SEATTLE — Don’t expect the National Hot Rod Ass’n to change anything with its schedule anytime soon.

However, it should — especially if it cares anything about costs and making professional drag racing affordable to teams, not to mention healthy marriages and families.

The sport needs more cars and more competitors. Surprisingly a significant number of racers have cars, licenses and the desire to run Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle — but not the astronomical budget it takes today.

Furthermore, the 2020 schedule is shaping up to be a grind even more than it has been.

June kicks off a brutal stretch of the 24-race Mello Yello Drag Racing Series tour with three straight race weekends, followed by one week off before four more in consecutive weeks.

That gives teams 11 days to get from Seattle to northern Minnesota and New Hampshire a week later. The schedule shows one week off before the strategic U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis, but it really isn’t a week off — it’s a week largely devoted to testing.

A 10-day respite ends with three more races in a row. That’s 13 races and a key test session in 15 weeks.

“Oh, boo-hoo,” unsympathetic NASCAR fans and drivers might say.

But here’s the meandering NHRA route: Topeka, Kan.; Bristol, Tenn.; Norwalk, Ohio; Joliet, Ill.; Morrison, Colo.; Sonoma, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; Brainerd, Minn.; Epping, N.H.; Indianapolis; Mohnton, Pa.; Concord, N.C.; and Madison, Ill.

That’s enough to support Funny Car veteran Jack Wyatt’s claim that “nitromethane is the most powerful substance on Earth — it dissolves bank accounts and marriages in an instant.”

Formula One received some criticism after announcing two additions to next year’s schedule, in Vietnam and The Netherlands, to make the circuit 22 races long.

Max Verstappen warned that it might trigger divorces for crew members and Jacques Villeneuve predicted, “The calendar is becoming too long and boring. The new owners of the championship see more races as more income and that’s all that excites them. The calendar is getting longer and the audience is getting more bored. It’s too much.”

It’s debatable whether Villeneueve or Verstappen can speak for the fans and participants. But in the drag-racing world, the 24-race schedule is taking a financial toll on teams, and the NHRA would be smart to work toward fixing that.

The costs for parts, fuel and putting the car on the race track are escalating along with the costs of having the haulers crisscross the country and getting the drivers and crews there by air and situated in hotels. Add in hospitality, and the list is backbreaking.

Consider the situation in which outgoing Top Fuel driver Cory McCleanthan, a four-time series runner-up with 34 victories, became trapped.

“The 24-event thing, it just is so taxing on everybody, money-wise, people-wise, driver-wise,” he said. “No life at home, you’re on the road all the time. I experienced it in every way. Did it with the motorhome, marriage, marriage failed because of not being home. I like to be there and take care of my animals and work on the house and stuff, and after a while you find yourself … I have an apartment and I’ve got the motorhome because I’m not using anything. So it was like OK — sell the house, sell the boat, sell your stuff off.

“It just never seems to be a solid foundation and that’s what I’m all about,” McClenathan added. “I like the family thing.”

The consensus was that the NHRA was picking on the Pro Stock class a year ago by trimming its appearances on the tour to 18 races. However, competitors seem content with that, from an economic and personal standpoint.

McClenathan gets it.

“When I started, it was 18 (races). And then it built and built and I think we’re overbuilt,” he said. “It’s like if we scale back a little bit, not only could the smaller teams afford to do it, I think you’d see more fans at more races and the stands would be packed. Everybody’s still going to make money and everybody’s still going to get their piece of the pie and the sponsor will still be happy because collectively you’ve gone out and done better at 18 races where you’re pushing the envelope to do 24.”

Of course, scheduling is far more difficult than most imagine.

Still, McClenathan said, “Look at some of the races that we do twice a year. At the same time, there are some of those venues that they just don’t bring in the crowds anymore. Let’s just be a businessman about it and really look at it. Is it really healthy for everybody? I would be completely cool with it if they backed up to 18-20 races and knocked out a few.”

For the sanctioning body, expansion has that air of progress and success. But it should consider economics’ Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility: The more and more one gets of something, the less and less it’s valuable.

It’s a topic the NHRA should ponder.

GLENDORA, Calif – NHRA has announced the schedule for the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series, featuring the NHRA Motorsports Museum’s Hot Rod Reunions.

