NHRA to Visit New England

The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is coming to the New England area next year when it presents its first Full Throttle Drag Racing Series New England Nationals on June 20-23, 2013 on the New England Dragway dragstrip at Epping, NH.

This announcement marks a process that began more than a decade ago when NHRA decided it wanted to stage a race in this region of the country, making NHRA one of the more geographically diverse schedules of any motorsports sanctioning body.

“This is a landmark announcement for NHRA and the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series,” said Tom Compton, NHRA president.  “We identified the New England area as one of the primary regions to expand our schedule and today’s announcement is very exciting for everyone involved in NHRA.”

To accommodate the professional drag racers, New England Dragway intends to make capital improvements over the next 12 months in anticipation of the series’ arrival. This facility joined the NHRA member track network in 2011 with the goal of one day hosting a Full Throttle NHRA drag race. It’s taken nearly two years of hard work to get to this point.

The event will host the Top Fuel, Funny Car and Pro Stock contingent along with Lucas Oil Sportsman racers. “To bring the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series to New England and specifically to the state of New Hampshire is very exciting,” Joe Lombardo, track general manager said. “We have started the process of preparing our facility to host an event of this magnitude.” New England Dragway opened in September of 1966 and has been active ever since.

The New England area has a long affair with drag racing, and one of the prominent Funny Car stars, Bob Tasca III hails from Rhode Island. During this weekend’s race at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in Englishtown, New Jersey, Tasca III will have a special retro paint scheme on his Ford Shelby Mustang that honors the family patriarch, Bob Tasca Sr.