New England Dragway

It is Sad that a Race Fan Can’t Sit in the Parking lot and Tailgate and have a Beer!!! Every Track in The Country you can but not Epping! Englishtown and Maple Grove have no Problem with it at all.

My third year in attendance for the NHRA National event. This is a smaller venue yet and they can’t host as many of the race classes (there aren’t any pro-​stock motorcycles). The track itself is very well built and nicely maintaned. Hope they can continue to improve the venue and provide more pit areas for these national events. We’ll be back next year!

I will never spend money there again! Same rained out night for Jet Cars Under the Stars, and they give me a gift card. Jeesh, what good is that? I have to wait another year to see it (if the card is good that long and they don’t raise the prices). I don’t want their merchandise. I don’t want to see other car races. I’m not interested. I only wanted to see Jet Cars.
I forgot to update my review after they issued me a refund. Upgrading to 3 stars.

What can you say nothing better than going up on a nice summer night and watch some races or race yourself. I’ve been going up for about 5 years now and have raced over 50x myself. The gf races her car and most of the people I know race here as well.
There is one incident that really hurt this place. The gf broke her axle and they treated her like crap! The tech guys weren’t helpful and i wasn’t there yet to take a look. They basically told her to get lost and good luck. That’s the only thing that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
Over the years the «import scene» has kind of lost it’s touch. Import war shows aren’t as good and most of the import shows are ok at best. The new tech guys to say nicely suck but at the end of the day this is the only Dragway around.

I’ve been here a good half dozen or so times, first starting last year as a spectator with some friends. I quickly caught the bug and started brining my own car here, every couple months or after some major work.
Prices are extremely reasonable for the event itself. ~$ 20 for as many runs as you can make, which on a Wednesday night, is about as many as you want. Fridays tend to be a bit more crowded as well as interesting, as various other machines are there (snowmobiles, spec dragsters, etc). There is a fee to spectate, something like $ 10 or so. Food is on premises, although I wouldn’t recommend making a meal out of it; typical race track food and prices (dogs, burgers, fries).
You pull up to the gate, pay your fee, line your car up for inspection, and get your bracelet. Once everything is all squared away, pull up for staging and go down the track. Helmets are required for sub 13 second cars (anything heavily modified or high performance) and long pants /​closed shoes are needed for both passengers and drivers. You use the actual timing tree the pros get, which is a lot of fun, and a slip at the end of your run complete with trap speeds, ¼ times, reaction time, and a few other numbers. Although you stage alongside people (you can choose who if you’d like) it’s not a competitive environment at all, everyone is just out to see how they do and look at the cars. Lots of gas stations nearby, so don’t worry about filling up before or after.
If you’re unsure about whether or not you want to race, go anyways, bring what you need, and just watch for a while. If you feel comfortable, give it a try. I have only seen or heard of two incidents here in my year of attending, and they were both very minor and on very cold nights.

I went here a few times as a child but couldn’t fully apprciate it until I was old enough to have my own car, and be around other people who shared the same interest.
I went for the F-​Body show, which was a tribute to all the F-​Bodies that were being killed off in 2002. I had my 2001 Trans Am WS-​6 at the time and was very happy being surrounded by other Trans Ams and Camaros. The drive up was very cut and dry, and as long as you follow the directions the Dragway is not hard to find at all. As a matter of fact driving up was part of the fun when I went because on the highway I seen many of the other cars that were heading up and we basically drove in a wolf pack the entire way. The racing was top notch, very professional, and very entertaining. The grounds are huge with plenty of parking and the price of admission was very fare considering you get a car show and drag races. All in all a very enjoyable and memorable experience and a great way to spend a weekend afternoon, or night.

I love cars by default, because the guy I love is a guy who loves cars. With all the love and cars in this relationship, what better way to express it than a day at the Dragway for Import Wars.
B rad prepared me for the race track with the descriptive words, «smelly, dirty, loud.» That didn’t scare me. What did make my tummy a bit fluttery was the anticipation of seeing my gorgeous boy zip down the quarter mile track in his shiny fast car.
The track is easy to get to once you take the correct exit off the highway. Tickets for spectators are 10 bucks and that gets you a fun filled day of loud, smelly, dirty action.
I arrived alone, bought my ticket and emerged into a whole new world. It was a crisp fall morning with a chill in the air and I bundled myself up and set out to find the B rad. The competitors park their rides down in the pit to prep for the race and show off their toys. There were some cars with ear piercingly annoying motors tooling around and many a hood was open on other cars to show off the goods underneath.
I won’t gush on and on about how sexy and cool my boy looked next to his car. I will just relive it in my memory… ah.
There were a series of time trials and then the actual competition started with two cars at a time in their respective classes going head to head. The spectator bleachers filled up to capacity with cheering fans, shouting in different languages (it felt briefly that I was in another country.) Who new there were so many bilingual race fans in New Hampshire? Some cars were tremendously loud and blew flames from their exhaust. Other cars stalled out at the start. There was one accident with a motorcycle racer, but almost everything else went well.
It was exciting and interesting to watch the races. I got to meet many of the boy’s buddies from his car club and I got to see him zip down the track. vroooooooooom. After he was done racing (alas his car had some issues, so no trophy for the B) we spectated together, smooched in the stands, and he further educated me on the different engines and car types.
Hungry? The track offers «track food» which is basically quick meat items like burgers, chicken fingers, hot dogs… And all the deep fried goodness of french fries and fried dough. I enjoyed a lovely grilled cheese sammich.
So, the dragway may not be for everyone. Perhaps you like to race cars or just enjoy autos themselves. Perhaps you are cheering on a loved one. Or perhaps you randomly find yourself in Epping, NH and you are lured by the idea of a dirty, smelly, loud (yet fun and entertaining) day at the track.