Holeshot Drag Racing Association
H.D.R.A. News
10/4/12
Awards Banquet Nov. 2nd! We will be having our Awards Banquet for the Top 10 in each Eliminator on Friday Night, November 2nd, 7:00pm. It will be at the Elks Club on Washington Ave. in New London, CT (same place as the last one we had). All are welcome to attend, not just the Top 10. We also welcome our Long Island racers as well as our racers in our new Dirt Series.
Ticket prices are $20.00 each, and maybe purchased by sending a check or m.o. to the address listed at the bottom of the center column. You may also pay for these tickets through PayPal, again info listed in the next column. So the Elks can properly prepare, we must have your reservation IN OUR HANDS by Monday October 29th. We have NO plans to sell tickets at the door, as they will not have extra food to accomodate latecomers.
Included will be a an open Buffet, which worked out for us the last time. The bar will be open for those that want adult beverages. We also plan on having the tree on hand again for some friendly reaction times racing. We are also looking for some kind of a
video ahow as well... still working on that! More later!
10/3/12
Still lots of racing left! Yes, we're at the end of the 2012 season, but we still have quite a bit of racing left.
Holeshot Drag Nationals. This is our 3rd Annual Nats at the Waterford Speedbowl, and we have 20 different Eliminators and Shootouts!. The listing of events is on the center column, but the bottom line is that most competitors will be eligible for 3 to 4 of these events. While we kept many of the events from last year, we did make some changes, and additions.
First, we are eliminating most of the index races, but staying with the 2.50 Index. There will be two of them, one for the Cars and one for the Bikes. To qualify for this event, each competitor must be able to run 2.99 or faster. We will be running the 0.500 Pro-tree.
We have added a "Super 16" event for the top 16 in points for each of the 3 Eliminators. This will be our normal dial-in racing.
We've added an "Import" Shootout, plus a Shootout for Street Trucks. Motorcycles (2 wheels only) will have their own Shootout, as well as Quads (which includes aTV's Snowmobiles, ATV's, etc.).
It's going to be a very busy day, with everybody getting many opportunities to win a trophy.
Pits open at 11am, and Test & Tune starts at 12 noon.
Street Truck Dirt Drags. While the HDRA season will be over after the 13th for the Speedbowl, we still have plenty of racing left at the Lebanon Fairgrounds, in Lebanon, CT. Our next event is Sunday October 21st, and we are staying with our same format as the last event.
Along with the strong showing of Street Trucks, we are looking for the continuation of growth from the Outlaws. The Quads were a new addition for us last time, and they were a tremendous hit. We're expecting a bigger field of them as well.
November Racing! We just got the green light from the Lebanon Fairgrounds for us to have an event the first weekend of November. We have not made a decision as to whether to go with a Saturday or Sunday yet. Going on a Saturday Nov 3rd would allow for a possible raindate the next day. We will let you know soon, but just be aware we will be racing that weekend.
9/28/12
Whatta week! We saw Jeff Shaw break into the sub 2 second range with a 1.95 on his Yamaha powered drag bike. Already billed as the world's fastest snowmobile powered drag bike, running 8.30 and 160mph, he's now manages to be our fastest bike at the Holeshot Drags.
The points race is still close in Comp and Street, and the Championship in both eliminators could be decided in two weeks at the double points events at the Holeshot Drag Nationals. This is the closest points race we've had in the 3 years we've been doing this weekly.
We are keeping a close eye on the weather for tonight's event. Hopefully this storm will move a little further north so we can be spared.
Doin' it in the Dirt. HDRA did it's third dirt event at the Lebanon Fairgrounds this past Sunday, and this dirt series continues to grow. While we continue to have a good field of street trucks, we had an increase in the "Outlaws", which consists of off-road and mud racers. they put on a great show.
A new addition to the dirt drags are quads. We had over 30 entries, and we expect that to grow. We were not allowed to run them at Hebron (our first event) due to their concerns of ruining track conditions. Lebanon let us try them, and we found them not to be a problem. They are now going to be a regular part of our dirt program.
We will be back at Lebanon Sunday October 21st. We are also going to inquire about having another event there 2 weeks later on November 4th.
