The rumors raised eyebrows, the confirmation raised excitement levels, and now the announcement that the NHRA will contest a national event at Epping, New Hampshire’s, New England Dragway in the future (year not confirmed at this point) has gotten the drag racing world buzzing. With the apparent loss of Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis and the word that track management has discussed a June time slot in the schedule it appears some schedule juggling will be on the way.
The announcement has been met with both excitement and trepidation in the New England area with many racers joyed to hear that the NHRA show will someday be having an event right in their backyard, while others are biting their fingernails thinking about the track having to potentially leverage the future to come up with the estimated $6-7 million in improvements NHRA wants to see at the track prior to bringing an event there.
As the only functioning quarter-mile strip in New England and host to an IHRA national event for nearly two decades, the track is used to being the lead facility in the region. This event would certainly cement that status, but the potential risk is pretty darn big.
Time will tell how the historic track’s decision to swap sanctions and bring the NHRA show to town will play out. We really hope that it is for the positive benefit of both the track and drag racing in the region. The Boston Globe ran a news story about the change, which is pretty wild. It shows the power of the NHRA media department. The only times the track has appeared in The Globe recently was for puff pieces and reports on crashes where a driver may have been injured.
Here’s hoping for a bright future!
Source — TheBostonGlobe.com — NHRA finally makes inroads into New England
