DRAG RACING ACTION ONLINE

STORY STEVE BELL AND PHIL HUTCHISON

IMAGES BOB REED  JOHN CHARBONNEAU  JOHN MCCARTNEY

STEVE BELL  PHIL HUTCHISON

 On Sunday August 2 Island Dragway in Great Meadows, NJ celebrated their 66th year of NHRA drag racing.  With only mild cooperation from the skies above cars and race fans filled the track.  Funny Cars and Altereds were on tap for the day along with the North East Timing Organization (NETO).  

Racing was limited to the 1/8 mile as gremlins persisted from a recent lightning strike that took out the 1/4 mile clocks.  The crowd didn’t seem to the shortened track.

Racing started with time shots for the NETO racers followed by 10 of the Northeast’s best nostalgia Alcohol Funny Cars.  Following the floppers was a great altered pairing with Nitro Joe· Morrison’s old school blown Fiat from nearby Flemington NJ taking on Pennsylvania’ s Mike Geroni in his streamlined Fiat.   

After an exciting first round Jon Wall behind the wheel of the legendary Boston Strangler seemed to be the man to beat.  Joey Pirrone had other plans with his Screamin Eagle Pontiac.  With their quick ETs they would pair up for the final round. 

Wall came out on top for the third year in a row with a 4.12 elapsed time with Joey Pirrone keeping him honest after smoking the tires in the Screamin Eagle .

Jon Wall, driving the historic Boston Strangler Ford said after his popular win, “Another great race at Island Dragway. This year we decided to bring the Boston Strangler down for the first time in 50 years and it did not disappoint.”

The Massachusetts racer added, “Melissa and Carl along with Chris Massarella put on one great event every year. We’re thrilled to be a part of it. Thank you to Dad, Steve, Bill, Dave and all the Helger Bros. Crew for the help and support.”

Runner up Joey Pirrone’s dad and fellow Funny Car driver Rocky Pirrone said,” Racing at Island Dragway is like going back in a time capsule.”

“Pirrone racing had both the Super Camaro and Screamin Eagle entered. Joey Pirrone piloted the Eagle to low ET of the first round with a quick 4.13 second run with the tires smoking at the 500 foot mark. Joey faced up against Jon Walls and his beautiful Boston Strangler Mustang in the final.”

“Jon took the victory with a blistering 4.12 as once again the Screamin Eagle smoked the tires at the same place on the track. Shout out to Mellisa and Carl Milano for putting on this awesome race.”

Throwdown promoter and Total Insanity Monza Funny Car owner and driver Chris Massarella said after the race, “Melissa and Carl Milano of Island Dragway have taken what started off as a 4 car Funny Car show, and grown it into the biggest Nostalgia Funny Car event on the East Coast.

“They’ve stuck to a traditional match race format you don’t see much of nowadays. A bunch of funny cars going at it on a Sunday afternoon like the old radio ads used to blare. The 2026 version of Island Dragway’s Funny Car Throwdown saw well over a dozen funny cars take a crack at the legendary surface. When the dust settled, Jon Wall parked his Boston Strangler Mustang funny car in the winner’s circle. Making him a 3 time winner of the event.”

“Big thanks to Melissa and Carl for not only surviving with a drag strip in New Jersey, but for hosting major events like this one. I know all the funny car teams and fans can’t wait for the 2027 Throwdown.”

The North East Timing Organization brought their heavy hitters in NETO Comp and NETO Nostalgia. 

Frank Paradiso’s immaculate black on black-on-black Chevelle took home the trophy in the Nostalgia class.   Paradiso’s had to get around the classic ’55 Chevy Blacktop Warrior of Gary Coleman in the final.

NETO Comp honors went to Jeff Donnelly in his slick blue T bucket altered beating the ’69 Camaro of NETO Vice President Vinnie Laurita.  Donnelly has been on a tear in 2026 leading the NETO points chase in his Altered.  

