In an exciting development for South Australian motorsport fans, the Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) and Racing Onn Promotions have commenced negotiations to bring the ANDRA Pro Series to Adelaide International Raceway on April 14 and 15.

The ANDRA Pro Series is Australia's major drag racing championship and attracts professional teams from around the country.

The Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) board has approved the use of shorter racing distances including eighth mile (201.1 metres) and 1000 feet (304.8 metres) for championship racing.

The change will allow the use of more facilities throughout Australia that have been designed for shorter distances, while tracks with adequate length and safety for the traditional quarter mile (402.2 metres) format will still run that distance.

It is one of the first times anywhere in the world a major drag racing series has embraced different racing distances within the same championship.

Drag racing in north-western Victoria could get a boost depending on the results of a business plan from Swan Hill Rural City Council.

Last week a community forum was held where Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) events and operations manager Brenton Myers and current Top Fuel national champion Darren Morgan joined Lucas Woodburn from the Swan Hill Drag Racing Club to discuss how a drag strip in the area would help the cause of driver education, as part of the TAC Talk the Toll Down initiative.

A change in licensing and vehicle equipment regulations will allow racers of high performance, off street vehicles to continue to participate in the safety of Australian National Drag Racing Association (ANDRA) sanctioned off street events.

ANDRA has recognised the safety standards of modern cars have increased and past limitations have been a barrier for entry to the sport and would like to encourage participants to continue to race their vehicles in a safe environment.

An ANDRA sanctioned eighth mile event has attracted rave reviews as drag racing-starved Adelaide residents saw their heroes in action for the first time in years.

With hard work behind the scenes from Racing Onn Promotions' Rino D'Alfonso, the event attracted tens of thousands of spectators to watch what was essentially an exhibition day for the sport.

The Top Doorslammers of the ANDRA Pro Series headlined the event and ran some tough times, with Ben Bray taking the win in the demonstration.

The Australian National Drag Racing Association Limited (ANDRA), the organisation delegated by CAMS as the governing body for drag racing in Australia, has announced the development of an increased and improved national calendar for the ANDRA Pro Series and Rocket Allstars Racing Series.

Senior ANDRA management have been in talks with venues from around Australia regarding national events being conducted in areas that have not seen ANDRA championship racing for some time. This may include sanctioning of 1000ft and 1/8 mile championship racing at facilities not suited to quarter mile competition.

ANDRA has announced the appointment of Rob Sharp and Victorian-based marketing agency YBI Creative to manage the marketing and sponsorship activities for the series of national events managed by ANDRA.

Sharp returns to the sport of drag racing after a number of years outside of Australia’s fastest motorsport.

“I’m excited to be back and involved in drag racing, that’s for sure,” he said.

“Obviously, a lot has changed in a few years and we will be doing everything possible to try and get the sport in the right direction from a strategic perspective.

“We have some opportunities to improve the drag racing brand and together with Drew Jongebloed (YBI Creative’s design director), we will package the drag racing marketing offer in a more palatable way than ever before.”