Drag Illustrated Issue 196, September / October 2025 | Page 81

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Stars, Stripes & Straight-Line Speed

Beaver Springs Dragway’ s Nostalgia Nationals brings together the best of vintage drag racing for an unforgettable Fourth of July weekend By Van Abernethy
PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY

Pennsylvania’ s Beaver Springs Dragway let freedom ring over the July 4th holiday with the 22nd running of the Nostalgia Nationals, a dynamite offering of hot rods that showcases drag racing’ s formative years. The Independence Day festivities made for the perfect weekend to salute the glory days of our favorite sport while honoring the land that we love.

Things kicked off on Friday afternoon with all-welcome test-and-tune, along with a popular Houdini race, which features generous payouts and free entry, made possible by some great local sponsors.
Among the fan-favorite, booked-in organizations for Saturday and Sunday was the East Coast Gassers, a group that has enjoyed steady growth since forming in 2001. With a motto of“ drag racing the way it used to be,” this club features many diverse styles of period-correct vehicles, be it newly-constructed reproductions or restored
September / October 2025
classics. All the major brands are represented nicely in this group, with a stunning array of beautiful race cars from decades past. The East Coast Gassers has a roster of nine events on the 2025 schedule and tours throughout the Northeast at tracks located in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.
Another staple attraction that was competing this weekend at Beaver Springs was the Mid- Atlantic Nostalgia Drag Racers
Association, better known as MANDRA. Formed in 1999, this
Mike McCracken, Beaver
Springs Dragway owner
bers of this traveling, pointsearning series have been racing their whole lives and have found the perfect fit in MANDRA to spend weekends together at the track.
Complementing the weekend further was the North East Timing Organization( NETO), which also brought a diverse lineup of quarter-mile excitement to the event, including front-engine dragsters, Funny Cars, Altereds, gassers, and the popular classes of Super Stock and Stock. This club divides its
club represents a tight-knit group of friends who just happen to enjoy racing together. MANDRA is mainly comprised of door cars, but fans also enjoy the occasional Altered or vintage dragster, as long as it’ s at least 40 years old. Many mem-
members into two categories: Nostalgia and Comp, and much like the other groups in attendance, NETO travels to a variety of tracks in the Northeast region, entertaining fans with a huge lineup of unique hot rods.
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