Holeshot Drag Nationals at Waterford are two weeks from now on Saturday afternoon October 13th. Pit gates open at 11am, and Test & Tune gets going at 12 noon. The Eliminators and Shootouts are listed to the right on this column. While a more detailed schedule will be coming out this week, count on Test & Tune running from 12 noon to 3pm.
Banquet. We have a tentative date of Friday night November 2nd for our 2012 banquet. It will be held at the Elk's Club in New London, CT. Times and ticket information will be coming out in a few days.
8/23/12
Lebanon Dirt Drags moved to Sunday September 23rd (from 9/15). As time marches forward, we find ourselves running up against more and more events scheduled the same time as ours.
We learned about 3 weeks ago that we were going to lose a few of our racers to an established annual event up in MA. OK, we could live with that. But just this week, E-Town has started promoting their Diesel Nationals on the same day. Lots of our diesel guys make it a pilgramage. Then we found out that All Out Off Road Specialties is having a show in Ellington on the same day as well. There goes our mud guys.
On the 16th, our Outlaw guys will be busy at Southwick. On the 22nd, we understand there is another event at Ellington.
Sunday Sept 23rd. That's our new date for Lebanon. We've made a ton of phone calls, and there appears to be no conflicting events. There are no truck pulls as well. Sooo... spread the word. Let's make this the biggest Dirt Drag event Connecticut has ever seen!
8/19/12
2.50 Index Race this Friday August 24th. All cars and bikes that run 2.99 and faster qualify for this event, and all we run everything together as one class. Bikes with cars, Comp with Street... it doesn't matter.
There is only one dial-in for all competitors - 2.50. It's a heads-up race, and you can't run faster than 2.50. We will also be using an 0.500 Pro-tree. All the ambers come on at once for 0.500 of a second, and then the green comes on.
Some competitors are actually going to have to slow down so as not to break oout. Some competitors that run slower will have to rely cutting a better light, or hope the other lane breaks out or red lights. All of this will make for some interesting racing.
8/13/12
All-GM Shootout this Friday at the Speedbowl. Anybody that has been to our events knows how diverse the field of competitors are. However, by far, GM vehicles outnumber all other brands. This will most likely be our biggest Shootout of the season. All GM cars and trucks are eligible for this Friday's event after they run in their respective class.
Rain, rain, go away! No question the recent weather has presented it's challenges. It was no diffeerent this past weekend. W called the races at Waterford on Friday, and it turned out to be the right decision. While the sun came out at 5, the rains came back in full force at 7.
On Sunday, we had our first event at the Putnam Main Street Cruise. The forecast a few days before was fantastic. Of course we woke up to rain on show day. We ended up running an abbreviated event as the weather only allowed us to run for about an hour. But it still was a fun event, and the bleachers were full.
We also tried something new for us... a 60 foot format. It was our opinion that our normal 100 foot format would not allow for a safe shutdown area. The 60 foot distance was chosen as that number is a standard at other longer tracks. It's the first time that shows on the time slip. After seeing Sunday's event, we now can pursue other venues with confidence, including indoor winter shows.
Dirt Drags and Truck Show: The next Dirt event is at the Lebanon Fairgrounds on Saturday Sept. 15th, with the next day as a rain date. Our first two shows were incredibly popular, and people are chomping at the bit to go racing again.
Truck Toyz from Colchester will be back again to put on a Truck Show, for those that don't want to compete. We had a nice turnout for out Hebron show.
Quads are now beng added to the program for this event. We've been getting many requests to run them, so we'll be adding them to this program. There may be a time in the future where we would have a seperate day for them. We'll see how the turnout is. Should be fun.
Holeshot Drag Nationals: While there is still plenty of racing left this season, it won't be long before the 3rd annual Holeshot Drag Nationals are here. We are staying with the same basic format at last year... a one day show with multible Eliminaters and Shootouts. Some of the Shootouts may be changed a little, but the end result will be the same... Most competitors will be able to compete in 3 to 4 events that day.
The date is Saturday October 13th at 12 noon, with the next day as a rain date.
