In the 1980s, Henry was involved with the Australian Street Machine Federation. In 1987, Henry built a dedicated burnout track at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC, then known as Natex), and he held the first Summernats at the venue in January 1988. Thousands of attendees turned up at the event, which featured cars and entertainment from rock and bush bands, including hundreds for the first Summernats Street parade down Northbourne Avenue on 2 January. Henry told media that promotion costs amounted to around $500,000.
