Englishtown closing drag strip!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 17, 2018
Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, Inc.
230 PENSION ROAD • ENGLISHTOWN, N.J. 07726 • Tel. 732-446-7800

RACEWAY PARK ANNOUNCES RESTRUCTURING OF BUSINESS EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, the Napp family owned and operated business announced today a reorganization of the company’s business operations. To achieve this goal, Raceway Park will no longer conduct quarter mile or eighth mile drag racing events effective immediately. Raceway Park will retain and use the “stadium” portion of the facility including the VIP hospitality tower and grandstands and continue most of its operations including the spring and fall auto swap meets, numerous car shows, both motocross racing and practice, kart racing, as well as drifting, a full schedule of road course activities, mud runs, monster truck shows, musical concerts, & festival events and more. The long standing Old Bridge Township Airport, owned and operated by Raceway Park will also continue to operate as normal.

The new reorganization reflects the company’s plan moving forward beginning in 2018 while allowing Raceway Park to still continue to operate as it has in the past with the exception of drag racing.

The Napp family wishes to express their most sincere gratitude to the NHRA, and the many thousands of racers and fans, without whom would have never allowed Raceway Park to become the iconic and nationally recognized drag racing facility it has over the past five decades. The Napp family would also like to extend a heartfelt thank you to the employees that have served our drag racing customers so well over the previous years. It is with a great sadness that the Napp family is discontinuing drag racing, however the family looks forward to continuing to provide the best outdoor events in this new era of Raceway Park.

About Raceway Park

Raceway Park has been a family owned and operated business since its opening on July 4th 1965. For the past fifty two years the Napp family has focused on presenting the very best in fast family fun that includes NHRA sanctioned drag racing events, AMA sanctioned motocross racing, motocross practice, auto swap meets, auto shows, top rated drifting events, competition karting events, alternative motorsport and lifestyle events, athletic endurance events, history making concerts and music festivals and much more.

That's where Art /\ taught me how to cut the light of the night, a .501..........on my first day ever drag racing.

Time ticket is still in glove-box.......

I'm a fast study and I had a great teacher!

Tell that epic story Art.......

^^^ hmm....... when too many muscle cars just ain't enough!!!



vreihen: I'm not sure how old you are, but I have a suspicion that you are disgustingly young compared to me which is not your fault (I blame your parents)!! Your observation about stuff being no longer available is in reality a longevity thing - as we get older the number of these incidences tends to increase!

I'm happy to share my singular learning about old age - it is nothing more than accepting loss of one form or another!!!

Don

Jack@European_Parts said:

That's where Art /\ taught me how to cut the light of the night, a .501..........on my first day ever drag racing.

Time ticket is still in glove-box.......

I'm a fast study and I had a great teacher!

Tell that epic story Art.......

Click to expand...

Jack has a two-door Mk2 Jetta with a supercharged VR6 transplant, in violation of several EPA statutes.

I find drag racing to be a mindless motorsport. In ProSolo, we use the same sportman's drag tree as they use at the strips. A perfect reaction time is 0.500 seconds.

There was a club that used to run autocross events in the front spectator parking lot at Englishtown. After our event wrapped up, a couple of us paid the drag race entry fee and took a few runs. As we were sitting in staging waiting for our third runs, the woman working grid came over and asked me how I was doing and what I thought about drag racing when compared to events that require judicious use of the steering wheel. I handed her my two time slips, and her jaw dropped when she saw 0.508 and 0.513 second reaction times. Are you sure that you've never been to the drag strip before? Like I said, mindless motorsport.

A few months later, Jack wanted to go to Englishtown for an imports-versus-domestics event. On his first practice run, he cut a horrible light that was close to 1.7 seconds IIRC. When he came back to staging, I asked where on the tree he launched from? He sat and waited for the green light, because leaving earlier felt like cheating to him. We walked over to the front row of the bleachers, near the starting tree. I explained to him how to leave the line in the middle of the last yellow light, and we watched several cycles of the tree to get an eye for the last yellow and where other drivers were launching from. Convinced that it wasn't cheating, grasshopper came around for his second run and cut what the PA announcer remarked was "the light of the night" with a 0.501 reaction time!

During the event, he ran in the class with ludicrously-modified cars...and made it all the way to the quarter finals. There was money on the line for the top three drivers, so the probability was 75% that he would be leaving with some cash. Long story short, an ever-so-light drizzle started falling, and the track decided that it was too dangerous to run three more passes to decide the winners. Instead of doing the right thing and splitting the prize pool four ways, they kept the money and sent everyone home. Ask us why we never went drag racing again.

The reason why this track shutting down the strip is important news here is because one of the biggest VW shows on the east coast (Waterfest) takes place there every year...and up until 2018 has included drag racing.....

Actually Artie, no sir ......it is CARB certified and carries an exemption permit for even California & for lawful road operation.
In addition it is OBD2 where the car came with K-Jetronic.
I'm proud of that & No deletes needed except when opting for more SMOG parts.

This car actually has smog enhancements for its time.

Car started out as CIS than converted to OBD1 VR6 from GTI 1995 with all functions of EGR/CAT/OXS/SAI/EVAP/MIL light display....then did a supercharger that was exempt for CARB.

I later opted to NIX the EGR and trade in for the other added SMOG parts LDP/OBD2/TV/CAMS/Teves ABS/EDL, Bigger Leistritz CAT again with additional exemption on file and a 3rd OXS for additional monitor with EGT+ boost gage.

The car always had functional AC converted to R134 type compressor and evaporator from R12....... again also approved and labeled in EPA 208 compliance and with current 209.

Effectively I made a non CA car, comport with current regulations even now & to be lawfully registered over 20 years ago under CARB.

After getting the reaction time bug and trophy I still have below ........from year 2000 when Art & I went.

I went to Island Drag in NJ and WON a few times racing in brackets, but the guy mistakenly filled my tank with leaded race fuel thinking it was unleaded.

That and Island tossed me for no cage getting into the tens.......

Needless to say I drove the car to the track & on the way home, the CAT was plugging up and made for an expensive day in CAT & OXS replacements & with my first MIL!




Those were hot days in staging lanes but not in my car because it was cool inside with functional AC!

The best part of that night was the radio announcer, was just kicking the shit out of the little Jetta with no cheer and when I cut the light of night & I roasted an 850 BMW that was running an E-MOD NOX system.....I was you could say pleased!
Low elevens on street tires!