NETO President Brian English, who took his orange flamed Camaro to a semi final finish losing to Lauritta’s Camaro said after the race,” The racing was really great, even with the shorter 1/8 mile . I managed to make it to the semis losing to our vice president Vinnie Laurita.

English who took over NETO President after former President and NHRA/NED legend Tony Fiel passed said, “We are doing our best to keep the Nostalgia in drag racing with our classes. Our next event is next weekend at Lebanon Valley for one of our two visits to the New York track.”

Along with NETO, Island Dragway featured 4 bracket classes for racers going for Wallys and a class for Modern Muscle.

Between rounds, back in the pits 4 nostalgia nitro burning top fuel dragsters fired up twice during the day for large crowds desperate to smell some nitromethane.

Special awards were presented from Ricks Towing of Edison NJ.  $100.00 was given for the best burnout and gladly grabbed by Jim Gloyd with his beautiful Outlaw Dodge Omni.  Another $100.00 was presented to Tony Stoms for best appearing funny car.  Stoms rolled out his stunning new Misguided Missile Challenger funny car.  Though it was not ready to make it to the racing surface it did attract a crowd.

Track manager Melissa Milano said after the successful event, “Island Dragway just celebrated its 66th year in operation, and this marks my thirteenth year running one of our signature events, the Anniversary Funny Car Throwdown. Thanks to Chris Massarella and the funny car drivers who’ve been with us since our first event in 2014, the Throwdown has grown into one of the most anticipated nostalgia funny car shows in the Northeast.

The great thing about Island Dragway is the true family legacy that we are incredibly proud of. My grandparents opened the track back in 1960, my parents ran it in the 90s and 2000s until financial struggles from Hurricanes Irene and Sandy closed it in 2012. My husband and I reopened mid-year 2013 to bring it back to life. One of the things I wanted to do was draw inspiration from other tracks doing SOMETHING right, so 9 years ago my husband and I made the trip out to Bakersfield with our (at the time infant) daughter for the Hot Rod Reunion to see what the West Coast nostalgia scene was doing. We came home with several ideas, one of which was a cacklefest. This year, we finally added it to our lineup, and it was a big hit! The cars included a twin-engine front-engine dragster along with blown alcohol and nitro cars that drew a crowd every time they fired up.

Thirteen years in, we’ve learned that a great show comes down to keeping everything moving: from the show itself to every line, it’s important to me to try to take some time and view from a spectator standpoint and am always cognizant of the full experience. From the lines at the front gate, spectator side, concessions, and tech, we ensure each area is well-staffed and efficient so nobody’s standing around waiting. We also open both sides of the track for this event for the last several years to allow parking flow to always continue moving, and based on spectator requests, we moved our exhibition runs from 1 and 4 pm to 12 and 2 pm, since 4 pm just became a very long day in August heat for spectators. Between the funny car passes, we keep the racing going with bracket classes across nostalgia, modern muscle and modern truck, plus NETO brings out their NETO Comp and NETO Nostalgia classes.

This year came with its own curveball. We got hit by lightning about ten days before the show and only found out the weekend before, which sent us scrambling to repair scoreboards, timing systems, and other electrical systems right up until race day. Despite our best efforts, many late nights and about a thousand extra miles put on my own car, we weren’t able to get the left lane scoreboard operational, and we had one more surprise in store when the ¼ mile which had been repaired and worked in testing, turned out to have more damage from a faulty power supply. It would have taken us too long to chase and figure out with 1600 people watching us so we made the difficult decision to move the race back to 1/8 mile, fully understanding its not the choice finish line.

You asked what running a great show really comes down to; it’s this: consistency, being open to feedback and adjusting to it, and knowing that we are always giving this sport our all, every single time. That only happens because of the team behind us. We have an incredible crew, wonderful racers and the best fans around who all remind us why we do this, year after year. My favorite is seeing the generations of fans coming out with grandchildren and even great-grand children. We are on our own 4th generation as our daughters love to be at the track and help where they can. That feeling of family legacy is hard to find, and something we are proud to have.

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