NHRA Full Throttle event set for New England in 2013

Nearly two years ago, NHRA promised its legion of fans in the New England states that it would soon bring the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series — the fastest, most exciting form of motorsports on the planet — to that region of the country.

Today, NHRA made it official by announcing that the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series will visit New England Dragway in Epping, N.H., for the inaugural NHRA New England Nationals, June 20-23, 2013. The announcement marks a process that began more than a decade ago when NHRA decided it wanted to stage an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event in this region of the country. NHRA enjoys the most geographically diverse schedule of any of the major motorsports, and the addition of New England only reinforces that position.

“This is a landmark announcement for NHRA and the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series," said NHRA President Tom Compton. “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."

New England Dragway will be making capital improvements to the facility during the next 12 months in preparation for the arrival of the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series in June 2013. The facility joined the NHRA member-track network in 2011 with the goal of one day hosting an NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series event. The nearly two years of hard work put in by track officials and the facility’s owners resulted in today’s announcement.

“To bring the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series to New England and specifically the state of New Hampshire is very exciting," said New England Dragway General Manager Joe Lombardo. “We have started the process of preparing our facility to host an event of this magnitude and look forward to hosting the stars of NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing next June."

The event will be headlined by 15-time NHRA Funny Car world champion John Force and seven-time NHRA Top Fuel world champ Tony Schumacher as well as many other top stars, including New England’s own Bob Tasca III, Antron Brown, Ron Capps, Greg Anderson, Cruz Pedregon, Courtney Force, Morgan Lucas, Robert Hight, Terry McMillen, and Jeg Coughlin Jr. The event is expected to entertain fans from the entire New England region, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Canada. The NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series is broadcast on ESPN2/ESPN2HD.