Event Coverage Englishtown No more drag Racing

Raced E-town for 30+ years..In that time there were always rumors of the track closing for the obvious reasons(noise,Insurance,community problems,EPA infractions) So I'm not surprised the day has finally come. Just never expected the COPART lease deal. I think it started with Hurricane Sandy when E-town stored and held flood car auctions on the property. I guess Copart was involved in that??..Rumors are that the Napps got a lot more for leasing the property than the drag strip generates yearly,So its an economic decision. More money for less hassle. At least they didn't sell out to put condominiums up in its place! The motocross track is staying and so is the road course. My heart goes out to the guys I know put their heart and soul into keeping that track alive for so many years:Walter Frey,John McCartney ETc. who have now lost their home.It sucks for them and all of us who race,Its a huge loss for the whole hotrod community, but if you live in this area we still have: ATCO,Island,Maple Grove,Cecil County,Lebanon Valley,Beaver,Quarter Aces all close enough to get to..So, All you Easterners go run your junk at whatever track you choose because someday the inevitable will happen!

 

As a racer , I don't care much for either.
But we must realize that racing is entertainment not a sport [TV did that to us]

Drifting, Monster Trucks, and Burnouts are pure Crowd appeal that bring in the money.
I actually consider Monster Trucks the WWF of motorsport.

Without the money, these tracks will close

 

Absolutely not. The NHRA is a sanctioning body, there’s others. Or you could have an outlaw track which has no sanctioning body.


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A drag strip needs INSURANCE, the NHRA offers that.To operate such a high risk endeavor without insurance is just foolish and an invitation to financial ruin.
Basic business.

 

Times change, people change, you can't stop it.
the days of the big V-8 are LONG over, the 60's just aren't coming back.
Waaaaay back then EVERYTHING was different, I do not get bitching and moaning about the passing of time.
In the 60's there were hundreds of nitro dragsters, the 70's hundreds of funny cars. It was because a few guys could pool their money and race, there were dozens of local tracks that paid.Plus, you could get in your car and drive to the strip and race. Class racing finally ruined the drags, it was a bubble that burst.Bracket racing was invented in the mid 60's and SAVED drag racing.
The nature of existence is CHANGE, nothing lasts forever. Sad to see tracks closing, but there is three times the population now, cities expand.The wide open plains are gone, have been for decades! The world just doesn't owe us a living guys.Just like the wild west, IT'S OVER!

 

There are many more "car" interests today than there used to be.
Big shocker there guys.
When I was still working, our firm hired some young guys that I was told were "car guys", we'd have a lot in common.We had almost nothing in common.They were and are good guys, but they like imports, drifting, fast and furious stuff and other things that make me yawn. The thought I was a fossil and a "hater".
I don't hate what they like, including exotics, but I AM NOT INTERESTED in them.That's what young people like, the things of today, not yesterday! That only makes sense!
That being said, I like what I like, you like what I like.There is a reason I'm here on the HAMB, not on YellowBullet.

 

Well....oops there goes another...

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The whole thing that bothers me most, is that this business was BUILT on drag racing, and now they are abandoning what "built" them without any apparent remorse whatsoever. I do believe in karma, and what goes around, comes around.
I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Butch, These are the children of Vinny, Richard? They were born into it. Vinny also started the entire Jr. Dragster industry for his kids.
The children of the founder of Connecticut Dragway decided they didn't want to be in the drag strip business, and closed it down and opened a disco night club in the late 70's. Some racers got together and leased the place for a few years, but the family then sold the land to Consumer Reports.
Connecticut will never have another drag strip now.
You're going to see more of this kind of thing, sad to say.

 

'cept for the wheels,
looks just like the one my folks bought brand new !!! like it !!!!

 

I don't care just don't build NO NASCAR tracks around here !! Like the shirt says " if you can turn , you're not going fast enough"!!! Leave the left turning to the sprints!

 

Pete,

Can you share some details about your car? I'm about to search the HAMB to see if you have a build thread...

Thanks,

Craig

 

If it's true that the deal they received was 15 million for 5 years.

I have also heard there were a few law suits coming up that they needed money for which would be another reason to accept the deal.

It's also interesting that the only thing changing is no more drag racing. All of the other things that go on will continue.

Jimbo

 

Thats the rolling bones guys aint it?

 

Enjoy it while you can. And if you think street racing is bad now, wait and see what happens if this becomes a trend. So sad.

 

It amazing that they can run everything under the sun as entertainment but drag racing isnt in vouge anymore. I will admit that almost any drag event small time the stands are empty.

 

Even if true, internal combustion engine-powered vehicles will still be around for a long time afterwards.

J.S.

 

With Mike Napp at the helm, it doesn't surprise me one bit. Had Vinnie and Richie Napp still been alive, Raceway Park would still be holding drag races.

J.S.

 

To "hate" that obnoxious and stupid shit, is a good kind of hate.

J.S.