8/7/12
All-Ford Shootout this Friday August 10th. While the Mustangs are a popular car to race, there are alot of other fast Fords out there as well. This Friday, along with the regular show, will be an All-Ford Shootout. All Ford competitors will be able to compete in two different events. This should be a great show!
Putnam Main Street Cruise this Sunday August 12th. This is the 6th annual show held downtown Putnam (northeast corner of CT). It has grown to over 2500 cars... the whole town is filled with every type of car imaginable.
Luke Emmons will be on hand throughout the day providing Stunt Bike Exhibitions. The traditional rolling burnout event will be back again during the mid-afternoon.
New to this show will be the Holeshot Drags. This is a "Just-for-Fun" event, and done in 60 feet. We were looking to keep the usual 100 feet, but the shutdown area was tighter than we liked. The racing should still be great, and now some of you racers can see what your 60 foot times will be.
The format will be casual. The entry fee is just a donation of whatever you can give. We know there will be car show guys that will making their way down from the show for a grudge race or two. Donations go to the Deery Memorial Cancer Fund.
Papa's Dodge Car Cruise, complete with Burnout Contest and Single Lane Holeshot Drag Time Shots. Event is Wednesday night starting at 5pm. Papa's Dodge is located at 585 East Main Street, New Britain, CT. This event is to help promote the Dream Cruise on Sunday August 19th
Dirt Drags continue to be a success! At the last minute we scheduled a show at the Lebanon Fairgrounds for the Street Truck Dirt Drags. Making it more of a challenge was the fact that we had to reschedule for a rain date. The attendance was remarkable despite the short notice.
We have 3 more dates in the hopper for the Dirt Drags. We are trying to determine if we should run them on a Saturday (allowing for a Sunday rain date), or on a Sunday. We are also looking at allowing Quads and Motorcycles to join in. If we do, a two day show maybe considered. One day for the Trucks, the other for the Quads and Bikes.
Lebanon is scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 16th.
Portland is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of Oct. 6th.
Hebron is tentatively scheduled for the weekend of Nov. 3rd.
7/30/12
Mopar Shootout. Along with the regular show this Friday at the Waterford Speedbowl, we will also be having a Mopar Shootout to finish the night. We have some nice cars that come out of the woodwork for this one. Tell your Mopar friends to come on out! Also, we have an All-Ford Shootout 8/10, and an All-GM Shootout 8/17. The 2.50 Index race comes back on the 24th.
Lebanon rescheduled. It seems that the weather this summer changes by the hour. Going into this weekend, Sunday looked great. We get to race day, and what's the forecast? Rain. And rain we got.
While the track was pretty soft in the morning, we probably could have run the show had the sun come out to help dry things up. However, we knew that wasn't happening, plus the forecasted rains eventually found their way to the Fairgrounds mid afternoon. There was no way to bring the track back by then.
What we are looking to do for future shows is perhaps cover the track before the rains come, much like what they do at baseball fields.
Tentative Dirt Drag Dates: We have been hitting the phones hard looking to put a schedule together for the Street Truck Dirt Drags. While this is all tentative, we feel there's a good shot at pulling this off. After this weekend we have:
9/15 - Lebanon
10/6 - Portland
11/3 - Hebron
Again, these dates are all tentative. Keep and eye on this website for updates and more schedule additions.
7/28/12
We got the show in! We were 3 minutes from pulling the plug on last night's show, but the rain went away at 5, and the track crew went did a great job getting rid of the water on the track.
Normally many spectators and racers stay home with a forecast like yesterday's, but this was not the case last night. We had a full field of competitors and alot of spectators as well. Overall, it was a great night.
Winners last night:
COMP: Cy Virgulto
STREET: Matt Viscionne
BIKE: Jason Barba
NOSTAGIA SHOOTOUT: Tommy Goodreau
Street Truck Dirt Drags this Sunday (7/29) at the Lebanon Fairgrounds, Lebanon, CT. Everybody had a great time last week at Hebron at the Dirt Drags. While we concentrated on Street Trucks, we had alot of Jeeps, and there are noises from people that want to bring their cars as well.
