NHRA Summernationals
The NHRA Summernationals, hosted by the National Hot Rod Association, was an annual drag racing event held from 1970 to 1992, 2002 to 2017 and again in 2020, mostly at the Old Bridge Township Raceway Park in New Jersey.
History
The first Summernationals was held near York, Pennsylvania in July 1970, at the York U.S. 30 Dragway. Subsequent events began to be hosted at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park outside Englishtown, New Jersey."Dyno" Don Nicholson secured Ford's first pro stock win in his Maverick at the 1971 Summernationals.
"Dandy" Dick Landy made his second, and last, final-round appearance at the 1972 event, where he lost to "Grumpy" Bill Jenkins.
"Jungle Jim" Liberman is notable for performing a wheelstand in his Chevrolet Vega Top Fuel Funny Car in 1974 and securing his sole NHRA national event win in 1975.
The 1978 Summernationals saw Bob Glidden take the pro stock win in his Fairmont, with Denny Savage winning the TF/FC title and
For the 1993 season, the event in Englishtown was moved from July to May and renamed the Mopar Parts Nationals. The NHRA did not hold an event bearing the Summernationals name until it returned in 2002 at Heartland Motorsports Park in Topeka, Kansas.
Summernationals events were held in Topeka until 2012; the event returned to Englishtown in 2013.
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park ceased all operations in 2018, and as a result the Summernationals event originally scheduled for 2018 was cancelled and replaced by the Virginia NHRA Nationals, hosted at Virginia Motorsports Park outside Petersburg, Virginia.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHRA revived the Summernationals with the Lucas Oil NHRA Summernationals at Indianapolis, which was held Jun 18-19, 2020 at Lucas Oil Raceway in Indianapolis. The final rounds of the event were postposed due to rain and completed at the 2020 U.S. Nationals event.