Words: Harrison Wade
If you were to head inland from Hastings along State Highway 50, you’d drive right past what used to be one of the fastest quarter-miles in the Southern Hemisphere. These days, it’s merely a vineyard used to grow grapes for winemaking, but just under thirty years ago, it was known as Thunderpark — forgotten in time until now, thanks to Hawke’s Bay historian Michael Fowler.
Come November, Michael’s upcoming book on the history of Thunderpark will make its way into the hands of thousands of race and local history fans, who either spent time at the strip or may never even have heard of it before. We sat down with the author to learn more about why he decided to put together a 240-page collection of words and over 2,000 photographs — including a significant collection from a professional photographer who documented the sport from the late 1960s — about a place where V8s rumble no more.
In case this is your first time hearing of Thunderpark, or you need a quick refresher, the venue played host to thousands of speed-obsessed Kiwis while impressing many international visitors during its active years between 1976 and 1997. Its origins trace back to a group, some of whom were still in their teens, who formed the Hawke’s Bay Rod &Custom Club in the late 1960s. Keen to establish a permanent home for drag racing in Hastings, the club initially made do with meetings at Hawke’s Bay Airport through 1970, 1971, and 1973. But it was a chance drive out to look at an orchard block near Roy’s Hill that changed everything.
Club members Mike Burns and his cousin Graham Burns, both orchardists, went to check out a stretch of land Graham was considering buying, just off SH50. The block sat on an old, shingly riverbed, which was hopeless for growing fruit, though it would later become prime grape-growing country. As the story goes, Graham turned to Mike on the way home and asked if he was thinking what he was thinking. He was.
Turning the idea into asphalt took plenty of graft and no shortage of the club’s own money. Earthworks contractors and an asphalt company were engaged to build the surface, with members writing directly to American drag strips to ask how the job should be done properly. Club member Brett Wilson chipped in resources through his own business, Wilson Motor Supplies, while others simply paid tradespeople out of their own pocket to keep the project moving. The result opened for its first official meeting on 29 February 1976. By 1978, American drivers were crossing the Pacific to race there, with some calling it the best drag strip outside the United States, and others rating it third best in the world.
That same year saw the first 200mph pass recorded at Thunderpark, a barrier that eventually pushed past 250mph over the quarter-mile as the sport matured through the 1980s. “It spawned a whole industry of people wanting to build cars,” Michael says of the strip’s golden years, when the venue’s popularity swelled every summer with Hawke’s Bay’s Christmas and New Year holiday crowds — though drawing a decent crowd outside peak season proved a harder ask, especially when the big-name drivers weren’t on the card. However, it all came to a grinding halt in 1997 for reasons you’ll just have to pick up the book to discover.
As you can tell, Thunderpark is a place that many held close to their hearts, and that’s reflected in the book thanks to Michael’s accounts of the countless weekends he spent there as a youngster watching the likes of Kiwi drag racers Garth Hogan and Brett Wilson fly down the strip in search of the fastest time. Coupled with Michael’s lifelong career preserving Hawke’s Bay history on paper, it was inevitable that he would write a book about the region’s only ever dedicated dragstrip. However, what really pushed him was that feeling of sitting trackside, one he still hasn’t been able to shake to this day. “You felt it through your body, you smelt it, and of course your ears heard it,” he says. “It was a full sensory experience.”
Michael tells us that one of the most rewarding parts of the project was tracking down the people behind the story. He’s interviewed early club figures alongside a number of the American racers and officials who made the long trip across the Pacific in the 1970s, including drag racing administrator Steve Gibbs. “It’s been surreal — imagine as a young teenager just seeing Hogan, and then actually meeting him in person,” he says. One driver’s crash in a rail dragster features among the more harrowing accounts in the book, too. “People don’t look at it like this, but they really are athletes. Not a lot of people could actually take that amount of G-force on them and have the guts to actually do it.”
If there’s anything you can take away from this read, Michael hopes it’s that what seems impossible can be achieved, especially here in little old New Zealand, and that the pure passion of people who love motorsport is ingrained in us Kiwis. The book also offers a direct hit of nostalgia relatable to many, more so if you were one of the cheeky fellas who walked through the gates with a flagon of beer under your arm. Then again, that was allowed back then!
The Thunderpark book is set to launch on 21 November 2026 with a hardback cover and full-colour pages, with pre-orders already open at thunderpark.co.nz. A charity copy — the very first off the press — has already sold at auction for $750 in support of Hōhepa Homes. If you or someone you know has fond memories of Thunderpark, is a fan of drag racing, or simply loves motorsport or local history, then be sure to secure a copy today.