We were supposed to have races Saturday at te Durham Fairgrounds, but too many monkey wrenches were thrown in the works at the last minute to make this work financially. The group at the Lebanon Fairgrounds stepped up to the plate and suggested we move this weekend's event to their facility. The decision was made, and we now have an event there this Sunday.
Start time is 5pm for test & Tune is 5pm, with sign-in scheduled from 4pm-6pm. We plan on finishing the show by 9pm. Based on last week's program, we should easily meet that schedule.
Everybody gets time shots during Test & Tune, and then they get to race two events; one Shootout, plus Top Dirt Eliminator. Admission is $10 for adults, and competitors pay another $10 to race.
Jr. Shootout this Friday June 29th
Mustang Shootout from rained out June 22nd event to be rescheduled in September
6/28/12
Alot of people are expected out tonight, as they didn't get to race last week. Along with the ragular show of Comp, Street & Bike, tonight we have the first of four Jr. Shootouts for the kids that are 14 and younger.
We have some interesting things going on in the HDRA world outside of Waterford. Papa's Dodge has a Car Cruise every third Wednesday called "Rippin' Rubber". It's a Cruise, plus they have a Burnout Pit, which is actually on the begining of a long unused road. We will be there July 18th with our timing system. We will alternate between rounds of burnouts and drags. The format will be single lane, as the road is not wide enough to do two wide. Cost to run is a donation... whatever you want to throw in the bucket... proceeds go to the Special Olympics. Up to now they've only had street cars, but they would welcome all out racers to join in.
DIRT: For several years we've looked at doing our format on dirt, targeting mainly Street Trucks. One of missions at HDRA is to provide another source of revenue for Stock Car Tracks. Think about this... track operators only have 30-50 days of revenue, but still have 365 days worth of bills. The season is short... perhaps 6 months out of the year, yet the facilities are still closed more days during the week than they are open. We give them the opportunity to have the track open another 25 - 30 days utilizing what would otherwise be a closed facility.
Up to now we've focused only on paved surfaces. Pursuing the dirt format will now give us an opportunity to help dirt track operators as well as their paved counterparts. Of course, doing this on dirt also opens up other venues and opportunities, mainly fairgrounds. So... in the past two weeks we have been actively pursuing the local fairgrounds, and things are happening at a very fast pace. This is what we have so far:
HEBRON FAIRGORUNDS, Hebron, CT - STREET TRUCK DIRT DRAGS & TRUCK SHOW. We have a tentative date of Sunday July 22nd, all starting at 4pm. We are looking to finalize the paperwork this coming week. We are also looking to get an additional date at the very end of the season.
DURHAM FAIRGROUNDS, Durham, CT - STREET TRUCK DIRT DRAGS. We just had a meeting with them last night. Tentative date is Saturday July 28th, starting at 4pm. We will know soon. If this works out for them, we have a shot at being back and doing the drags at their Fair Saturday afternoon, September 27th, or some other date.
The Portland Fairgrounds is also very interested in the possibility of having us, so we are hoping we can get one or two dates from them this season. We've also been in touch with Goshen Fair (Goshen, CT), as well as the Washington County Fair in RI.
BACK TO PAVEMENT: On Long Island there will be an all-Ford Car Show at Stevens 112 Ford in Patchogue, NY. HDRA will be on hand with the timing equipment set up behind the dealership. After the show we will be doing side by side Holeshot Drags, which is open to everybody, including non-Fords. It'll be more of a Run-For-Fun type of event, where everybody can blow off some steam without having to look in the rear view mirror. We're sure we will see people setting up grudge runs as well. Should be a fun day. NOTE: We are looking for Hot Ford Street and Race cars to be part of the Car Show. The dealership wants us to set up a Cacklefest, firing off the cars every 45 minutes or so at the same time.
6/25/12
While we've been pretty lucky with the weather this season, last week Mother Nature won. While we didn't have much rain at the track, there was rain all around us that afternoon, and the forecast was definately against us. What rain we got of course came as we were getting ready for test & tune. It's a shame, because this was our Mustang Shootout night, and we were expecting a good field of cars. We will reschedule the Mustangs sometime in September.
This week we will have our first of four Jr. Shootouts this season. Kids 14 an younger are eligible to race this extra event. They always put on a good show.