The series will feature thrilling racing action, highlighted by the crowd-pleasing, nitro burning Nostalgia Top Fuel dragsters and Nostalgia Funny Cars.

The 2020 season will begin at the Good Vibrations Motorsports March Meet, March 5-8 at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif.

The series will also make stops at Sacramento Raceway, Firebird Raceway, Auto Club Dragway at Auto Club Speedway, Beech Bend Raceway Park and Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park.

The Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum presented by Automobile Club of Southern California will produce two Hot Rod Reunions during the season.

The National Hot Rod Reunion will be held at Beech Bend Raceway Park in Bowling Green, Ken. June 18-20, while the California Hot Rod Reunion will close the season at Auto Club Famoso Raceway Oct. 23-25.

Nostalgia Top Fuel and Nostalgia Funny Car will compete for points at five events during the season.

The NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series includes two nitro categories, Nostalgia Top Fuel dragster and Nostalgia Funny Car, and two groups of additional classes.

Group 1 includes A/Fuel, Jr. Fuel, and 7.0 Eliminator, while Group 2 includes Nostalgia Eliminator l, Nostalgia Eliminator ll, Nostalgia Eliminator lll, A/Gas, B/Gas, C/Gas, D/Gas, and Hot Rod Eliminator.

Drivers in each class will be able to run a combination of events which will award them points toward their respective championships.

The NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Racing Series was developed in 2008 to help preserve NHRA’s rich history and tradition, while providing racing opportunities for enthusiasts who enjoy nostalgia drag racing competition.

2020 NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series Schedule

Date – Event – Venue

March 5-8 – Auto Club Famoso Raceway – Bakersfield, Calif.
April 4-5 – Sacramento Raceway – Sacramento, Calif.
May 1-3 – Firebird Raceway – Eagle, Idaho
May 15-17 – Auto Club Dragway at Auto Club Speedway – Fontana, Calif.
June 6 – Sacramento Raceway – Sacramento, Calif.
June 18-20 – Beech Bend Raceway Park – Bowling Green, Ky.
Aug. 7-9 – Firebird Raceway – Eagle, Idaho
Sept. 18-19 – Osage Casino Tulsa Raceway Park – Tulsa, Okla.
Oct. 23-25 – Auto Club Famoso Raceway – Bakersfield, Calif.

Mikel Arteta has agreed to become Arsenal's new manager and will sign a three-and-a-half-year deal as soon as the paperwork is finalised, sources have told ESPN.

The club is hoping to announce his appointment on Thursday and his first game will be the Premier League test against Everton on Saturday at Goodison Park, where he played between 2005 and 2011.

As reported on Monday, Arteta was the only candidate the club wanted to replace Unai Emery and take the place of interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg.

Talks between Arteta and his former club, whom he played for between 2011 and 2016, have gone on since Sunday and a final agreement was found on Wednesday.

His final interview with Josh Kroenke on Tuesday went very well. The 37-year-old Manchester City coach got reassurances on the direction of the club as well as a transfer budget.

It will be Arteta's his first experience as manager of a club's first team after three-and-a-half years working alongside Pep Guardiola at City.

Arteta, who will be under contract until June 2023, is now working on building his coaching staff. Ljungberg should be part of it, as should City coach Rodolfo Borrell, sources said.

Arteta will say farewell to City after their Carabao Cup game at Oxford United on Wednesday evening where he will be on the bench alongside Guardiola.

Former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss Guardiola, who has been a friend of Arteta's since they were 15, has encouraged him to take the job.

Versatile free agent Eric Sogard, who played five different positions in the field last season, has reached a one-year deal with the Milwaukee Brewers, a source confirmed to ESPN on Wednesday.

The deal is for $4.5 million, a source told ESPN's Buster Olney, includes a team option for 2021 and is pending a physical, a source said. The Athletic first reported the agreement.

Sogard, whose career was in jeopardy after an atrocious 2018 season, rebounded with a career year in 2019 with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Tampa Bay Rays. He hit a combined .290 with 13 home runs and 40 RBIs in 110 games for the two teams.

Known primarily as a second baseman, Sogard can play every infield position as well as corner outfield.

He signed a minor league deal with the Blue Jays prior to the 2019 season, earning a return trip to the majors in mid-April. After hitting just 11 home runs in seven-plus MLB seasons, Sogard went on a tear for Toronto, hitting 10 in just 73 games with a substantially increased launch angle.

Sogard was dealt to the Rays before the trade deadline in late July, and the 33-year-old hit .266 and added three more homers down the stretch -- more than doubling his career total in just one season -- as Tampa Bay earned an AL wild-card spot.

He excelled as a utility man with the Brewers in 2017, but his future was unclear after he hit just .134 with two RBIs in 55 games in 2018.

Sogard, who spent six-plus seasons with the Oakland Athletics before joining the Brewers in 2017, has a .248 career batting average with 24 home runs and 165 RBIs. He missed the entire 2016 season after having surgery on his left knee.

ESPN's Jesse Rogers, Keith Law and Jeff Passan contributed to this report.

ODESSA, Mo. – For the first time in almost 40 years, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will return to I-70 Motorsports Park.

Race fans can now purchase tickets to the Missouri Outlaw Showdown, which will see The Greatest Show on Dirt thrill fans at a new state-of-the-art facility on May 30.

The Outlaws first visited the I-70 venue in the 1980s, before the track was converted to an asphalt, hosting NASCAR sanctioned races.

The track closed in 2008, but was recently purchased by Chris Payne, who revamped Heartland Motorsports Park in Kansas into a thriving racing facility.

Payne is turning the Odessa facility into a state-of-the-art motorsports park, which includes the new dirt oval and a dragway.

The new $10,000-to-win event will have fans at the edge of their seats with the winged warriors of the World of Outlaws battling to be the first to win at the new track.

Reigning champion Brad Sweet and his Kasey Kahne Racing team will be on the hunt to try and win back to back championships. He had a record year in 2019, winning 16 races, including the Kings Royal and his 50th career Outlaw win.

Ten-time Outlaw champion Donny Schatz is sure to be a threat, as he’ll be on a mission to return to his winning ways and claim his 11th title. He also enters the 2020 season only six wins away from his 300th career World of Outlaws victory.

There will also be a large local racing presence at the event with Missouri-based teams, such as Jason Johnson Racing, Mason Daniel Racing and Brian Brown Racing in attendance.

For Brian Brown, of Grain Valley, Mo., it would be a hometown win. The track is only about 15 minutes away from his shop and he always dreamed of being able to race at the facility.

“I’m excited,” Brown said. “We don’t get to race close to home in front of our local sponsors too often. Any time we can we enjoy it. This one’s going to be the closest we’ve ever ran… We never thought this place, after it shut down, that it would even open back up.

“But fortunately, it has and we’re excited to bring the World of Outlaws back to I-70.”

OHSWEKEN, Ontario – The biggest Canadian dirt track event of the summer just got even better.

Canadian NASCAR star and dirt track ace Stewart Friesen has announced he will compete in the inaugural NASCAR Pinty’s Series race on dirt at Ohsweken Speedway on Aug. 18.

Friesen will also compete in a 360 sprint car at the track’s Northern Summer Nationals on Aug. 17-18 as part of the show.

“This is already a destination event for Canadian motorsports fans, and adding Stewart Friesen to the cast of talent in the NASCAR Pinty’s Series and in our local Ohsweken divisions just adds to this star-studded event,” said Ohsweken Speedway general manager Clinton Geoffrey.

Friesen is no stranger to muscling a stock car on dirt, as the Niagara-on-the-lake, Ontario, native has competed with the NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series at Eldora Speedway four times. He earned his first career NASCAR national series win there in August and has finished on the podium at Eldora three times in four starts at the event.

While Friesen’s ride for the Pinty’s Series event will be announced at a later date, he will be bringing crew chief Trip Bruce north of the border to turn the wrenches for the race.

Friesen is no stranger to Ohsweken Speedway either. Arguably one of the most versatile racecar drivers on the planet right now, Friesen has previously proven he can succeed behind the wheel of any car on asphalt or on dirt.

Four years ago, Friesen showed just that when he became the second Canadian-born driver to win a World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series event by beating the Outlaws at Ohsweken on July 28, 2015.

A year later, he won the biggest annual event on the big-block modified calendar when he triumphed during Super DIRT Week in Oswego, N.Y., on Oct. 9, 2016.

