Englishtown SOLD!?!?!?

[blown69rat]

Got this from another board. Anyone confirm or deny this??

N.J.-SLICK-1
ADDICTED
Member # 2152

posted February 26, 2006 02:39 PM

I'M SORRY TO BE THE BEARER OF BAD NEWS, BUT MY SOURCES TELL ME THAT ONE OF THE GREATEST RACE TRACKS ON THE EAST COAST WILL BE SOLD AND CLOSED BY THE END OF THIS (2006) RACE SEASON!!! I'VE HEARD THIS EARLY IN THE WEEK, AND HAD TO GET PERSONAL CONFIRMATION FOR MYSELF, BUT IT'S VERY TRUE AND VERY SAD INDEED!!! AS I TYPE, THEY ARE AWAITING SOIL SAMPLES TO COME BACK AND A FEW OTHER DETAILS TO CONCLUDE THIS TRANSACTION THAT WILL TOP OVER $100,000,000.00 (ONE HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS) WELL I GUESS THE STREET RACING WILL EXPLODE TO ALL NEW HIGHS AFTER THIS? AND THATS TO SAY THE LEAST! BUT THAT'S GOT TO BE A PLUS FOR ATCO RACEWAY & ISLAND DRAGWAY, AND POSSIBLY HAVE ALOT TO DO WITH THE TIMELY ROMODELING OF ATCO!
RACE WAY WILL BE MISSED GREATLY BY ALL, AND I'VE BEEN ATTENDING THIS GREAT TRACK SINCE THE 1977 SUMMER NATIONALS. (thats what they called it before being renamed the mopar parts nationals)

[BonzoHansen]

I hope not. Maybe they are tired of fighting the jaggoffs that move into town from NY and they demand the track close.

[badzracing]

Atco is far superior anyhow. I went to RWP a number of times and was never impressed with how things were done there. It's ashame to hear of a track closing in general, but if I had to pick one of the three Jersey dragways, it would have been Englishtown.

[Dark_Knight7096]

As of late i've started to not like englishtown all that much. The crowd there has changed and a lot of the people showing up for races are A**holes. Last time i was there i was almost hit 3 or 4 times because of people doing like 50 in the pits in their ricers, then they start cursing you out for not watching where you are going. I've been going to Atco lately anyway for this reason, it sucks and all because Etown is so much closer, but they were fighting an uphill battle with the surrouding residents for a long time anyway.

You know what? I hope they DO close englishtown, and then the residents will see how good they had it. Business in the area will slow down, the economy won't be as good, street racing will go up their neighborhoods will become more unsafe AND louder because now the people will be racing in front of their houses not at the track. Then after this happens I wanna watch these ignorant yuppies whine and cry about how they want something done about the speeders and streetracers and how they want something done to stimulate the local economy and bring in outsiders to patronize local businesses, guess what a-holes, you had a great solution but you killed it, now deal with it.

[V]

i guess ill have to start looking into NY and CT tracks, since those would be closer for me than ATCO. otherwise itll only be Island for me, as logn as they dont kick me out that much, lol(once my SS is done)

[BonzoHansen]

ETown has NHRA, that is the #1 diff in my book.

The new locals (& developers) will love it when their property values rise. That is what this is all about. There is money to be made. Watch, the auction is next.

[01ws6TA]

the auction has been sold for almost a year now, i have yet to get a chance to call my neighbor who is very close friends with rich knapp (one of the owners of raceway) to confirm if etown is sold or not i know they were looking into it because of the new comers around here complaining, they were looking to move the track further south. if i hear from my neighbor if its true or not i will post it up as soon as i find out

Lou

P.S. As for street racing it cant get much worse then it already is lol

[Rob WS6]

This rumor goes around every single year. Im calling BS as it is every time.

[badzracing]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

ETown has NHRA, that is the #1 diff in my book.

The new locals (& developers) will love it when their property values rise. That is what this is all about. There is money to be made. Watch, the auction is next.

Atco is also a NHRA sactioned track.

[Frosty]

Originally Posted by Rob WS6

This rumor goes around every single year. Im calling BS as it is every time.

Yup. Until a bulldozer drives through and destroys everything I'll call BS on the rumor every single time.

