon. If Kalitta isn’t called out, the veteran picks next, going down the line until all four first-round matchups are set. Then, the driver who makes the quickest winning run that round selects their semifinal opponent, locking in the other matchup.

After qualifying sixth for the Callout, there is the chance Pruett wouldn’t race in the shootout if team owner Tony Stewart, who is making his Top Fuel debut in Gainesville, is not deeply qualified in the Gatornationals field after Friday’s two qualifying sessions.

Should Pruett, who would be using a separate car from Stewart, not race in the Callout, the final spot would go to Josh Hart, who won the Pep Boys NHRA Top Fuel All-Star Callout last year at his home track, bumping Brown and Langdon to sixth and seventh, respectively. Stewart would then use Saturday’s two qualifying sessions to try and improve his spot in the Gatornationals field.

If Stewart qualifies well on Friday, Pruett would take part in the Callout, with Stewart possibly not making any qualifying attempts on Saturday.

The first round of the Pep Boys Top Fuel All-Star Callout takes place on Saturday at 1:20 p.m. ET and the semifinals at 2:45 p.m. The finals are slated for 4:25 p.m. A special Callout broadcast will air at 7 p.m. ET on Saturday on FS1.

The race, which started in 2022 and pits eight standouts against each other in a unique specialty shootout, includes a total purse of $130,000, a special Callout trophy and belt, and plenty of bragging rights at legendary Gainesville Raceway. It’s also a field that includes five world champions, with Torrence, Kalitta, the 2023 world champion, Force, Brown and Langdon owning 11 world titles combined.

It’s all part of a…