Englishtown Needs Our Help

[mr_eh]

http://etownraceway.com/news/noisemeeting.html

[Daytona]

Noise complaints have been the single most damaging issue for our track and has been since the building of half-million dollar homes right up to the property line 15-20 years ago. The natural sound barriers of the woods have been cut down as greedy delevopers built their McMansions literally right up to the RP property line, effectively eliminating the sounds dampening of the area. Real Estate Agents added to the mess by taking prospective clients there on Mondays and Tuesdays when there wasn't any racing going on, never letting them know that their homes were bordering a hugely succesful and very busy motorsports complex. Rmemeber that this was all before legislation was passed requiring Agents and Sellers to make full disclosure of the home's "issues". Now these rich little homeowners (who obviously never bothered to drive around the block first, before spending buku bucks on their homes, to see a full racetrack & mini-airport already in operation) are upset with the sound of the racing and want us shut down so they can enjoy some quiet Friday nights sipping Martinis on their $500,000 patios.

Although RP has had to make some concessions over the years (limited number of "noise days", adhering to very strict noise curfews, extended the permanent grandstands to help muffle noise, etc.) they have been saved the wrecker's ball due to something called the "Grandfather's Clause" - meaning that since the track was built in 1964 and literally none of the surrounding neighborhoods existed back then, the track has certain rights of operation since they were there first.

Anyone interested in seeing motorsports survive in NJ should follow the directions in the abovementioned article. RP's already made certain major concessions. Let's not let the state force any more.

[mr_eh]

*nod nod*

i dont post up on aleromod other then check out the 2.4 section from time to time ( i have a2.4 00 grand am) anyway, do you work/live at/near the track to know about all that? and will you be attending?

[Daytona]

I live about an hour north of the track. Worked there full-time from 1991-94 as a Track Official and then for NHRA through 2000 at their National Events there. Currently I race in their Sunoco Super Challenge Points Series in their Street ET series and have been racing there since the Fall of '86.

As for Thursday's meeting, I won't be able to make it as I'll just be getting in from a business trip to Nashville. Ken (Redog) and I will try to fax in our support.

[Redog]

OK I live about an hour southwest of RP in Philadelphia. There are not too many Philly people at RP but I love it.

My other choice of track would be Acto, but it's a dump. It takes the same amonut of time for me to get to as RP and it's half the distance (26 miles vs 52 miles) and I was just telling Mitch (Daytona) that at RP you get a lot of New Yorkers and they are nicer to deal with than some of the people in Philly.

The problem with Acto, and a lot of other stuff in South Jersey, it brings in a lot of creepy and low life people. People that I don't want to deal with at all, in or out of Philly.

As for RP, didn't these people know that Manaplant township is the home of Raceway Park? I never say I'm going to RP, I always say I'm going to Englishtown. I knew about this track when I was about 8 years old and living way down in Philly. I don't understand why these people didn't know unless they didn't live in NJ before buying "Mr Howell and Lovely" estates.

I doubt that RP will close. If it did, property taxes would skyrocket to make up for the lost revenue that RP brings in. Mitch said that the real estate agents would bring people around to show them houses on Tuesday mornings when there was no racing, and didn't disclose that a huge race park was in thier backyard. NJ was different back then, according to Mitch, but in PA that is a lawsuit.

If RP does close, I'm going to Cecil County Race park. 52 miles and an hour south of me.

[mr_eh]

nice, i've been going there since i was 10 months old in 1983 :), im 22 now and have been going ever since, getting my car together to start the street e.t. myself, working on getting my car into the 15's before i start bracket racing it...

edit: yeah i dont like atco, a lot of undesireables go there ...

im in staten island myself, about a 20-30 min drive, well worth it tho :)... i gotta start hooking up with you guys if you guys are die hard there... always up for more n-bodies to be with there, i have a lot of friends that go there now but they are uhhh ridiculously faster ;)

[Redog]

Did you ever see us there?

Mitch and I have cars that are very hard to miss

[Redog]

Originally posted by mr_eh@Aug 1 2004, 09:25 AM
i gotta start hooking up with you guys if you guys are die hard there...
Yeah Mitch and I are in the points series at RP

We got rained out today, but we will be there on Aug 29th ;)

[Daytona]

KEN - RP's in Old Bridge Township, not Manalapan (isn't Manaplant that low-lying plant that grows those long purple edible vegatables? Oh wait... that's Eggplant). Manalapan is the next town over that is trying to get us shut down.

MR EH - Once you're ready to bring the car down, shoot me or Ken a PM. I'm usually never there nowadays unless it's a Sunday Points Race or a special Wednesday Night event (except for this coming Wednesday's show since I'm going to be traveling out of state for work). But when you go I will see if I can make it to help you out.

I dislike ATCO but for a bunch of other reasons which have come from racing at RP. If I had to race another track I'd go to ISLAND DRAGWAY on Rt. 46 in Great Meadows, NJ. It'll take me about the same distance due west of me but at least I wouldn't have to contend with all of the summer shore traffic all returning home up the Parkway Sunday evenings. I was going to race a few events there this year but never was able to free up the time to go.