This year, Friesen will also attempt to get the better of a talented cast of Ohsweken 360 sprint car regulars when he races in a Kevin Loveys-prepared Glenn Styres Racing sprint car with support from Ohsweken Speedway Racesource.

The 360 Sprint Cars will compete on back-to-back nights, with full shows on Monday, Aug. 17 and Tuesday, Aug. 18.

In addition to the NASCAR Pinty’s Series and Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 Sprint Cars, the Action Sprint Tour and Middleport Mechanical Thunder Stocks will also be in action on Aug. 17.

The HRW Automotive Mini Stocks will also join the NASCAR Pinty’s Series and Kool Kidz-Corr/Pak 360 sprint cars on Aug. 18.

CONCORD, N.C. – Venturini Motorsports officials announced Wednesday that Drew Dollar has joined the team to compete full-time in the ARCA Menards Series.

Dollar will be joined by veteran crew chief Shannon Rursch on the No. 15 Toyota Camry as he makes a bid for the 2020 championship.

“With the addition of Drew Dollar to our driver development program in the ARCA Menards Series, the 2020 season looks to be picking up right where last season left off, ” said Venturini Motorsports owner Billy Venturini. “Drew is an incredibly talented young racer and I believe pairing him with Shannon (Rursch) and our No. 15 Toyota Camry team will create a true force to be reckoned with each and every week.”

Hailing from Atlanta, Ga., Dollar’s interest in racing didn’t start until he was 15-years old, when he had the chance to test a Legends car. By 2018, he had won 20-races across the country and was crowned the INEX Legends Semi-Pro division national champion.

Following his title, Dollar graduated to a mixed schedule of NASCAR K&N Pro Series East, ARCA Menards Series and Cars Late Model Stock Tour competition with DGR-Crosley.

The 19-year old didn’t back down from the challenge, earning top-five and top-10 finishes in only a handful of starts in each division.

“I am excited about becoming a part of the Venturini Motorsports family for the 2020 ARCA Menards Series season. They were the class of the field throughout the 2019 season and I look forward to piloting the No. 15 Toyota Camry full-time,” said Dollar. “Billy (Venturini) has created one of the most hands-on driver development programs in the country and coupled with the continued support of Toyota and TRD, I am excited for this next step in my racing career.”

Rursch, a veteran crew chief in both ARCA and multiple NASCAR divisions, has been tabbed to call the shots atop the pit box. He previously served as Michael Self’s crew chief in 2019, guiding Self to four wins, four poles, 14 top-five and 26 top-10 finishes en route to a second-place run in the championship.

While the duo will be working together for the first time, they already have their sights set on putting their No. 15 Toyota Camry in victory lane.

“I am really looking forward to working with Drew next season and seeing what our team can accomplish,” noted Rursch. “He has proven himself in a short period of time, across multiple racing series and platforms and I am excited to get down to Daytona (Int’l Speedway) and get back to racing.”

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Daytona Int’l Speedway and Anheuser-Busch announced Wednesday that for the first time since 1997, Busch Beer will return as the title sponsor for the NASCAR Cup Series Clash at Daytona.

The exhibition race, set for Sunday, Feb. 9 at 3 p.m. ET, will return to its original iconic name – the Busch Clash at Daytona.

Anheuser-Busch’s history in NASCAR dates back to 1978, when it sponsored the Busch Pole Award, and the Busch Clash at Daytona debuted the following year in 1979.

Following the 1997 Busch Clash, Anheuser-Busch continued sponsorship of the exhibition event with its Budweiser brand through 2011. After a couple of name changes, the legendary race name is now back on the fan-favorite event.

“Busch Beer will forever be linked to the history of The Clash and we are thrilled to welcome them back as we collectively drive excitement for the start of the 2020 season,” Daytona International Speedway President Chip Wile said. “Our brand-loyal fans have been awaiting Busch’s return to The Clash for years and we expect this will rekindle memories and help set the stage for the next generation of NASCAR fans.”

The Busch Clash will return in 2020 as a 75-lap exhibition event, featuring 20 drivers.

