Amateurs to stay on NHRA schedule

Eddy Hartenstein, chairman and chief executive of publicly held HD Partners Acquisition Corporation, said Thursday in a national teleconference his group’s $121 million deal with the NHRA includes a stipulation that NHRA Sportsman racing categories continue as part of the national pro tour events for at least 25 years.

He said the NHRA agreed to pay the proposed NHRA Pro Racing entity $800,000 annually to maintain an outlet for amateur and semi-pro racers at each of the 23 Powerade events.

He also said that once the deal is approved by stockholders and the Securities and Exchange Commission, a priority is to expand within three years into three new markets, which might include Canada and Mexico.

Hartenstein, who will be chairman of the board for the new drag racing group, is expected to meet with NHRA racers this weekend during the national event in Topeka, Kan.

NHRA president Tom Compton and HD Partners executives outlined the agreement primarily to stockholders during the teleconference, which took place a day after the deal was announced.

• TV RATINGS — The Nextel Cup series can brag about beating the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday in TV viewership, but each event dropped considerably in ratings from the previous year.

The Coca-Cola 600 drew a final rating of 4.5 on Fox to a 4.3 for the IndyCar race on ABC, according to Nielsen Media Research. Those numbers for the Cup race reflected a drop of 11.8 percent from last year’s 600, and the rain-delayed Indy 500 fell by 15.7 percent.

In the overnight ratings for the largest U.S. markets, the Indy race beat NASCAR 4.6 to 4.5.

In Southern Nevada, the first two hours of Indy produced a 7.1 rating before dipping to a 4.7 during the rain delay and 6.1 for the last hour. The Cup race produced a 6.2 average.

• DESERT RACING — Las Vegan Brendan Gaughan has a busy weekend ahead.

He was in Dover, Del., on Thursday practicing for today’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event. After the race he will head to Ensenada, Mexico, for the SCORE Baja 500 on Saturday.

Gaughan will start his third desert race of the year when he drives his Class 1 open-wheel racer in Mexico. He said desert racing is a passion that helps his NASCAR driving.

“Driving a desert race is 10 times more difficult than any NASCAR race you could ever race, so it keeps me on my toes. It keeps my reflexes good,” he said.

Gaughan, who spent Monday and Tuesday pre-running the Baja course, is coming off a ninth-place finish last weekend in the Ohio 250 in his No. 77 South Point Racing Chevrolet.

• DIRT TRACK — The annual Nextel Prelude to the Dream charity all-star race at Tony Stewart’s Eldora Raceway in Rossburg, Ohio, will air live at 4 p.m. Wednesday on HBO Pay-Per-View.

Among those competing in dirt late-model stock cars on the half-mile dirt oval will be Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Bobby Labonte, Juan Pablo Montoya, Kevin Harvick, Denny Hamlin and drag racers Ron Capps and Cruz Pedregon.

The cost is $24.95, with proceeds going to the Victory Junction Gang Camp and Tony Stewart Foundation charities.