NED - New England Dragway / 2011 News

[SmokinStang]

SmokinStangs.com has been advised that the water seepage problem at the big end of NED is gone..thanks to extensive track repairs!! Thus reducing related track delays and paving the way for the NHRA this 2011 season (No-pun intended)!!
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Concrete Wrap-up... (Pics from 11/24/10)

The concrete work is done… the New England Dragway strip is concrete from the start line to the finish line !!! Underneath the yards and yards of tarps, the new concrete surface is curing for the winter. I made a quick trip over to the track today and caught a few minutes with Joe Lombardo, General/Track Manager and he told me that they are very pleased with the results. The flatness of the new surface exceeded the required specifications by a considerable amount. I guess all the fancy computer controlled, laser guided concrete spreading equipment worked pretty good !!

Misc pictures here of the work...the first one shows the new track tucked away under the tarps for the winter. Couldn’t resist lifting up the tarp on one corner for a sneak peek... makes me anxious for spring and the new racing season to start.






Now that the major track construction is pretty much done, the NED crew is starting to focus on other projects before winter sets in. One area no racer ever wants to find themselves in is the “sand trap”. This is an area at the very end of the race track, which up until now have been furrows of loose sand meant to slow down a race car in an emergency when they cannot stop on their own. The sand trap is being reworked to meet NHRA specifications which will include laying down about 70 feet of finely ground gravel material, building a retaining fence/wall on both sides, and installing a catch net system at the end. So far, the only work completed is building up the trap area to be closer to the same level as the race track surface. Joe showed me some of the design drawings being used… lots of work for something that we all hope nobody ever has to use, but it will be there if they do.




Joe also told me he has worked out the details to finish installing Musco lighting all the way to the end of the shutdown area. As many racers know, the new lighting that was installed two years ago did not quite make it all the way to the end of the track and we depended on the old lighting to light the end of the shutdown area. Next spring, four additional Musco light poles will be installed and all the old lighting along the left side of the track will be removed. This project kills two birds with one stone… for racers, it provides better lighting all the way down the track and for spectators, it removes all the poles and wires that always got in your way when you tried to take a picture of your favorite race car !

As you may or may not know, New England Dragway will host a NHRA Divisional Event next summer over the weekend of July 23rd and 24th. NHRA divisional events feature some great sportsman racing from Stock Eliminator all the way to Alcohol Funny Cars and Dragsters. Divisional events do not include nitro cars, but believe me the alky funnies and rails put on a pretty good show and there should be lots of them in attendance. I checked back into this past season’s Division 1 events and saw that every event had full eight car fields in both alky classes and in many events there were 12 – 14 cars in each class, racing to get into the eight car elimination fields. I also understand that Joe is trying to add a little extra show for Saturday night… details are still being worked out. It should be a great weekend of racing that you don’t want to miss.

For all you racers out there, I will be devoting my next Blog entry to the things that are near and dear to you… like the rules you need to be aware of, differences between IHRA and NHRA, etc. I will be sitting down with Tech Director Buddy Scurto to get the scoop. I know there is one area on the minds of many of the previously classified Mod racers… transbrakes. Joe told me NED will be following the Division 1 guidelines used for the bracket finals… that means no transbrakes will be allowed in the Pro class (a.k.a. the current Modified class) in 2011. Racers, I will leave you with some advice that both Joe and Buddy gave me… if you don’t have a NHRA rulebook, consider investing the $10 (a free download if you join NHRA) to get one and become familiar with it.

Lastly, Joe tells me the 2011 schedule is pretty close to being finalized and should be published in the next few weeks.

Time to go… hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving !



One lane done, one to go...


I stopped by the track on Friday morning to check out the progress of the concrete track work. By 8:30am, the crew from S&S Concrete Floors of New Ipswich, NH had already poured and leveled about 200 feet of concrete and were taking a bit of a break waiting for the next batch of concrete trucks to arrive. I got a chance to talk with Matt from S&S and he described to me that they are pouring what is called a "Superflat" concrete surface. To be called Superflat, the surface has to meet some pretty strict requirements for its flatness... measured in fractions of an inch across the whole length of the concrete pour. To accomplish this, they are using a computer controlled, laser guided spreader called a Somero S-240. This machine uses multiple lasers and an onboard laptop computer to constantly monitor the position of the screed spreading and smoothing the concrete. Matt tells me this screed is automatically adjusted by the computer once every five seconds as it is pulling across the cement.