The following week (July 6th) we have our Burnout Contest. Anyone can enter. Winner is determined by the amount of smoke, as well as the crowd reaction. Time limit, as always, is 15 seconds. This makes the show very interesting, and allows for many people to participate. Many of our racers compete in this contest... some swap out their race tires for junk tires to participate.
Diesel guys... don't forget we have a Shootout for you July 13th. And our ever popular Nostalgia Shootout is July 27th (Cars '75 and earlier). This is in conjunction with the Speedbowl's Nostalgia weekend in which they have antique racers in addition to their regualr show on Saturday.
6/11/12
The rescheduled 2.50 Index Race went great last week, with over 30 competitors entering. Mixing in all 3 classes made for an interesting event to watch, and there were alot of smiles. Many of the COMP car competitors had a challenge trying to slow down to the 2.50 Index. Others were challenged by the 0.500 Pro tree. The bottom line is that everyone is looking forward to us doing it again in August.
We have Shootouts happening almost every wee now, starting with the FWD 4 Cylinder Shootout Friday June 15th. Keep in mind that we ALWAYS have our regular show every Friday night. The Shootouts are only an extra event. Upcoming Shootouts are as follows:
FWD 4 CYLINDER SHOOTOUT - June 15th
MUSTANG SHOOTOUT - June 22nd
JUNIOR SHOOTOUT - June 29th
BURNOUT CONTEST - July 6th
The Burnout Contest will follwo the same format we always use... 15 second time limit, any car can compete. The 15 second time is more than long enough to make alot of smoke, but short enough not to totally destroy the tires or drivetrain. Because of this, we get alot of participants.
5/29/12
The 2.50 Index Race scheduled this past Friday has been rescheduled for this Friday, June 1st. Last weeks weather was a big factor in rescheduling. The weather for the day was borderline to begin with, and once the fog started to roll in, it was just a question as to when we would lose the track. We timed it perfectly by finishing the program early. If the program went 5 minutes later we would have had to cancel.
Any car or motorcycle that can run 2.99 or faster can participate in this weeks extra event. This is the first time we've had an event that includes cars and bikes in the same race. This is a heads-up event, and we're going to try out the Pro-Tree (0.500).
Sub 2 second runs! Phil Rondeau and Tommy Gaudreau both ran multiple 1.9's during the test & tune session, as well as the eliminations. Both cars managed 1.90's and 1.91's! Is running in the 1.8's regularly coming next?
New at the 'Bowl for HDRA is the addition of a speed trap. We asked the drivers which they preferred, 60 foot times or MPH, and the MPH won. We haven't gone through all our files yet, but we saw Gaudreau hit 58.9 mph in one of his runs. Pretty fast for 100 feet!
SHOOTOUTS! We will be starting up our Shootout schedule in a couple weeks. Check out our schedule. June 15th (2 weeks) will see a Shootout for Front Wheel Drive 4 cylinder cars. Mustangs will have their Shootout the following week on June 22nd! There is a Shootout every week right through August. We left most of September open in case we had to reschedule a Shootout they maybe lost due to weather.
5/24/12
This Friday at Waterford will see the first Shootout of the season... the 2.50 Index. This will be a heads-up event for cars and bikes (together) that can run 2.99 and faster. Breakout rules apply. This event is in addtion to our regular show of Comp, Street, and Bike, and will be run after the completion of the regular show. Should be fun!
5/15/12
Riverhead's 2nd event for 2012 happens this Sunday afternoon. We are looking to have the 60 foot sensors in place by this weekend, and plans to add MPH shortly after that. Everybody had a great time at the April 29th show, and we were impressed with the fact that the Bike class is starting to grow. We're looking to continue that growth, so get your friends out there this Sunday!
This Friday night is a continuation of our Friday night events at Waterford. We've been having a great turnout there as well, and it's impressive on how fast the cars are getting. Phil Rondeau's Vega had a 1.98 dial-in on his window, and this is only the second outing for the car.
5/11/12
Tonight starts our Friday Night racing. Pits open at 5:30, and Test & Tune starts at 6:30. We are looking forward to a great field of competitors!
