MESA, Ariz. — Oftentimes, dedicated NHRA observers have rolled their eyes or scratched their heads at the sanctioning body’s policies and decisions.
The Countdown to the Championship, still roundly disliked 16 years after it was instituted in 2007, is a prime example of NHRA fans claiming that drag racing has been trying to copy NASCAR for no useful reason.
However, as NASCAR experiments with ways to engage new and younger fans, drag-racing fans have suggested the NHRA do something fresh and attention-getting, as well. Yes, it seems sometimes the sanctioning body can’t win, no matter what it does.
Unlike its circle-track counterparts — who can reconfigure an iconic football venue such as the L.A. Memorial Coliseum to capture a new market, or adopt road/street circuits to broaden appeal, or monkey with race format — drag racing is limited.
That’s no knock — it simply isn’t feasible to do outlandish, flamboyant experiments and still operate within the boundaries of safety, emergency preparedness and the very nature of the sport – and perhaps the expectations of sponsors.
While television coverage and streaming platforms are valuable, certainly, NHRA drag racing’s hook is a sensory-overload experience that doesn’t translate well digitally.
But the NHRA tried something new and kind of crazy in June — and somehow it worked. The maneuver was executed out of necessity, with the sport backed into a corner by Mother Nature.
The New England Nationals in Epping, N.H., has become an early summer staple on the Camping World Drag Racing Series tour. Fans in the Northeast are among the most enthusiastic and hardy in all of motorsports. They brave cold, wind, rain and sometimes the muggy heat to watch their favorite drag racers. A few years ago, a Monday crowd from a Sunday rainout was as stout as a regular race-day turnout.
But this season, eliminations never got under way with rain on Sunday and Monday. With a regularly scheduled race at Bristol (Tenn.) Dragway looming that next Friday, officials needed to get creative.
The decision was made to combine both races — as well as specialty events with enticing payouts and precious Countdown bonus points at stake. The New England Nationals and Thunder Valley Nationals would run at the same time – yes, concurrently – at Bristol.
As Funny Car racer Matt Hagan put it, “Nobody wanted to be there (at Epping) Monday and not get it in. And they were even talking about being there Tuesday and man, it’s like, ‘Well, eventually we got to make some decisions here,’ and I think they made the best call is to pack it up and move on. It’s just an unfortunate situation. I think everybody’s just trying to do the best they can with what they’ve got.”
At first, the idea sounded absurd — although it wasn’t entirely unprecedented. In 2014, with weather and serious track-condition problems at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C., the remainder of that fall race carried over to the next event at the Texas Motorplex. Tony Schumacher earned two Top Fuel trophies that time. And before that, in 2012, Eddie Krawiec swept to two Pro Stock Motorcycle victories when the rain-shortened race at Pennsylvania’s Maple Grove Raceway finished at Las Vegas.
This time, the plan was to attempt two entire races from start to finish, with the New England event piggybacking onto qualifying for the Bristol race in the Top Fuel and Funny Car classes. (The Pro Stock and Pro Stock Bike categories were not scheduled for Epping, so the doubleheader did not apply to them.) Some of the bonus races proceeded as usual, and in the nitro ranks, they were folded into competition.
Crew chiefs had the biggest burdens, because the tuning mindset for qualifying and for race day is distinctly different. Drivers seemed to rely on their tuners and figure out their own strategies within those parameters.
And the three-ring circus was a hit, especially with Justin Ashley, who grabbed both the Epping and Bristol Top Fuel victories, and the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge $10,000 payout and playoff points, while claiming the lead in the standings.
Funny Car’s Bob Tasca III, a Rhode Island racer, still was able to fulfill his dream of winning at “Epping” that Saturday and daydreaming of winning twice in one weekend. He didn’t – Ron Capps squashed that dream Sunday, taking the Bristol trophy for the seventh time.
Pro Stock’s Erica Enders found her five-time champion’s groove, and Steve Johnson won the Wally statue that most assumed Vance & Hines phenom Gaige Herrera would snag (after he had won from the No. 1 starting spot at each of the bike class’ previous three races). But Herrera disqualified himself with a foul start in the final round, ending his magic-carpet motorcycle ride.
Ashley quipped following his Sunday victory that he might need a nap after such a whirlwind weekend.
NHRA officials probably were thinking the same thing.
This story appeared in the July 12, 2023 edition of the SPEED SPORT Insider.