In the photo below, you can see one of the reference lasers in the foreground and the concrete spreading machine in the background.

One interesting fact about the concrete spreading machine, the technology was invented by the principles of S&S right here in New Hampshire back in the '70s. The company has since sold the rights to manufacture these machines to a company in the Midwest a few years ago. It's pretty cool to have technology invented in New Hampshire being used right here in New Hampshire.


The S&S crew will be pouring and leveling approximately 600 cubic yards of concrete by the time this project is over. It will take 60 trucks to deliver all this concrete. To put this into perspective, 600 yards of concrete equates to over 26,000 bags of quick mix concrete that you might use to set a mailbox post. The concrete mix is pretty standard in that it is strength rated to 4000 psi. As you would expect, there is a significant amount of reinforcing rod being used to add strength to the eight inch thick slab. Each lane will be one single pour of concrete, though S&S will come back at some point and make saw cuts across the surface every 16 - 20 feet to allow for expansion and contraction. Matt told me that because of their ability to provide such a smooth flat surface right from the start, there shouldn't be any need for finish grinding later.

As I said before, the right lane was being poured on Friday, the left lane will be poured on Monday, 11/15. Once all the cement work is complete and tested for flatness the new surface will be covered for the winter to cure with blanket materials left over from when the first 1/8th mile was poured years ago... those NED maintenance guys never throw anything away !!

This is all pretty cool stuff & interesting! Everyone can't wait for the 2011 season...

Source and for additional information regarding NED, as well as updates: http://newenglanddragway.com/home/index.php
Additional Sourcing via - Street Lagal TV / streetlegaltv.com: http://www.streetlegaltv.com/news/ne...gets-makeover/

[SmokinStang]

More of the repairs:

NED Track Repairs NHRA Prep.jpg

[SmokinStang]

SmokinStangs.com - Q&A with New England Dragway - insider updates:


SmokinStangs- What is the current status of the track now that NED is officially open for the season?

NED: The most significant of the improvements made to the track at the end of last season was extending the concrete race surface. Up until last year only the first 740 feet of racing surface consisted of concrete.

In order to ensure durability and eliminate the need for repaving the remaining portion of the race surface we decided to remove the existing asphalt to a point approximately 20 feet past the finish line. S & S Concrete Floors used a specialized laser screed to put down a terrific race surface. It is extremely smooth with none of the traditional “bumps” felt during the transition between old and new surfaces. Reviews from those racers who have made passes down the track thus far are very happy with the results.

We also purchased another four sets of Musco lighting to finish off the original project. By the beginning of summer we should have this project finished, giving us a total of 18 Musco poles. This will improve lighting in the shutdown area and return road.

Other projects include a redesigned catch area for cars unable to stop in time, and relocated the scoreboards outward of their current positions.

SmokinStangs- Do you think we will see an NMRA Event at NED in 2011:

NED: We would love to host a NMRA event. We’ve made several attempts to open the discussions, but nothing ever materialized. I do not think it is a sanctioning body issue. I feel they do not realize the significance of our market area. Perhaps that would change if more racers lobbied the organization.


SmokinStangs - Any other changes for 2011 and or notable with regard to the drag racing scene:

NED: We are considering adding a Third (3rd) Emergency/Ambulatory Team on in an effort to keep the racing action moving efficiently. The track currently runs two.

SmokinStangs - Over the past couple of years there seems to be a resurgence with Ford & the Ford Mustang at NED, any thoughts.

NED: We've always enjoyed having them at our facility. The Mustang group always seems to really stick together, and has always been very supportive of Ford based events here at the track.

[SmokinStangs Mustang Forum]

A Special Thank You to Our 2011 Partner, New England Dragway, for their support of the SmokinStangs.com - Mustang Forum & Enthusiast based community!

NED / New England Dragway and Motorsports Park - Epping, NH: http://newenglanddragway.com/home/index.php

[Quarterhorse 2]

They did a fantastic job on the track this year...smooth as glass :) We're lucky to have a place like this in our area...Kudos to all the people behind the scenes at NED!