Yeah, it's a known fact that the "new locals" are complaining about the noise...it's also a known fact that Etown pumps a huge amount of $$ into the local economy. I highly doubt the rumor is true this time around.

Also, if Etown ever closes because of the whiney residents it'd be a sad sad day.

[JSPERFORMANCE]

Well said, Tony.

[BigAls87Z28]

I know a lot of you dont like Etown, but its 20 mins from my house, and Its a lot easier to get to then Atco or Isand, both an easy 2 hrs away from where I live. Etown is an awesome night you can just shoot up there after work and watch races with friends, and maybe run. If they close it down, Ill be real pissed.

[NJSPEEDER]

teh rumors of etown selling out go around every year. fact is that the place makes millions of dollars of profit without hardly any real effort from those who run it.
wanna know how much cash they rake in? in the time from teh season openign to some time between the spring swap meet and when the pros visit, the track makes enough money to cover all operating expenses for the whoel facility for the rest of the year. so sometime in may/early june they coudl stop charging admission and still break even.
etown as a facility is amazing. certainly not the fastest track around(that would be atco), but they have more to offer than any other track in jersey.
my problem is with the management. the track was founded and run for decades by racing enthusaists (much the way atco and island still are today). now it is run by a few business men and the sons of the foudners who don't race or semm to particularly care much about racing other than the money it pays them.

[BigAls87Z28]

Maybe they will sell it to people who DO give a crap?

[Frosty]

THEY WON'T SELL ETOWN!!! haha

[JL8Jeff]

Didn't they just repave the starting line area this past fall/winter? Why would they sell after dumping money into it? That place has so much going on all the time I don't know why they would sell. They make easy money like Tim said.

[NJSPEEDER]

even if you don't like racing, being a part of the family is cake work. what do they really have to do?
people trip over themselves to use the facility. the NHRA can't go anyplace else in the area. most of the events there are entirely run by promoters or other sanctioning bodies so there is no real work.
so what is their day? stroll in around noonish, have some coffee, find out who is handing you the huge check of the day, then go home to your huge house with everythign you coudl ever want? wow, tough life. lol

[79CamaroDiva]

I would say its a possibility, but not a strong one. The rumors go around every year, and that family is sitting on a permanent retirement fund, but I haven't heard any real information other than rumors, so I won't call it either way until I hear from the Knapps.

If they did sell the track, it would probably NOT be good business for Island or Atco. Yes, we would get the customers, but it would serve as a model as to how the other towns could over run the tracks.

btw, all of nj tracks are nhra sanctioned. Atco is the only one who has switched around a few times, but they have been NHRA for quite a few years again and Island has been for at least 20 years.

[trashman01]

Originally Posted by SmokingSS

i guess ill have to start looking into NY and CT tracks, since those would be closer for me than ATCO. otherwise itll only be Island for me, as logn as they dont kick me out that much, lol(once my SS is done)

what ct track? its been closed for years

[turbo96z28]

Originally Posted by BigAls87Z28

I know a lot of you dont like Etown, but its 20 mins from my house, and Its a lot easier to get to then Atco or Isand, both an easy 2 hrs away from where I live. Etown is an awesome night you can just shoot up there after work and watch races with friends, and maybe run. If they close it down, Ill be real pissed.

i'm with Al on this one. E-town is a 15 minute drive (depending on Rt9 traffic) and always makes for a good time cruising down there and watching the Wed. night runs in the summer.

i'll ask around this week, but until the Knapps say it's a done deal, i'm callin BS too.

[oh one ls1 SS]

[GP99GT]

all you guys saying e-town is a 15-20 min drive...

i wish i could just be like...oh im gonna run over to englishtown real quick and see some races.

[01ws6TA]

etown is literally a 5 minute walk from my front door and if it closed idk what i would do lol

[BonzoHansen]

I know it is likely BS, but they face the same nonsense every year as well. I very much agree with the sentiments of Tony & Tim.

By NHRA, I meant they have a major points event i.e. Force & Friends comes to town.

[turbo96z28]

Originally Posted by GP99GT

all you guys saying e-town is a 15-20 min drive...

i wish i could just be like...oh im gonna run over to englishtown real quick and see some races.

:finger: