91°µÍø

The NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series returns to rustic New England Dragway this week for the annual NHRA New England Nationals featuring competition in Top Fuel, Funny Car, Pro Stock, and the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series.

The Epping event returned to the calendar in 2021 after mussing the 2020 season due to COVID-19. The defending event winners include Billy Torrence (Top Fuel), John Force (Funny Car), and Aaron Stanfield (Pro Stock). Overall, this is the eighth time that 91°µÍø Pros have raced in Epping, a track that first opened in 1966.

Billy Torrence isn’t entered for this year’s event, but his son, Steve, is, and he won back-to-back Epping titles in 2018-19 behind the wheel of his Capco Contractors dragster. Torrence has won the last four championships in the nitro class, but the Texan is after his first win in 2022 in the loaded Top Fuel class.

Although he’s yet to win a race, Torrence is very much in the running for a fifth title. He enters the Epping event as the second-ranked driver in the class, chasing leader Brittany Force. Torrence has been to a pair of final rounds, including the most recent NHRA event in Richmond. He’s also got three semifinal finishes to his credit.

Force comes to Epping as the hottest driver in the class with three wins on the season in her Monster Energy dragster. Force has won three of the last four races and has a 12-1 record in elimination rounds during that stretch. Force is also a past Epping winner, beating Antron Brown in the 2017 final round.

Two other drivers to watch are young guns Justin Ashley and Austin Prock. Ashley won the Pomona season opener and is holding steady in fourth place in the standings, and Prock made one of the best runs of his career in Richmond with a 3.67-second run to qualify No. 2.

 John Force isn’t just the defending Epping winner, he’s also riding high after winning his 155th NHRA event last month in Charlotte. Force and his Peak/Blu Def Chevy are ranked fourth in the standings, and the New England Nationals presents a solid opportunity for the 16-time champ to put pressure on the drivers ahead of him, Matt Hagan, Robert Hight, and reigning champ Ron Capps.

Hagan is off to a flying start this season with two wins and three runner-up finishes in his Dodge Power Brokers Charger. Hagan, a three-time Epping champ, lost the Richmond final to Robert Hight, who is also having a tremendous season with wins in three of the first seven events.

Capps has been solid in his title defense with a win in Las Vegas and a runner-up in Pomona. Capps is also a past Epping winner, having won here in 2016.

Pro Stock teams haven’t raced since the Houston event in late April, so to suggest that they are eager to get back into action would be a big understatement. Erica Enders won the Houston race, and the Las Vegas event that preceded it, which allowed the four-time champion to assume the points lead.

Enders, an Epping winner in 2017, has plenty of company at the top of the standings, including defending event winner Stanfield, last season’s NHRA Rookie of the Year Dallas Glenn, reigning champ Greg Anderson, and Kyle Koretsky.

Another driver who bears watching is Camrie Caruso, who is coming off a runner-up finish in Houston. The promising rookie was also the top qualifier in her last appearance and climbed from 11th to No. 7 in the Camping World Pro Stock standings.

The event also will feature thrilling competition in the NHRA Lucas Oil Drag Racing Series, with racing in Super Stock, Stock, Super Comp, Super Gas, Super Street, and Top Sportsman presented by Vortech Superchargers.

2021 EVENT WINNERS
Billy Torrence, Top Fuel; John Force, Funny Car; Aaron Stanfield, Pro Stock.

TRACK RECORDS
Top Fuel
3.673 seconds by Leah Pruett, June 2017; 331.69 mph by Doug Kalitta, June 2018.

Funny Car
3.822 seconds by Robert Hight, June 2017; 336.74 mph by Robert Hight, June 2017.

Pro Stock
6.485 seconds by Shane Gray, June 2014; 214.72 mph by Greg Anderson, June 2015.

EVENT SCHEDULE
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series qualifying will feature one round of professional qualifying at 6 p.m. ET on Friday, June 3, and the final two rounds of qualifying on Saturday, June 4, at 1 and 4 p.m. Final eliminations are scheduled for 11 a.m. on Sunday, June 5.

TV SCHEDULE

Friday, June 3, FOX Sports 1 (FS1), will televise one and a half hours of qualifying coverage at 9 p.m. ET
Saturday, June 4, FOX Sports 1 (FS1), will televise one and a half hours of qualifying coverage at 7 p.m. ET
Sunday, June 5, FOX Sports 1 (FS1) will televise three hours of finals coverage at 7 p.m. ET.