Steve Earwood was the public relations director for the National Hot Rod Association during its biggest growth period.  He subsequently ran the PR and publicity operation at the Texas Motorplex and was vice-president and general manager at Atlanta Dragway.

 He thought he had seen it all.   He was wrong.

 “I’ve never been through six weeks like the ones we just had,” said the man who, since 1992, has owned and operated Rockingham Dragway.  “It was an amazing run and it tells me that while other motor sports may be struggling, drag racing is as healthy as I’ve ever seen it.”

 During a six-week run that began with the All-Harley Drag Racing Association Eastern Nationals and ended with last week’s finale in the Torco Race Fuels Carolina Coalition Bracket Series, Rockingham Dragway played host to 3,100 racers from 33 states and four countries in races that drew more than 64,000 fans.

 “We had motorcycle races, bracket races, a major professional race in the IHRA World Finals, street legal races and all of them had record fields,” Earwood said.  “I’m convinced that we would have set an attendance record at the World Finals if it hadn’t rained on Sunday (postponing the pro finals until Monday).”

 One of the attractions, Earwood said, was his track’s reputation for performance.

 “I think racers have learned that when they come to The Rock they’re going to be treated fairly and they’re going to compete on a track that has been professionally-prepared that is the equal to any you’ll find anywhere,” he said.

 Rockingham’s reputation certainly didn’t suffer during the stretch run.

 At the AHDRA event, Harley riders set 17 national performance records.  A week later, Josh Hernandez of Conroe, Texas, became the first driver in the history of the IHRA Pro Modified class to cover the standard quarter mile in fewer than 6.00 seconds at the World Finals. 

 The record-breaking pace continued at the Lee’s Fall Bike Nationals in which Rodney Williford of Rougemont, N.C., and Jason Miller of Mechanicsville, Md., set MiRock Superbike Series records in the Outlaw Pro (6.918 seconds) and Pro Sport Bike (7.697) classes, and at the Holcomb Motorsports 10.5 Civil Wars race in which Jimmy McDowell of Garner, N.C., set a world record in the Real Street class.

 The Rockingham blitz began Oct. 14-15 with 390 Harley-Davidson racers and almost 13,000 race fans.  A week later, more than 31,000 spectators watched 610 drivers (including entries from Canada, Aruba and Trinidad-Tobago) compete for IHRA championships in five professional and seven sportsman classes at the World Finals.

 The Holcomb Civil Wars, one of the richest street-legal events on the East Coast, drew more than 400 drivers in Outlaw Pro Street, Real Street and a half dozen other heads-up racing categories, witnessed by a three-day crowd of  12,000.

 The next week, the IHRA Team Finals, an event staged for the first time at The Rock, enticed more than 750 drivers supported by more than 5,800 crew members and family members.

 At the Lee’s Fall Bike Nationals, last of eight events in the Mickey Thompson Performance MiRock Series, 712 motorcycle riders from 16 states entertained a crowd of more than 8,200 and, a week ago, the Carolina Coalition finale drew 265 cars supported by 2,385 drivers, crew members and others.

 “Thank the Lord, except for Sunday at the World Finals, we were blessed with great weather,” Earwood said.  “But we were also blessed with great racers, great fans and a staff.  It was a lot of work, a lot of early mornings and late nights, but when you have a result like that, it’s worth it.

 “To go into the winter break off a six-week run like that, I can hardly wait to get started again.”