New England Dragway

New England Dragway logo
Aerial view of New England Dragway
Location	Epping, New Hampshire,United States
Coordinates	43°01′15″N71°01′38″W / 43.02083°N 71.02722°W /43.02083; -71.02722
Capacity	25,000
Address	280 Exeter Road
Opened	September 11, 1966
Major events	NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series NHRA New England Nationals
Website	https://www.nedragway.com/
Drag Strip
Surface	Concrete
Length	0.250 mi (0.402 km)

New England Dragway is a1⁄4 mileNHRAdragway inEpping,Rockingham County,New Hampshire,United States. The track hosts the New England Nationals event as part of theNHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. The track also hosts a regional event as part of theNHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

New England Dragway opened for racing on September 11, 1966. Organized drag racing in theNew England area had begun in 1950 at various public and military airports in the region. In that same year, a small number of Boston-area enthusiasts formed theNew England Timing Association (NETA) to promote the sport. NETA based its organization and rules on those used by theSouthern California Timing Association (SCTA), and began hosting drag races on an irregular basis at airports inNewington, New Hampshire;Beverly, Massachusetts; and finally atSanford, Maine. Three years later, five regional hot rod clubs joined forces to form theNew England Hot Rod Council (NEHRC).

The NEHRC held its first official drag racing events in 1953 at the Newington Airport (also known asPease Air Force Base). In 1955, they began hosting regularly scheduled events at Sanford which began to attract racers from all over New England. Sanford proved to be a popular drag racing venue that drew large spectator crowds and attracted the attention of numerous nationally known racers such asDon Garlits andArt Arfons.^[1]

By the mid-1960s, it became clear that airports were not completely satisfactory for conducting organized drag races. Conflicts with pilots, limited control over the condition of the racing surface, and the lack of permanent facilities made it difficult for volunteer organizations to set and maintain a regular schedule for events. Numerous races had to be canceled at the last minute due to this lack of control over the venues.

The NEHRC began looking for a suitable location to purchase land for the construction of a drag strip that would service theBoston market. After an exhaustive search, a large tract of land on the border of the rural towns ofEpping, NH andBrentwood, NH was purchased by a group of shareholders, and construction of the racing surface and permanent facilities was completed in the late summer of 1966.^[2]

The track was originally sanctioned by theAmerican Hot Rod Association (AHRA), and was also qualified by theNational Hot Rod Association (NHRA) as an officially recognized track for speed and elapsed time records. New England Dragway played host to an annual stop on the AHRAGrand American Series of Professional Drag Racing Series until that organization's demise in the mid-1980s. The NHRA then become the sanctioning body for the track but did not include it in their national event schedule.

In an effort to get a national event at the track, New England Dragway switched its sanctioning to theInternational Hot Rod Association (IHRA) in 1992. The IHRA held its North American Nationals at the track from 1992 until 2009.^[3]

In 2010, sanctioning returned to the NHRA, and in 2013, following improvements and upgrades to the facility, the drag strip began hosting the NHRA New England Nationals.^[4][5]

The 2020 New England Nationals were canceled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, and the 2023 New England Nationals were cancelled because of weather. That race was replaced by an entire round on Friday and Saturday atBristol Dragway before the Sunday races.

New England Dragway will host the New England Nationals as part of NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series on the weekend of May 31-June 2, 2024.^[6]

New England Dragway hosts weeklybracket racing events for locally and regionally-based non-professional drag racers on the weekends, and races for street-legal vehicles two times during the week. The track also hosts annual drag racing special events for import cars and nostalgia drag racers. For many years the track has also held major events featuringmatch racing between nitromethane and alcohol-powered funny cars, (Funny Cars Under The Stars), and jet-powered dragsters and funny cars (Jet Cars Under The Stars)

As the premier drag racing facility in New England, New England Dragway has played host to numerous well-known drag racers since its opening. In the late 1960s and 1970s,"Jungle Jim" Liberman was a frequent competitor at the track."TV" Tommy Ivo andBruce Larson also made regular appearances. On July 11, 1998, World Champion dragster driverShirley Muldowney was the first racer to top the 300-mph mark at the track when she ran 302.82 mph in match race competition.^[7]

On June 2, 2024, 16-time NHRA Funny Car championJohn Force, 75, won his 157th NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series national event at New England Dragway. Three weeks later, Force suffered a career-ending crash at Virginia Motorsports Park.^[8]

The New England Hot Rod Hall of Fame is a memorial located at the entrance to the racing pits of New England Dragway listing more than 100 people, teams, and businesses that have had a significant impact on the hobby of hot rodding and the sport of drag racing in New England.

The New England Hot Rod Hall of Fame was created in 2005 by the Orientals Hot Rod Club ofReading, MA. Each year since the club has inducted at least four new honorees. The list of inductees includes hot rodders, drag racers, drag racing teams, photographers and journalists, promoters, businesses and business owners, and individuals involved in hot rodding and drag racing as support personnel at various drag racing facilities in the New England region.

As of 2021, there are 106 inductees. Sixty-two of them are individual hot rodders and/or drag racers, along with 14 drag racing teams, 16 businesses and business owners, six journalists and photographers, four employees of drag racing facilities, and four clubs or organizations. Many of the inductees can be categorized as belonging to more than one of those groups.

Notable inductees includeFrank Maratta, founder of theHartford Autorama Car Shows and builder and promoter ofConnecticut Dragway;Chuck Etchells andAl Hofmann, professional funny car drivers from Connecticut;Arnie "Woo Woo" Ginsburg, a radio personality who provided the musical soundtrack for the hot rod cruising culture in the 1950s and 60s; Marc Rowe, a former racer and longtime race car builder;Moroso Performance, provider of aftermarket performance parts, andMarvin Rifchin, founder of theM&H Tire Company that provides specialty tires for drag racing.

• Lee USA Speedway, located in nearby Lee
• Star Speedway, also located in Epping

• New England Dragway website
• IHRA North American Nationals results
• Roaring engines a welcome sign at New England Dragway
• New England Dragway in New Hampshire has ambitious plans for 2021
• New England Hot Rod Of Fame Inductees

• NHRA Division 1 drag racing venues
• Drag racing venues
• Motorsport venues in New Hampshire
• Epping, New Hampshire
• Buildings and structures in Rockingham County, New Hampshire
• Tourist attractions in Rockingham County, New Hampshire

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