I just heard that Englishtown is shutting down drag racing operations
I'm about a 1/2 hour from there. I heard it's just the drag strip that's shutting down but everything else is still going on. I'm sure that will end too. Swap meets has gone down quite a bit and the Mopar show has been struggling for a while. I'm just spoiled going to Carlisle all these years.
Wow, That is very sad.
That was the favorite NJ track.
I spend a lot of Sundays there either watching the pro-stocks or bracket racing back in the 1970's.
Probably due to the cost of running the track and the price of real estate in that area has really escalated. That part of NJ used to really be the country.
The owner will still have the car parts and other swap meets on the property.
https://www.motorsport.com/nhra/news/englishtown-shuts-down-drag-racing-operations-with-immediate-effect-996816/
No more :1place:
Always hate to see one close.
Taking all the legal fun out of racing.....but this has been going on for awhile and unfortunately looks like it won't stop till they are all gone.
I hated to hear of this a lot of great times and history made there.
Sad to see another one go. Grew up with Fremont Dragstrip, closed years ago. Had a chance to go by there with the new road, stores, empty field and absolutely no sign of its remains anywhere, it's as if it never existed, felt like a piece of your life was erased.
Quote from: CudaMoparRay on January 20, 2018, 05:37:51 PM
Taking all the legal fun out of racing.....but this has been going on for awhile and unfortunately looks like it won't stop till they are all gone.
They want people to go to the tracks so they don't race on the street , but doesn't seem like new neighbors moving close to tracks care.
Hard to blame owners if money is waved at them, funny how they were able to stay open all the years, probably regulations and such costs go way up and you get tired of it.
We have to deal with a lot of tree regulations in a couple of cities and it's not like they are trying to save sequoias , just crap trees.
Turning it into a concert venue
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That track was old and out of date. After Scott Kalitta died there, drag strips were shortened to 1,000ft. But I am sorry to hear of it closing. NHRA as a whole is hurting.
Was sorry to hear for sure. Spent a lot of time there especially in the late 80s/90s. Glad I have some pics from the Fall Swap Meet/Car Show - Sept 2017. :takepicture:
Before I moved I went to that track off and on. I had heard all the grumblings over noise and that the Twp was under pressure. I just think all those who purchased knew up front about the track. All those McMansions and they're money got their way. Some people are in someone's pockets.
Some good old days pics from Englishtown
Must have been exciting to see Sox and Martin and Dick Landy racing superstocks.
Pete Tritak was a local (to me in Northern New Jersey) and was a regular at this track.
Have to love seeing mid 60's Mopar wagons racing.
The Teacher's Pet wedge wagon (Jerry Stein) was also a regular at Raceway Park.
:popcorn: :stayinlane:
I wonder if local New Jersey racers will gravitate to Island Dragway in Great Meadows, New Jersey?
http://dev.islanddragway.com/
:stayinlane:
I read about this last week
Another incredibly bad day for Drag racing where people move in beside the track knowing it is there & force it to shut down or maybe the land was just to valuable in this case but I hate seeing all of the tracks get shut down
E town has a long history as so many tracks have sad to see this one go down too .
I guess the best places to build tracks are in corn fields in the midwest or west Texas where it will never bother anyone !
Just to throw another angle at this, I think the number of people drag racing is also going down. Over the years I see less and less people going. Muscle cars are restored to OEM specs and not taken to tracks, the cost of racing is not cheap etc... It's tough to see since I used to attend the drags near me as a kid but the increase in large parking lots seems to have really switched people over to time attack, solo, road racing etc.. Something that can be done with cheap 10-15 year old cars. That to me sounds familiar to the glory days of drag racing. Cheap cars, fun, friendly competition. It's the evolution of the car hobby - in my eyes.
Yes & no , I see a lot less Muscle cars & older people at the tracks but the car scene is growing IMO , way more street racers & or Tuners out there now
Quote from: Chryco Psycho on January 23, 2018, 08:19:55 AM
Yes & no , I see a lot less Muscle cars & older people at the tracks but the car scene is growing IMO , way more street racers & or Tuners out there now
Funny you should say that. 40 years ago I was a street racer. Grew up on Long Island NY. Used to race on Fountain Ave, in Brooklyn. And any ware else
the action was. Ran my '70 Olds W-31 and '65 GTO all over Long Island. Never ran on a track until I bought my '09 Challenger. That was a blast. But also showed a few new Camaro's what a Mopar can do on the street...LOL
The only time I was at Raceway park was for a grateful dead concert. Three day event......But we won't go there. :vipermanhiding:
Where are people trying out their new Hellcats, GT350's and Camaros? I know where I live you can't get caught trying your car out or it will get confiscated and you'll be lucky to stay out of jail. A lot of these classic musclecars from the glory days were 14 second cars with some being 13's. A lot of this new stuff is consistently 11 second with some of the Dodges reaching into the 10's. We need tracks open with street legal nights.
Quote from: RUNCHARGER on January 28, 2018, 07:22:27 PM
Where are people trying out their new Hellcats, GT350's and Camaros? I know where I live you can't get caught trying your car out or it will get confiscated and you'll be lucky to stay out of jail. A lot of these classic musclecars from the glory days were 14 second cars with some being 13's. A lot of this new stuff is consistently 11 second with some of the Dodges reaching into the 10's. We need tracks open with street legal nights.
Yea not like it used to be. Get caught dragging and off to jail. Got to be real careful. Not to many tracks around.
You would be surprised how many of the new cars are owned by people who can't drive them. Ran a few new Camaro's with my '09
and blew the doors off them. Even when I ran at BeechBend in Kentucky SRT'S were running in the 14's :notsure:
Tracks with street legal nights are nice but few and far between. Commerce (Atlanta Dragway) does a few each year but not enough.