Drag Racing Action Online and Courtesy NHRA  Images: David DeAngelis

In a rare and somewhat unprecedented move, the NHRA has cancelled the10th annual NHRA New England Nationals at Epping NH. . The event will now take place as part of this weekend’s NHRA Thunder Valley Nationals, which takes place Friday-Sunday June 9-11 at Bristol Dragway.

 Persistent rains washed away any chance of completing the race and the NHRA is scheduled to be in Bristol Tenn. in a few short days and completing the race in Epping in a timely manner was rapidly disappearing as the weather forecast was not promising for Tuesday.

The fields remain set with Antron Brown and Chad Green #1 qualifiers in Top Fuel and Funny Car respectively. Pro Stock Car and Motorcycle were not being contested at Epping so those classes are not affected.

Mike Thielen from Olympia WA. leads Pro Mod in his ’18 Camaro  with a       5.837

“We appreciate all of the tremendous fans that came out to the track and packed New England Dragway this weekend despite all of the various weather conditions,” NHRA President Glen Cromwell said. “This certainly wasn’t the end result we were hoping for, but we are thankful for the support from the passionate fanbase in the New England area and we look forward to returning to Epping next year.”

The first round of eliminations from Epping in Top Fuel and Funny Car will now take place during the second qualifying round in Bristol at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.

The second round of eliminations will run during the third qualifying session at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Bristol. The semifinals will run between qualifying sessions on Saturday, with the finals of the NHRA New England Nationals in Top Fuel and Funny Car slated to run during the final qualifying session at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Bristol Dragway.

In both nitro categories, the Mission #2Fast2Tasty NHRA Challenge will run concurrent with the semifinals and finals on Saturday in Bristol, as a driver in each class will win twice on Saturday. The fields in Pro Stock and Pro Stock Motorcycle have already been set for the challenge in Bristol.

Eliminations in the FuelTech NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by Type A Motorsports from New England Dragway will also take place during qualifying on Friday and Saturday in Bristol.

For Sunday and Monday ticket holders at New England Dragway, the NHRA credit policy will be in effect for next year’s NHRA New England Nationals.