is sportsman parking for the nhra national event usually a disaster at epping? I remember last time I went to a divisional there the parking for spotsman was straight up wack.any improvement?

No it's first come first serve,you will either be in the grass or at the end of the track. Parking opened at 7:00am we got there at 7:15 and were 40th in line.

Ask Mr. Mightybird about the parking,he had a great experience last year.

the last time I was there I broke and couldn't move for 2 days because they had us jammed so tight and close

It was horrible last year. They were actually talking about parking us out in the parking lot. No clue how that would have worked. No excuse for that at a national event when they know exactly how many racers will be coming. We were lucky and they squeezed us into some spots but it was tight. Its a shame because the race surface in my opinion is the best in division 1 if not the best in the country but some money desperately needs to be spent on the facility. We went to Norwalk two weeks later and it was a complete 180. Literally pulled right in and parked.

What are the overnight accommodations like there? Does the track have showers? Nearest motel?

I was thinking about running Super Street there, but can't really find any solid answers.

No showers at the track. We usually stay in Seabrook. There two places we usually stay at. One is the Seabrook inn the other is the Hampshire inn. Both are reasonably priced for the area. No frills but clean. There are others but ive had good experiences with those. They are about 15 min from the track

quote:

Originally posted by Steve140:
What are the overnight accommodations like there? Does the track have showers? Nearest motel?

I was thinking about running Super Street there, but can't really find any solid answers.

If you contact Jackie at Accelerated Travel she can get you a room, even for a last minute trip when everyone else in the area is booked up.
acceleratedtravel.net

Do have a story for you!!!

So I got there on Thursday night late. We finally got through the gate at 7:30 a.m and we headed in to be parked. well....we heard that they where in the process of grading the back lot , as we speak, to accommodate the over flow parking.

So we drove to the way, way back and sure enough, they where plowing and leveling fresh dirt. Now this spot had never been touched or was supposedly available for parking all these years.

I found a spot, but realized it was right near where the helicopter was going to be near. So when I pulled back into line, I was the last guy to be parked. I was across from the second to last turn off road, and had 500 feet of empty room on my left side. It was dirty, dusty, and about 2000' away from the starting line. Half the people I knew didn't or couldn't find me all weekend.

Ill say two things. It took me 3 months to finally get everything cleaned up from all the dirt & dust. But, I was in the final round of the National Event in Top Dragster.

We couldn't pick up the PA on our radio. So after Pro-Stock ran on Sunday, I knew it was time to head up, and made the long trek up to the lanes.

So.....having great parking is nice, but YOUR PARKING SPOT DOESN'T DETERMINE HOW WELL YOUR GOING TO DO...YOUR ATTITUDE DOES!!!

I'm a racer who remembers when it was way worse for everyone. At the end of day, either your on vacation, or your racing.

scott
I'm not so sure...so you would have been just as happy if you went out first round?

I may pass and do Norwalk lol

Nope...losing first round sucks...even if I was parked next to Schumacher on the asphalt and eating at JFR...But it wouldn't be the reason I succeeded or fail...

my $ is green and good everywhere, I refuse to accept those conditions, so I'll pass.

I'm hearing charlotte was the same disaster

I know how much time effort and money goes into all of our racing operations. Its nice when at track feels the same way about their facility. It doesn't mean things need to be perfect but its nice when they at least try.

As a contrast 3 years ago when I went to Norwalk for the first time they had received a week of nonstop rain leading up to the event. The fields were soaked. Parking racers in the mud was not an option. They brought in a construction company with rollers to go over the grass and bring the water to the surface in order to dry things out. Since there was no way they could stack trailers in the fields they delayed pro parking so that they could line sportsman racers in the pro pits while they got their pit spots ready. Did it take a little longer to park? yes. In addition while we were waiting they were walking down the line of rigs reassuring racers that they were going to get them parked. I believe the exact quote was "No one is a priority but yet everyone is a priority" However I don't think anyone minded because it was clear that they were doing whatever it took to make it work. A little effort goes a long way.

I have raced many IHRA Nat Events in Epping and the track always was on point. I raced the 1st NHRA D1 race there in 2011, 104 degree temp and the starting line was exceptional all weekend. Raced the 1st NHRA Nat Event there and was pitted wll past the ticket booth. You make your own fun or you stay home. NED has always given me a great surface to race on, thats what I appreciate most at this track, all else is just secondary to racing.

The thought of pitting in the woods, 1/2 mile away or more from the lanes, no mind the possibility of cleaning mud out of my new trailer and off my top shelf car ain't fun. Again, I'll pass.

Kenwood knows!

