Atco was sold...
 

Dont worry its still a track... from their FB feed:
Atco, NJ Wednesday December 19, 2012 –Atco Raceway was sold in its entirety to Mr. Len Capone Jr. of Berlin, New Jersey. The negotiation for the oldest continually operating drag strip on the East Coast took over 16 months and has concluded on a Win light for all…the track will continue to operate as it has in the past.

The Capone families are very familiar with the racing scene and have a great passion for the sport of drag racing. Len Capone Sr. a racer himself who was present for the 1960 opening day of Atco Raceway worked in the tech department on Memorial Day weekend. Len Capone Jr. started as a sportsman racer and is very well known for his Top Alcohol Funny Car “The Bear” that raced the strip in the late 80’s and 90’s.

Joe Sway has been retained as Director of Operations and is under exclusive contract for 2013 and 2014 with 3-1 year options to follow.

The 2013 tentative schedule will be posted on the web site AtcoRaceway.com mid January. There are no major changes to the race schedule for 2013~a couple of new races will be added but for the most part you will see our lineup has not changed.

Atco Raceway would like to thank everyone for their participation in the 2012 race season. We are positive that the continued support of all racers, fans and patrons will continue to make this a racing destination and the #1 track on the East Coast.



Atco would like to address all gift cards that have been previously purchased and all purchased with the holiday deal…All gift cards must be used by November 30, 2013.

Hopefully they dont change admission fee, and keep some test and tune only nights.

Atco sold tday to Len Capone Jr....what does this mean for us?
 

So my wife is on facebook and reads to me off of atco's facebook that the track was sold today to Len Capone Jr. So I'm guessing it's just a owner change and it will be business as usual but what if track rentals go up,gate fee's go up,tech gets tougher...etc,etc,etc. First island now this WTF....that track is a gold mine I thought

Dude they aren't going to make drastic changes, its Atco.

Did you buy it?

Make drastic changes....Atco? Lmfao !!! That's like saying Rednecks don't fish & drink beer!

heres to hoping the track improves so i dont have to go to cecil everytime i wanna race

Funny you say that because I went to cecil and I'll never go back bc of the lack of traction.. And that was with a bolt on car. Couldn't hook for ***** there. 1.73 60' 11.5 @ 120mph. went to atco cut a 1.49 60' and ran 11.0 @ 121mph. out of the 8yrs that Ive raced at Atco, I only had a few nights where traction was limited and i believe most of the reason had to do with the tires being beat.

I have to say this year the prep was way better at atco than it has been the last couple years. My car hooked like glue even launching at 7200 rpm. Nice to see that all the gripes about lack of prep were addressed.

My dad knew Len Capone Jr back when Len raced in TAFC in the late '80's and earlly '90's. From what i remember he was a really nice guy. Len even offered help to my dad to get our funny car finished.

I feel having a real racer now owning the track is a great thing. I look forward to seeing what good comes from this.

Joe Sway was and still is a racer. Usually races some of the winter series in Florida every year and i believe had a Pro Stock car at one time.

I'm sure the new owners will do fine and Joe will be track manager so not much will change.

My main concern is i hope Joe stops pulling some of the shady ***** he has in the past. The past season seemed better........would be nice to see it continue. I understand it's a business and needs to make money.....but a whole bunch of people have had issues with how things were handled by Joe......not just divers.....people running and setting up events at Atco as well have had issues.

Sounds like every other track in the country. Running a race track, especially in New Jersey, is a terribly expensive operation and short of a few shining examples most owners don't end up making a lot. The result is that sometimes they have to make decisions that benefit the business more than the racers and promoters just to ensure there is a track to come back to next year.

I've known members of the Sway family for a long time and can tell you from personal experience that they are stand up people and wanted nothing more than to make that track a better place to race and spectate. That's why they went out on a limb with new events and poured so much money back into the facilities over the years. Think about all that has been done in the time the short time the Sways have owned Atco, new surface from the burnout box to the 100ft past the finish line, that same length diamond ground smooth, upgraded the safety wall the length of the track, all new bleachers and an entire new tower, upgraded timing equipment, new fencing the length of the spectator area, and even thousands spent fixing the ancient plumbing so that the bathroom can be used all season.

It may not be the mom and pop operation it was when I was a kid but I still enjoy it much more than the mayhem that is a trip to E-town or the long drive to Cecil or Maple grove.

-Tim

Gotta disagree with you. I m not gonna get into specifics but even the employees think some of the bs that happened wasn t right. And you are right.....it us a business and needs to be profitable. But at the same time you cant screw your customers. This year seemed better, hopefully it continues this upcoming season. The track prep last season was the most consistant i ve seen in a few seasons.

Be grateful you still have a track. Island DragwAY by me is closed for good beginning this year.

We know

Thats my fear about atco. Pissing off enough people so attendance drops and orginizations who run events stop using the track.

heyy yooo,, atco will be there fore a long time, playa,ss :nick:

Well, the good thing is, atco and etown (bleh imo), are constantly in the top 10 tracks of the year.. Etown because they host the biggest of big events and iirc still have the quickest 1/4 run in history, and atco because it is etown's secret twin brother locked in the basement but still an heir to the throne

I heard That the track is being sued for a lot of money due to a accident that happened that the tracks ambulance wasnt able to start to help the driver and he was killed due to burns.. Think they are getting sued for 50,000,000 for neglegence. If the family of the driver wins I dont know what will happen to the track.

I heard tech is going to be real strict this year.

I heard that the track will officially be lengthen to a 1/4 mile this year.

This lawsuit was filed last year, in August. Guy died in 2010.


http://articles.philly.com/2012-08-2...iation-lawsuit

Yep. Aug 2012. 50 million is a lot of money for a Drag strip to come up with..

Chances are the track's insurance will pay out a settlement.

I think in order for a Insurance to pay out a settlement the tracks safty equipment has to be up to working condition. This lady is sueing the track because the safty equipment was not up to par and if that is the truth then I think the insurance is not liable and it will be left on the Track to pay up. I hope this is not the case and the tracks insurance covers it or the track is not found liable.