The Professional Racers Organization will pause its Superstar Shootout in 2026 after a two-year run that turned the Bradenton-based event into one of drag racing’s most visible preseason showcases.

PRO Vice President Chad Head confirmed the decision, saying the organization will replace the event with a private test session at Gainesville Raceway in the weeks leading up to the NHRA season opener.

“That is correct,” Head said when asked whether the Shootout would sit out the 2026 schedule. “We’re going to test at Gainesville a couple of weeks before Gainesville, and it’s open to all PRO members and just going to be just a straight old test.”

The Gainesville session will not be open to the public.

The Superstar Shootout was introduced as a high-profile preseason event designed to bring teams together before the traditional NHRA schedule began. The format offered full-race structure, broadcast support, and a controlled environment for teams to evaluate off-season changes.

After two editions at Bradenton Motorsports Park, the event gained traction as a potential long-term fixture.
Head said the event accomplished its purpose, but the amount of work required by PRO staff and volunteers made the project difficult to sustain annually.

“I thought the amount of effort that everybody put into it… a lot of the teams pitched in and helped,” Head said, noting that personnel stepped beyond their normal roles to handle everything from operations to logistics. “We all kind of got behind this thing and made it happen. It’s a ton of work, and we’re not a production company.”

The Shootout required coordination usually handled by large event operations groups. Instead, PRO relied on a small internal staff, contributions from racers, crew members, and outside supporters.

Head said the model worked for two years, but repeating it indefinitely was challenging.
“It was successful,” he said. “Maybe we’ll do it again in a couple of years, I don’t know, but it just was something very hard to sustain continuing to do.”