Between giving rain-soaked New England Dragway and its remarkably steadfast fans every effort to present the New England Nationals at Epping, N.H., and keeping its Camping World Drag Racing Series on schedule, NHRA officials performed a delicate balancing act Monday.

The result is a rare doubleheader in one three-day event, starting this Friday at Tennessee’s Bristol Dragway.

The notion of combining Epping eliminations with Bristol qualifying Friday and Saturday, then running the Thunder Valley Nationals eliminations Sunday as scheduled at first sounded like interstate insanity, like mass confusion that would make four-wide racing look simple. Add to all that the Mission Foods #2Fast2Tasty Challenge races that award prized Countdown points and as much as $10,000 to the winners, and it seems crew chiefs, racers, and fans would find the action-packed agenda downright dizzying.

As the adage goes, "There's always one person who doesn't get the memo." Clearly, T.J. Zizzo didn't get the memo mandating a part-time nitro operation isn't supposed to be competitive. 

The Rust-Oleum-sponsored Zizzo coined the "super part-timer" phrase for the racers like him who compete part-time and know how to go rounds, and at his hometown event, the NHRA Route 66 Nationals reached the semi-finals.

"It's quite amazing that we could take almost 20 months off and still come out swinging with all new equipment," Zizzoi said. "[That's a] testament to our team members. It's a testament to everyone that has surrounded this race car for a decade and a half. Some of them have been with us for almost 30 years or more. And it's a testament of how hard we work away from the racetrack. I love when we're at an event, and fans come up and say, 'Oh my God, you guys come out here and do so well, I want to work for you." 

Tony Schumacher always figured if someone deemed him a legend in drag racing, it would come long after his years as a racer were finished. He figured wrong. 

The esteemed panel of selectors for the Legends of The Valley for Bristol Dragway selected the winningest Top Fuel driver at the picturesque drag strip carved out of a valley in eastern Tennessee as their 2023 honoree. He will officially be inducted onto the signboard high above the track’s spectator side on Sunday morning, June 11, 2023. 

Schumacher joins his father, Don Schumacher, who was inducted in 2014. he is the 20th inductee into the prestigious group of drivers. 

Andy Jensen's triumphant return to the Northeast Outlaw Pro Mod Association (NEOPMA) winner's circle after 16 years was the highlight of Saturday night's Strange Engineering Outlaw Street Car Shootout at Maryland's Cecil County Dragway. Jensen's victory came in the Nitrous/Turbo class, beating Fredy Scriba in the final round.

Jensen's 3.673-second pass at 204.23 mph in his single-turbo, small-block-powered ’68 Camaro got the better of Scriba's 4.223 at 129.07. Jensen credited his victory to the hard work of his crew and his dedication to building and racing his own unconventional, custom-made machines.

Competition Plus’ Water-Cooler Topics From The NHRA New England Nationals in Epping, NH.

It looks like Mother Nature had other plans for the 10th annual NHRA New England Nationals, as inclement weather has led to the postponement of the remaining eliminations. Good news for racing fans though, as the balance of the event will now take place as part of this weekend's NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals at the Bristol Dragway. NHRA President Glen Cromwell expressed appreciation for the passionate fanbase in the New England area, despite the weather challenges.

With continuing precipitation in the forecast, Sunday's activities at the 10th annual NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway have been postponed until Monday.

The New England Nationals were marred by rain on Friday and Saturday.

Mother Nature’s presence resulted in only one qualifying session each day. The second qualifying session on Saturday was canceled because of rain.

Antron Brown made the most of his lone qualifying pass on Saturday, clocking a 3.729-second lap at 329.99 mph in his Matco Tools dragster to take the No. 1 qualifying spot in Epping, N.H.

Antron Brown powered to his first Top Fuel No. 1 qualifier in nearly six years on Saturday, claiming the top spot at the NHRA New England Nationals at New England Dragway.

Funny Car’s Chad Green also qualified No. 1 at the seventh of 21 races during the 2023 NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series season. Saturday’s second qualifying session, as well as the finals of the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge, were canceled due to weather. No points were awarded in the challenge and the bonus prize money was divided among the participating competitors.

Sunday’s eliminations were also bumped up to a 10 a.m. ET start from New England Dragway.

The lone qualifying session for the nitro Funny Cars and Top Fuel dragsters at the New England Nationals was moved up to 1 p.m. (ET) Friday because rain was in the forecast for later, on top of the originally scheduled time.

The time didn’t do many Top Fuel drivers any favors, but Leah Pruett wasn’t complaining.

The Tony Stewart Racing driver clocked a solid 3.856-second run at 319.37 mph in the conditions to take the provisional No. 1 qualifying spot.