ROCKINGHAM — Maddi Gordon’s jaw dropped when she saw the proximity of the grandstands to the track at Rockingham Dragway.
The 21-year-old California native was at the strip Wednesday with fellow driver and team owner Ron Capps in a promotional stop for NHRA Nationals at the Rock — the first national points event in the track’s history —to meet with the media and fans.
“I’m seriously in awe,” Gordon said during an interview in the third-floor suite of the tower. “I’ve been to a lot of racetracks …since I was 8 days old …I have never, ever, ever, ever seen grandstands that close to the racetrack.
“That is going to be an insane experience,” Gordon continued. “I want to be a fan here — not on Sunday … I guarantee I will be in those stands watching (the other drivers).
Maddi Gordon takes a photo of the track at Rockingham Dragway.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
Gordon is a third-generation driver, following in the tire tracks of her grandfather, Mike, and father, Doug, the latter being a three-time NHRA Top Alcohol Funny Car champion.
She and her sister, Macie, grew up racing junior dragsters in Division 7, which includes California, Arizona and Nevada. They also crewed for their father at several tracks on the East Coast, including Charlotte, but Wednesday was her first visit to Rockingham.
However, she had heard of the Rock.
“Honestly, I didn’t know it was Rockingham, I just knew it was the Rock,” Gordon said, adding that she was surprised at how many races the track hosts throughout the year.
One aspect of the national race coming to Rockingham that Gordon said she is excited about is that most drivers are not familiar with it.
Maddi Gordon signs the rock at the starting line of Rockingham Dragway.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
“There’s a lot of tracks that I’m going to go to that a lot of people have been to that I haven’t been to, versus this is new for everybody,” she said. “So I think it’s going to actually … level the playing field, in a sense, because nobody has any data … so everyone will be learning at the same time.”
Unlike Gordon, Capps has raced at Rockingham — but it’s been a while.
Capps made it to the finals in the NHRA Winston Invitational in 1998 — the last of the non-points event’s decade-long run at the track — coming up short against Cruz Pedregon.
He remembers it being hot and the track being “tricky.”
Three-time NHRA Funny Car champion Ron Capps recalls making it to the finals of the 1998 NHRA Winston Invitational at Rockingham Dragway.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
“We got to the final round and it was for a lot of money — Winston was a big deal back then,” Capps recalled. “We ended up losing in the final, but I just remember how big of a deal it was to even be in the final.”
Capps has yet to drive on the new surface and said he doubts he’ll get a chance to test before the race in September. However, he has been keeping up with recent renovations.
“I’ve been following (the track) a lot on social media and anytime somebody from the track posts on the new surface or anything they’re doing I’d repost it because it’s cool,” said the 30-year veteran driver and three-time NHRA Funny Car champ. “It’s exciting we’re going back.
“There’s some tracks on our circuit that probably need to be — and have needed to be — upgraded for a long time, and the fact that we haven’t even come back here yet and they were already working on that on their own just told me that they’re doing whatever it takes,” Capps continued. “In turn, I know that a lot of drivers I talk to, and owners, are like, ‘Let’s do whatever we can on our end to help.’”
Like Gordon, Capps commented on the dragway’s legendary concrete grandstands, which were repaired late last year.
“There’s a lot …of things this track had that got your attention,” he said. “I used to brag to people that had never been out to this track that, if you’re going to make a trip to fly to a race … you have to fly out here and … go sit in the grandstands. … You could not get that close at any event.”
Capps also remarked how the downhill shutdown area “was always exciting.”
NHRA drivers pose with the leadership of Rockingham Dragway. From left: Dan VanHorn, Ron Capps, Jackie Howard, Jim Howard, Maddi Gordon and Al Gennarelli.
William R. Toler - Richmond Observer
NHRA Nationals at the Rock, scheduled for Sept. 25-27, was announced last November, with six-time Pro Stock champion Greg Anderson. The race will be the second of six in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Countdown to the Championship playoffs, part of the organization’s 75th anniversary celebration.
“Just a very cool, old-school feel at this facility,” said Joshua Hachat, director of public relations and communications for the NHRA, “so I think fans are going to love it.”