The exclusive field is limited to 2019 Busch Pole Award winners; past Busch Clash champions who competed full-time in 2019; former Daytona 500 champions who competed full-time in 2019; former Daytona 500 pole winners who competed full-time in 2019 and 2019 NASCAR Cup Series playoff drivers.

“Becoming a NASCAR Cup Series Premier Partner afforded us the opportunity to evolve our presence in the sport, and authentically connect our deep-rooted history in NASCAR to its future,” said Nick Kelly, vice president partnerships, beer category and community, Anheuser-Busch. “We’re looking forward to enjoying the Busch Clash with all the fans who’ve waited, and asked, for the return of the original race name.”

ST. LOUIS – Two-time Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series championship team Archangel Motorsports will make its return to IMSA competition in 2020.

Trent Hindman and reigning Porsche Cup Champion Alan Brynjolfsson will share the driving duties in the No. 7 Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 MR.

Led by veteran Mike Johnson, the St. Louis-based team will be seeking another title to add to its roster of accomplishments, with a full IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge campaign planned to build on the strong 2019 season for Hindman and Brynjolfsson.

With six championships, as well as wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 24 Hours of Le Mans to his credit as a team owner and manager, Johnson is looking forward to returning to his role as a team owner in 2020.

“My career has taken a few twists and turns and I’ve been fortunate to play a few different roles for several different teams so I’m excited to be coming back with Archangel Motorsports this year,” said Johnson, who forged a career as a driver in the open-wheel ranks before moving to team ownership. “I’m fortunate to have a lot of the infrastructure needed to run the team already in place in St. Louis, and am proud to be basing the team here in my hometown.”

This year was a big one for Johnson, after spearheading Park Place Motorsports’ customer racing program as team manager and strategist. His experience brought home a big win for Hindman and Brynjolfsson at Mid-Ohio after starting 11th.

Brynjolffson also went on to claim the prestigious Porsche Cup, following his efforts behind the wheel of the Porsche Cayman in 2019 in both IMSA and SRO competition under Johnson’s guidance.

Managing the LMP2 Intersport Racing entry in the 2004 24 Hours of Le Mans, Johnson was an asset to aid the effort to victory lane after the grueling twice around the clock event.

The following year Johnson, also went on to claim the 2005 Grand-Am GT championship with TRG, while also spearheading the new Krohn Racing/TRG Daytona Prototype program.

Archangel Motorsports was a staple in the Rolex Grand-Am and ALMS ranks, and the team made a serious name for itself in SRPII competition. The team earned a 2001 Rolex 24 at Daytona victory with drivers Andy Lally, Paul Macey, Martin Henderson and Peter Seldon.

Between the team’s 2000 and 2001 Grand-Am and its 2002 ALMS efforts, Archangel Motorsports fielded over 30 different drivers in its SRPII programs and saw the likes of Andy Lally, Andrew Davis, Ben Devlin and Daytona 500 Winner Derrike Cope.

The team stayed close to its Missouri roots, fielding local St. Louis drivers such as the late Jeff Clinton, Jeff Tillman, and World Wide Technology Raceway owner Curtis Francois.

Dinner with Racers star and 2018 SRO TCR Champion Ryan Eversley started his racing and driving career first as a mechanic, and then as a driver for the team when it was based in Atlanta.

“When we started back in Atlanta in 1999, I was 25 years old and we had no idea what we were doing,” said Johnson. “I would hire just about anyone that was willing to sleep on my couch and one year at Daytona, I counted 14 people working the event that started their racing careers at Archangel Motorsports and had lived in our Dacula, Ga., home. Now I am 46 years old with a family and adult responsibilities and it just feels like the right time to do this all over again.

“Being able to bring everything back to St. Louis, where I started working on my father’s SCCA team, will be great for my family and I look forward to the challenge.”

Johnson also served as Team Manager for the two-time IMSA Championship winning team, Stevenson Motorsports where he led the team to 33 class wins over 13 years. The Johnson-led team claimed the 2013 IMSA North American Endurance Championship and the 2015 IMSA GS Team and Driver Championships.

Johnson also owns Victory Raceway, a St. Louis indoor karting track that he has operated in parallel with his racing efforts since 2003.

With the 2020 IMSA program in place,  Archangel Motorsports is also actively developing plans to compete in the SRO World Challenge ranks in 2020.