I'll preface this by stating I'm a staunch supporter of the NHRA & Division 1 and I generally do not complain about much at the race track because the NHRA, track owners and employees of both have an impossible job of making ANYONE happy at these events. A job I would never want, but what happened last year to 4-5 of us racers was egregious and shameful.

I rolled into the stacking line on Thursday night (Friday morning) at 1am after working Thursday. Pretty standard for us given that we usually work the day before any event, travel that night and are almost always last in line for parking.

The facts are NED is one of the best racing surfaces on the tour, that's where it ends. There is very little pavement and if you are parked in the grass you have to bring 3 gallons of tick spray (I need to remember that for this year, more on that later). Don't get me wrong, I love parking in grass.....when its solid and not filled with ticks (Norwalk has this figured out, in fact they have everything figured out)

Anyway, I've parked out in the grassy/dirt by the helipad at NED in the past and it wasn't a problem, not ideal but acceptable. I'm generally good with the parking I get at every track we go to but when we were escorted down to the "dump" at NED, yes dump.....there was a loader leveling a pile of dirt as we (Scott was right behind me) sat there and waited for our parking spots to be built. Virgin ground that my front tires sunk in and I couldn't use my jacks on coupled with a dust storm that was worse than the dust bowl (look it up) when the helicopter came in, a race care came within 100' of you or my favorite activity...when the track workers came blasting by every 10 minutes at full speed on their work vehicles creating a smoke screen that James Bond would be proud of. Needless to say our equipment and ourselves were covered in dirty, gritty dust all weekend that took 5+ hours to clean once we got home.

While we were standing there waiting I contemplated leaving, but having over $1000 invested which I knew I wouldn't get back we decided to stay and tough it out or as they say, make the best of it. Without question this was the worst parking situation we have ever been in and we swore that we were not coming back to a National at Epping ever again.....unless we could be one of the first rigs in the stacking line on Tuesday which given our work schedule was probably not going to happen anytime soon........

Scott.....I did go rounds in that race, it didn't make the parking situation any better and I do think its a shame that NHRA would treat its racers to those circumstances. Especially since we were sold a bill of goods about how great the facility was going to be after all of the "renovations" took place when NHRA got involved. All I've seen in the 12 years that I have been going there is a repaving of a small area of the pits.....where the pro's park and more concrete on the racing surface.

I swore this race off until I was retired and could be there on Tuesday, which is a long ways off.....oooooooooor until my niece Taylor told me in January that the 2018 edition of the New England Nationals would be her first national event, something I'm not going to miss. Soooooooo......now I'm double entered, took the week off just so I could be the first rig in line when stacking starts and will have my 3 gallons of tick spray with me so that when I get parked in the better grassy pits none of us get Lymes disease.

That's my tale of woe, which in less than 11 months has come full circle....for good reason! And regardless of my parking situation this year, which will be better than last, I will be proud and happy of my favorite SST racer and the time our family gets to spend that week while we all take vacation just to get good parking spots.

BTW....not that its the tracks fault but the roads to get to this race are the worst on tour as well. I drive 45 miles out of my way to ride smoother (relative statement) roads that won't destroy my equipment. Which makes it noteworthy that traveling over those roads for years in support of Joe Sways summer series race at Atco by the NED crowd (Kenwood, Al, Ricky, Millers....and all) was a miraculous feat! Nice work gang!

Shawn

wow bird...you summed it all up for me.i think I'm gonna do Norwalk and then maybe do the divisional at ned when the pros are gone!!
thanks~~!!

I pulled in right behind you shawn and couldnt believe it they were grading it as were actually waiting to park. And as they said the radio station did not get picked up we had nhra all access on the ipad to hear the pa. We also took the week off to be up there early but was certainly a big dissapointment going to event. But Shawn was definatly upset

I am a New England Dragway regular and would not travel to this race. I got there last year on Thursday and could not believe what I saw. I had some one bring my stuff in for me during the day and was shocked at how it was shoe horned in.

Like some people I know have said, I want to win this so I don't have to come back.

My feeling is if things don't change the race will go away when it comes time to renew the contract. Nothing about the appearance says National Event facility. To me when you show up at a professional type race there needs to be an appearance and feel that is lacking here.

quote:

Originally posted by bradsc1954:
I am a New England Dragway regular and would not travel to this race. I got there last year on Thursday and could not believe what I saw. I had some one bring my stuff in for me during the day and was shocked at how it was shoe horned in.

Like some people I know have said, I want to win this so I don't have to come back.

My feeling is if things don't change the race will go away when it comes time to renew the contract. Nothing about the appearance says National Event facility. To me when you show up at a professional type race there needs to be an appearance and feel that is lacking here.

Maybe they can buy the tower from E-Town and do some paving........