NHRA - National Hot Rod Association

Neil Britt, who led a renaissance of success and content in NHRA’s National Dragster magazine and NHRA's Publications department for more than a dozen years spanning the 1980s and 1990s, died July 14. He was 77.

Britt, a veteran of automotive publishing for two decades before joining NHRA in November 1983 as Director of Publications, helped the venerable weekly magazine grow in size, circulation, and advertising revenue thanks to innovative marketing programs and recasting the magazine with a mix of expansive feature stories that complemented its already solid reputation for race reporting. 

Under Britt’s leadership, the magazine went from a largely black-and-white bi-fold newspaper format to a full-color, perfect-bound magazine that was created entirely in-house in the early days of desktop publishing after years of relying on outside printers for paste-up and production. Britt, an early and inquisitive personal computer enthusiast, also led the magazine’s charge into a brave new world of reporting with the Daily Dragster, which debuted at the 1988 NHRA U.S. Nationals and was delivered to hotel guests and handed out at the gates of the racetrack each morning, an information boon in the pre-internet days. A few years later, Britt helped champion the creation of the NHRA.com website in 1995.

Britt, whose successes led to his promotion to NHRA Vice President of Publications and, later, to Sr. Vice President, left the NHRA in August 1997 to found Fineline Creative Services, offering a range of signs and graphic products.

He is survived by his wife, Rondi, son Sean, and sister Marilyn.