Northeast Dragway opens new season Saturday

By Wendy Curling

Special to The Daily Advance

Friday, March 19, 2010

To the drag racing community, Northeast Dragway is little slice of heaven nestled amid cotton fields just a few miles down Lake Road in Hertford. The eighth-mile IHRA sanctioned track is a second home for nine months of the year to die-hard drag racers from North Carolina and Virginia who return week after week to fulfill their need for speed.

The inaugural race of the 2010 season is scheduled for Saturday. It will be the first of 15 points races where drivers in five classes will vie for the coveted championship title.

The track runs every weekend March through November, weather permitting. It provides programs for five regular classes, Top Eliminator, Modified, Street, Pro Bike and Junior Dragster, effectively opening the sport to all levels of age, experience and financial ability.

In addition to the regular bracket and points race programs, Northeast will be hosting several events highlighting the increasingly popular 4.90 and 5.90 Index classes, where drivers compete on a pro tree and must get to the finish line in 4.90 or 5.90 seconds and no faster. Running too fast results in a foul and an automatic loss, sending the driver and crew back to the garage for more fine tuning. This will be the first year the newly created classes will have a championship program.

Specially engineered hot rods known as the Performance Fabricators 10.5 inch Tire Class are scheduled for appearances in July and October. These truly unique high-horsepower vehicles are known for spectacular wheel standing.

The Extreme Outlaw Pro Mods will thunder into town for three special events in May, July and October.

The largest and most anticipated two-day event will be May 22-23 as the Little Guy Nationals will bring nostalgia drag racing to town complete with cars shows and specialty match races. The event will kick off May 21 with a Friday Night Southern Style street party in downtown Hertford.

Northeast Dragway is owned and operated by Curtis, Annette and Tony Trueblood who built the track in 2000 on their own land, creating the ultimate home-based business. Their efforts to improve the facility and programs each year have resulted in a large following of dedicated racers as well as fans.