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AA/FD Cars Thunder in New England Again

For the first time since the early seventies, spectators at New England Dragway in Epping, NH got the chance to see and experience front motored top fuel cars. On July 17th, New England Dragway played host to the “Night of Thrills” highlighted by four match racing Nostalgia Top Fuel cars; Howard Haight with the “Nitro Diction” AA/FD, Randy Bridges driving the Hendricks Motorsports entry, Steve and Ernie McClain’s “Mill Road Boys” AA/FD and the New England based “Mr. Boston” AA/FD driven by Tom Steed.

Howard Haight was making his first trip back to NE Dragway since 1979. Howard’s last appearance was as the driver of the “Hemi Hunter”. “What happened to all the trees?” Haight remarked, while looking at the expanded pits and other changes since his last visit. Howard was able to reminisce with friend and ex-top fuel driver Don Roberts in the pits. During his first trip to New England in 1972, Howard, driving the “American Way” streamliner, had raced against Don.

Local top fuel driver Tom Steed “felt 25 years old again” when asked what it was like to have driven fuel cars at NED in the early seventies and now to be part of it again nearly forty years later. “It’s really great. I consider myself fortunate to have driven these cars back then and still be doing it today.” Both the McClain and Hendricks teams were first timers to New England Dragway, and by the day’s end both teams were looking forward to a return trip.

The four fuel cars made their way to the staging lanes for round one of the match races with Ernie McClain facing off with Randy Bridges. Bridges car was shut off before the burnout due to a split fuel line, which sent McClain on a single run of 6.17 at 230 mph. The next pair up was Howard Haight and Tom Steed. Haight’s 5.91 at 254 mph set both ends of the track record for front motored top fuel cars that had stood for over thirty years, while Steed stopped the clocks with a 6.84 at 217 mph after losing the blower belt at the 1000’ mark.

Round two would be under the lights with McClain matched up against Haight. Haight again was on a strong pass until the car started drifting left and wouldn’t come back. Haight collected a cone (later given to him as a souvenir) and crossed the stripe with a 6.40 at 170 mph. McClain pedaled his fueler in the opposite lane to a 9.81 at 119 mph after getting loose at mid track. Steed and Bridges were next to fire. Steed’s dragster was shut off after the burnout due to loss of oil pressure which meant that Bridges single would be the last pass of the night. The Hendricks Motorsports car would not disappoint running a new track record 5.87 at 250 mph. The pass would also make the 24 hour trip from New Hampshire to Chicago a little more pleasant.

Track Manager Joe Lombardo was very pleased with the return of the AA/FD cars to Epping. “New England Dragway is going back to its roots. These types of cars, the front motored nitro cars, are a part of our history here”, said Lombardo. “Having gone to Bakersfield as a spectator and seeing the fan appeal of these cars made it clear that this was something we should do. The cars have personality, and spectators love watching five second passes at over two hundred and fifty miles per hour. New England Dragway has a large nostalgia fan base and these cars are a perfect fit for that. We will be looking to increase the cars from four this year to an eight car field next year.” -Paul Broughton


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