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It may also be an issue of the value of the land that it sits on. If it becomes more valuable over time than what the business brings in, the inevitable happens.
One of the best 1/4 mile strips in the East is Englishtown Raceway Park in Old Bridge Twp NJ.
They run the NHRA Spring or Summernationals there ever year because it is a top shelf well maintained track
When it was built in the 60's it was in the boonies of NJ now it is surrounded by one of the largest suburban residential areas in NJ.
Every year the owners have to make adjustments to noise requirements enacted by OB Twp. due to it's many complaints for the homeowners who thought they were moving to the "country"only to find out that 8,000 HP dragsters were running on the "little strip" just down the block.
You would think the realtors would clue them in about the track and all the noise but that does not make for too many sales commissions.
I can imagine that in the near future E-Town will be sold off to developers because the track could not meet noise restriction requirements.
I'll bet most people living on Old Bridge Twp have no idea that NASCAR Sprint Cup (Grand National back then) used to run on the 1/2 mile paved oval track formerly known as Old Bridge Speedway
We almost bought a home in Country Oaks some years back (20-21) which is in Manalapan off Union Hill road. The realtor had us sign a document stating that we were told that there is a drag strip and a airport within 1 mile of the home we were looking at. I know of two families that did move into that development, and they were both notified. Seems like a lot of folks from Brooklyn and Staten Island bought "THE McMANSION" homes in the Union Hill / Pension Road area and jumped out of their skins the first time a nitro car was fired up on Saturday morning. I know for a fact that most of the noise complaints come from home owners in Manalapan. My feeling is that the track generates revenue for Old Bridge Township which is in Middlesex County and they would fight hard to keep it in place. If they can prove that homeowners were notified of the condition before they bought, there wouldn't be an issue. I live aprox. 7 miles as the crow flies from my home to the starting line at the track and can tell you that when the top fuel cars are running and the wind is from the the northwest I can hear them. I've been going to "E TOWN" since 1967 and agree, it's a great track. In fact weather permitting, we will be there this Sunday for the season finale and may even get a few passes in on the Duster.
I think this is a good explanation. It's hard to tune most cars these days without big money. And what would be the point of running stock all the time? Plus, if you damage your car nowadays, it's very expensive to fix.
Why would it be hard to tune a car without "BIG MONEY" these days. Cars breaking and people having to fix them is a part of motorsports and it's been that way since the beginning. If a person don't understand that, they shouldn't be racing. Drag racing has so many classes now, it's actually easy to build / race a car that is affordable to many people. The only issue I see is all the young guys that come to track with their daily driver tuner cars and blowing them up. Then I agree it can be expensive, but why would you do that to your daily driver?
In spite of the cost of real estate in NJ, we have three 1/4 mile dragstrips. Atco, Englishtown and a diamond in the rough in NW Jersey called Island Dragway.
Island has great street nights ($25.00 and you can run as much as you're able til they close) and other fun events throughout the season.
In spite of the cost of real estate in NJ, we have three 1/4 mile dragstrips. Atco, Englishtown and a diamond in the rough in NW Jersey called Island Dragway.
If I'm not mistaken I think Don Garlits made the first ever 200 MPH pass at Island dragway (they used to call it Great Meadows raceway)
If I'm not mistaken I think Don Garlits made the first ever 200 MPH pass at Island dragway (they used to call it Great Meadows raceway)
Garlits did run 200 m.p.h. at Great Meadows (and it was recognized as the record because he backed that run up). The controversy about it was the fact that others like Chris Karamesines and Kent Chatagnier did it before him. They did not back up those runs so the M.P.H. didn't count for a national record. This was the rule at the time. 2% back-up of the record the same day/same track and another 2% back-up the following week at a different track. Chatagnier actually went 201.78 first and Karamesines went 204. I heard an interview with Garlits a few years back and his take on the story is that the timing equipment in Houston where Chatagnier ran and the timing equipment at Alton where Karamesines ran where basically out of calibration. I'm a big Garlits fan "BUT" I wonder if he set the record at one of those tracks, would he still complain about faulty equipment. If I'm not mistaken T.V. Tommy Ivo also had a 200 pass before Garlits did as well.
Garlits did run 200 m.p.h. at Great Meadows (and it was recognized as the record because he backed that run up). The controversy about it was the fact that others like Chris Karamesines and Kent Chatagnier did it before him. They did not back up those runs so the M.P.H. didn't count for a national record. This was the rule at the time. 2% back-up of the record the same day/same track and another 2% back-up the following week at a different track. Chatagnier actually went 201.78 first and Karamesines went 204. I heard an interview with Garlits a few years back and his take on the story is that the timing equipment in Houston where Chatagnier ran and the timing equipment at Alton where Karamesines ran where basically out of calibration. I'm a big Garlits fan "BUT" I wonder if he set the record at one of those tracks, would he still complain about faulty equipment. If I'm not mistaken T.V. Tommy Ivo also had a 200 pass before Garlits did as well.
I also saw Garlits, Ivo and many others for years at a track here in Virginia back in the mid and late 70's. This track was closed years later as speeds were getting too high for the track, and would cost too much to upgrade to satsify NHRA. Rightly so, as most of these old drag strips were part of old airbase runways built in the early 40's. Very wide two lane racing, all kind of wide open with a low guardrail right in front of the fence you stood behind. A bad accident waiting to happen. Now you are up in the stands, looking down on the racers, with those Jersey wall concrete barriers close on the outside of the lanes. Back then it was nice seeing fuel cars and dragsters standing just behind a low fence and a low guardrail for safety that only came up to your knees. The track was so wide if someone got out of shape, there was room to let off and not get too much out of shape. I eventually ran my bike there a few times. Only cost me the price of admission and $5 to race, well worth a few time runs to dail in, and a few runs. A few years earlier, another one had closed for the same reason.
I also saw Garlits, Ivo and many others for years at a track here in Virginia back in the mid and late 70's. This track was closed years later as speeds were getting too high for the track, and would cost too much to upgrade to satsify NHRA. Rightly so, as most of these old drag strips were part of old airport runways built in the early 40's. Very wide two lane racing, all kind of wide open with a low guardrail right in front of the fence you stood behind. A bad accident waiting to happen. Now you are up in the stands, looking down on the racers, with those Jersey wall concrete barriers close on the outside of the lanes. Back then it was nice seeing fuel cars and dragsters standing just behind a low fence and a low guardrail for safety that only came up to your knees. The track was so wide if someone got out of shape, there was room to let off and not get too much out of shape. I eventually ran my bike there a few times. Only cost me the price of admission and $5 to race, well worth a few time runs to dail in, and a few runs. A few years earlier, another one had closed for the same reason, that also ran fuel cars.
E TOWN raceway Park gets $40.00 on Sunday for admission and 3 runs (test and tune runs). They also get about 4 bucks for some really bad hot dogs (LOL)
One is opening in metro New Orleans. We have two in metro Baton Rouge that draw pretty large crowds for events. I still love to go to the track and bet on the races.
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