An Online Encyclopedia of Drag Racing in New England

ca. 1945-1946 - NETA (New England Timing Association) formed. Constitution is implemented in 1950.

June & July 1950 - NETA hosts two drag races at Beverly Municipal Airport in Beverly. Mass. Scheduled August race is canceled due to a dispute with pilots over runway access.

September 1950 - NETA hosts first drag race at Sanford Airport in Sanford, Maine. NETA continues to host small racing events intermittently at Sanford through 1954.

January 1951 - SNETA (Southern New England Timing Association) is incorporated in Connecticut.

March 3-11, 1951 - First Annual Hartford Show held in Hartford, CT.

March 1953 - NEHRC (New England Hot Rod Council) is created.

September 6, 1953 - NEHRC hosts a one day drag racing event at Pease Air Force Base in Newington, NH.

July 18, 1954 - MAC (Massachusetts Automotive Council) opens dragstrip at Orange Municipal Airport in Orange, Mass. More than 1500 spectators watched 36 entrants participate in “time trials” (no mention of “racing” was made in the flyers to avoid scaring the local citizenry).

August 29, 1954 - NEHRC hosts their first drag racing event at Laconia Municipal Airport in Laconia, NH.

July 8, 1955 - NEHRC hosts their first event at Sanford Dragway in Sanford, Maine. Sanford becomes an important location for drag racing in the Northeast and begins to attract attention from across the country.

August 5, 1955 - City Car Club hosts their first annual event at New Bedford Municipal Airport in New Bedford, MA., one week before the NHRA Safety Safari meet in Orange, MA. The event attracts a large number of competitors hoping to get some practice runs in before the race in Orange. The club hosts two more annual events at the airport, in 1956 and 1957.

August 12-14, 1955 - The NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) sends their Safety Safari to Orange Dragway. 8000 fans show up to watch 127 competitors.

September 2, 1956 - SNETA hosts first trial drag race at the US Navy's Auxillary Landing Field in Charlestown, Rhode Island.

October 14, 1956 - SNETA hosts a second trial drag race at Charlestown. These events are successful and as a result, SNETA runs drag races for the next eight years at the airfield in Charlestown.

June 9, 1957 - BHTA (Berkshire Hills Timing Association) hosts one drag race at the Pittsfield Municipal Airport in Pittsfield, Mass. A second race date was scheduled for June 1, 1958 but that event was canceled at the last minute by the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA).

October 5-6, 1957 - The three organizations that were running drag races in New England, SNETA (Charlestown); MAC (Orange); and NETA (Sanford) gathered together to host the “Tri-Council Championships“ at the Charlestown, RI track. Rain shortened the event and the final round for Top Eliminator was run two weeks later in Orange, MA, with the Bannister Brothers winning the eliminator.

1959 - Frank Maratta hosts the first National Hot Rod and Custom Show in Hartford, CT.

June 1961 - Frank Maratta opens Connecticut Dragway in East Haddam, CT.

August 18, 1963 - Lebanon Valley Dragway opens in West Lebanon, NY. It is now the oldest of the four active drag strips serving racers in the New England region.

End of 1963 - NEHRC ends its involvement with Sanford Dragway and turns the track over to George MacDonald of Augusta, Maine. MacDonald forms the MHRA (Maine Hot Rod Association)

1965 - MHRA opens a drag racing facility at Norridgewock, Maine.

September 11, 1966 - New England Dragway opens for racing for the first time in Epping, NH.