Hertford, North Carolina’s Northeast Dragway boasts some of the finest sportsman race cars you’ll ever see in the Tar Heel state, and with a robust schedule of events in 2023, there’s plenty of opportunities this year to visit this scenic eighth-mile facility that’s located roughly an hour from the Atlantic Ocean.
Track owner and builder Curtis Trueblood takes advantage of the warm climate and sometimes opens the track as early as February with various events. The track has seen a variety of changes over the years. It’s been independent as well as IHRA sanctioned, and most recently has made the switch to AHRA, with the first points race held on March 11.
[Editor’s Note: This story originally appeared in DI #184, the State of Drag Issue, in September/October of 20.]
Northeast Dragway is also a hotbed for diesel drags, and the scheduled Diesel Wars gathering closed out the month of March. Trueblood’s roots are in truck and tractor pulling, and it was always his dream to incorporate that form of motorsports on the property of the dragstrip, which he accomplished a few years ago. Northeast Dragway hosts several great truck pull events throughout the season, with the first event taking place in early April with the Northeast Park Truck Pull.
Bracket points racing returned the following week on April 8, followed by a special two-day Midnight Madness event by Brock Promotions. Rambo Grudge Racing closed out the month of April.
Tons of great events were on the schedule in May, including the Braxton Racing meet, featuring the very popular 252 List Series, which features no less than seven classes and more than $10,000 up for grabs in purse money. The 252 List Series was started locally in North Carolina and has traveled as far away as Las Vegas and has even been featured on a television broadcast. Both heads-up and index racing are featured in the 252 List Series, as the racer and fan support continues to generate lots of interest. The remaining weekends in May reflected very diverse racing, as imports were represented, along with truck pulling, as well as the Small Block Nitrous King event.
A pair of AHRA bracket point events bookended the month of June, with another diverse line-up of events in between. July was kicked off with a truck pulling event, with the 252 Bad Boyz scheduled the following week. A pair of grudge races, and a Double Deuce AHRA points meet closed out the remainder of July. Brackets and bike racing, along with the Pop Taylor event, are scheduled in August.
September features the Eighth-Mile Madness race, followed by a two-day gathering of the Brock Promotions event. Grudge and brackets are also featured in September. The Braxton Racing event kicks off the month of October, followed by a truck pull the next weekend, with Diesel Wars returning to Northeast on October 21. The Paul Grandy Memorial/Points race closes out October.
The final month of racing at Northeast is a big one, with grudge racing kicking off the month of November. The Richie Bowden Memorial race is slated for November 11, with the King of the Hill race planned for the following week. A special gathering dubbed “Curtis Trueblood Raised the Purse” will be the grand finale of 2023 on November 25, and promises to be a heavily-attended event.
Since it opened in 2000, Northeast Dragway continues to be a family-owned and operated facility, hosting many great events each race season.
This story was originally published on December 1, 2023. 