Changes for 2012:
1. We are putting the AWD and 4WD cars and trucks back into STREET ELIMINATOR if they are fully street legal, and are not running DOT drag radials or DOT drag slicks. It was an experiment that had mixed results, but afte looking at it for a season, we feel it's best to keep all street cars in STREET, period.
2. All pit personel will pay and sign the insurance waiver as usual when coming into the pits on EVERY race day. The change is that ALL competitors must go to the Pit Tower (where we have the drivers meeting) to sign in. One of the things lacking in the past is a driver roster for the night for the announcer. This will give the announcer an opportunity to be able to give accurate information to the spectators. It will alo help keep our paperwork in better order.
5/7/12
Yesterdays opener at Waterford was a great success. Beautiful weather, a great field of competitors, and alot of racing. We had over 20 racers come home with wins, between our regular events, plus the various Shootouts and Index races.
Pictures will be posted as soon as we receive them from Race DogPhotography. They will also be in our weekly program, which will be free of charge. Contact Race Dog Photography on their website to purchase pictures.
Next event starts our regular Friday Night program, which is May 11th. TOP SPEED LABS from Groton, CT will be on hand, and they promise to bring a large number of followers to fill our Car Cruise Coral.
5/5/12
We're excited about Sunday's opening! We'll be graced with great weather! We thought back to last October, and remembered that the crowd coming in was pretty thin at 10am, so we're going to open at 11am instead. There will be plenty of time to get ready for test &tune, which starts at 12 noon.
We had plans tomorrow to hand out trophies for the top 10 from 2011, but we are finding many of those that are to receive them will be away and will not be with us until the first Friday (May 11th, 5 days from now). We feel better about doing presentations in front of a regular Friday night crowd. There are also many things going on at the 'Bowl tomorrow. Along with dealing with new equipment, the additional racing, plus the SXR series go-karts there the same day, I believe we will be busy enough. Those that paid for the banquet that never was will have a refund envelope waiting for them. We will do things differently next year so this never happens again. See you race day! Don't forget to bring your friends!
4/30/12
Pardon our appearance. Our website had been been with MSN Office Live since 2007. While our skills in getting around the computer have their limits, we managed over the years to learn how to use the service, and to be honest, we had a good looking site. Now they've changed their policies, and it just made sense for us to switch to another provider.
Unfortunately, almost EVERYTHING is different, so we are in a steep learning curve. It's going to take a few weeks to get this thing to look the way we want it to. Meanwhile, please bear with us.
For the moment, all information will be on this page... News, Schedule, etc. Once we fumble our way through this, we will get back to multiple pages, etc.
Waterford Opener this Weekend! Everybody is just itching to getgoing at the Speedbowl for 2012. While we are normally a Friday night operation, we are starting this season with a Sunday afternoonevent to accomodate the extra racing we have in store.
The pit gates open at 10am, with Test & Tune starting at 12 noon.Eliminations for COMP, STREET, & BIKE Eliminators will start at 2:30 - 3:00 time frame. The rained out portion of last years 2011 Nationals will start immediately afterwards. This includes all the Shootouts and Index Races.
Riverhead Raceway. The first event this season was a greatsuccess! We had numerous racers thanking us for coming back for 2012. We're glad to be back.
Our next event will be Sunday May 20th. The May 13th date has been cancelled and will be rescheduled when we get a replacement date. This past winter when we were putting the schedule together, we failed to notice that May 13th was Mother's Day, and we're not going to get Mom mad.
Steve Rock from Steve Rock Photography was on hand to take pictures all day. They will be available to see on his website by Thursday steve@steverockphotos.com . He will also be suppying photos for our program. Photos from the April 29th race will be in the May 20th program, which is free to all racers and spectators. They will also be available the week before at our major sponsors businesses: Action Performance, S-K Speed, Allstate Carburetor & Steve's 112 Ford are just a few of them.
Patchogue cancelled. We're not happy about this, but the Patchogue event for this year has been scrubbed. There were some details that for now could not be worked out in time, and we just couldn't make it happen. The Fire Department has some great guys working there, sowe will try again for next season.
MORE LATER!
