Older drag racing fans will remember racing being held at Ardmore,
Kerr's Road, Manurewa and Kopuku in the late 60's and early 70's. These
proved to be so popular it was obvious the American sport was here to
stay.
Today, Drag Racing at New Zealand's premier dragstrip,
Meremere Dragway, is run under the governance of IHRA. The Pukekohe Hot
Rod Club were instrumental in getting the Drag Strip built and are
currently in charge of all the everyday maintenance, improvements as
well as the running of all drag racing events at the facility. The
Pukekohe Hot Rod is also the only Hot Rod Club globally who can lay
claim to owning their very own drag strip.
We like to boast that we have grown up with New Zealand’s drag racing community and after nearly 50 years in the business, we feel we have. From the days when we marvelled at 14 second cars to 12 second cars to 10 second beasts and into the single digit times. Nowadays, some racers are completing the 1/4 mile in under 6 seconds. That’s over 200mph in approximately 400 metres. Pretty awesome and quite a history really! If you haven’t been to the track recently to see and feel the roar and rumble of what makes this sport and our venue special, then book in some time this summer to visit and take in the sights, sounds, smell and atmosphere.
NAPA Auto Parts Dragway Meremere celebrates its 50th year of operation in Easter 2023 and has been such a popular destination that the road off the main State Highway 1 trunk into the facility has been aptly renamed Drag Way (although the road sign says Dragway Road – we’ll take both).
The track has been instrumental in introducing entry level classes such as those competing in the Night Speed Drag Wars series and the Teen Racing Championships (in conjunction with IHRA) for 13-17year olds. This is reminiscent of the introduction of the Junior Dragster class in 1988 when Murray Smith built the world’s first ever Junior Dragster which is still around and currently owned by Frank Bogaart.
The venue also plays host to other great motoring ventures such as the Meremere Drift Track run by Sky Zhao of Drift Academy, the Meremere Dirt Track run by the Meremere Dirt Track Club, the Auckland Vintage Speedway run by the Auckland Vintage Speedway Club and the Auckland Jet Sprint Track run by the Auckland Jet Sprint Club. If any of these activities tickle your fancy you can find out more about each of the tracks and this summer’s coming events as follows:
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