The New England Street Outlaws Series, featuring spectator drags, has scheduled its first two events for Thompson Speedway (Photo: Teri Taylor)
Spectator drag racing is coming to Thompson Speedway in 2015.
Officials from the newly formed New England Street Outlaw Series have confirmed that they have scheduled two events to be run at Thompson Speedway this season.
The New England Street Outlaws Series has scheduled an event for July 18 at Thompson Speedway, with a July 25 rain date. The series has also scheduled an Aug. 15 show, with an Aug. 22 rain date.
“We’re doing it in a safe, controlled environment,” said series owner and promoter Mark Caise. “People are out there getting killed because they’re being stupid about it drag racing. The main premise is that you can drag race, but you’re doing it in a safe, controlled environment.
“We have a full blown drag racing setup. We can do a setup anywhere from a 10-foot track to a quarter-mile track. It’s complete with electronic scoring. It’s as real as NHRA drag racing as you can get.”
Caise previously promoted and oversaw the former Friday night spectator drag events at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
Caise said the New England Street Outlaw events at Thompson will utilize the backstretch of the .625-mile oval at the facility. Caise said series officials have yet to determine the exact layout of the track for the Thompson event.
“It will be over 100 feet,” Caise said. “The actual distance is something we will determine. We’re going to do a test session once the snow clears out. We’re going to go up one night with the crew and layout the track and do some tests with a few drivers to make sure we don’t make it too big. But we’re going to make it as long as we can, but keep it safe and controlled.”
The Thompson events are the first scheduled events for the newly formed spectator drag race series. Caise said he is expecting the New England Street Outlaw Series to sanction and run up to eight events at New England venues in 2015.
For more information on the New England Street Outlaw Series check out their website or check the New England Street Outlaw Facebook page.
I understand the desire to do it on a flat surface with no incline, but did they maybe consider the 3300′ straightaway for the road course? I know it has a small kink in it at one point, but it could provide ample room for this. The only question I might have is width of the track may be too narrow, but then again the backstretch at Thompson probably isn’t much wider.