[Daytona]

Ken races his red Alero there while my racecar is a Raspberry Red 1993 Dodge Daytona (#4281). It's the only red Daytona that races on Sundays so if you've seen a car like that, you know it's me. I have a ton of racing stickers on it (NHRA Official stickers on the windshield, RP62 stickers on the front and passenger window from last year's Bracket Finals, Team RP and other stickers on the hatchback, and now a FINEST RACING banner on the top of the hatchback as that is my friend's racing team which I'm now a member of).

[Redog]

I'll post a pic of mine later

I'm at my g/f's house and will be home on Monday

My number is 5038

[mr_eh]

i've just been coming on mondays for the test & tunes t see what i can do with the car, i have a 4cyl, have it down to 16.3 right now, working on breaking into the 15's before bracketing... but yeah i'll def shoot you guys a pm and come check it out on a sunday im near there all the time anyway

[Daytona]

Mondays? :huh:

Did you mean Wednesdays, or Fridays, or Saturdays?

[Redog]

Can't you make it on Sundays?

16.3 doesn't matter, it's how you dial in that matters

I'll run anywhere from a 15.4 to a 15.9 and Mitch runs the high 16's to low 17's

in Brackets doesn't matter about speed, it's skill

[Naich]

Hey fellas.... I just wanted to let you know that I've managed to pull a few strings here and there, and a reporter for the a major NY newspaper is going to be sent to this "hearing." Also, they are supposedly going to be writing a pretty big article about it in an issue next week to help raise awareness.

[Daytona]

VERY NICE! Good work, Nick. Can't wait to see the article.

[mr_eh]

Originally posted by Naich@Aug 2 2004, 05:37 AM
Hey fellas.... I just wanted to let you know that I've managed to pull a few strings here and there, and a reporter for the a major NY newspaper is going to be sent to this "hearing." Also, they are supposedly going to be writing a pretty big article about it in an issue next week to help raise awareness.
thats awesome naich, yeah im sorry i come on wednesdays when i can, i thought sundays were usually packed? havent been on a sunday this season yet... yeah i know the 16.3 doesnt matter i clown 13 sec cars when i go bracket racing... i just think 16.3 is a little off beat for me to have fun bracketing it, i'd like to push the 15s barrier down then start beating the snot out of my car bracketing it every week :)

[Daytona]

My '93 Daytona has over 167,000 miles on the original all-stock motor. To save on wear-and-tear I leave the car in 3rd gear and allow it to shift on it's own. In cold weather it'll run around 16.7. In the dead of summer's hottest and most humid days it'll slow to as much as 17.15 seconds.

As for consistency, it's as consistent as my 12.4-second Camaro with which I won a Points title back in 1990.

I have not been below 3rd place all season in the Points Series this year and last year I finished 2 points away from the year-end Points Title in Street ET. All with a slow and very old but consistent 100% stock car.

I don't mind being one of the slower cars as long as I can keep winning.

[mr_eh]

yeah i hear you man, i just want to have my car be one of the faster 2.4 auto's out there as well as enjoy bracketing the car, i might get another car to bracket with but for now this is what im into... i also come out with a 9.90 (runs 8.5 with the ts off) super gas car ( we used to go, starting it up again ) so i'll hit you guys up next time to check it out and see whats going down

[Daytona]

You have a SG car? Nice. I was supposed to get my SG license back in the early 90's with my friend's dragster. Had my eye on either an S&W or Brogie roadster. Then I ended up needing to buy the Daytona as my new daily driver and that financially ended my pursuit of the roadster. The Camaro was still doing me good so I just put it out of my mind for a while.

[Redog]

here is my letter, going to fax it now

To: Michael J. Panter and Robert L. Morgan,

Your recent proposal to remove the Motor Vehicle Racetrack Exemption from the Noise Control Act of 1971, is wrong. Englishtown’s Raceway Park has been in business since 1965 and predates all the housing developments that surround the race track.

The first thing that I would like to ask you is, How much money will be lost by closing this race track? The amount of revenue that Raceway brings in must be staggering. On a standard race day, this track attracts people from New York City, a lot of people from all over New Jersey, and some people, like me, from Philadelphia. Just myself coming up to the track, I’m supporting The State of New Jersey, Monmouth County, and townships of Manalapan and Englishtown.

Raceway also has national events all summer long. Money coming into Manalapan and Englishtown townships from all over the country! How much lost revenue will this cost, being that Raceway Park is the biggest money maker in these townships? How much will these residents complain about the rising property taxes that will follow the closing of Raceway Park?

I love racing at Raceway. Think of everybody else who loves it too, from the pros to the kids who don’t race on the street since they have a track to race at. The property is well taken care of as well as professionally ran. These are the two things that attracted me to Englishtown in the first place.

As a racer, I ask you to don’t do anything that will close my race track. I know that I live a lot closer to Acto Raceway in Acto, New Jersey but I prefer Englishtown. Please do not remove the Exemption from the Nosie Control Act of 1971.

[Redog]

Any word on what happened last night?

[Daytona]

I haven't heard from anyone yet. Nor did I get a response to my email and fax.

[Redog]

Nothing new? :unsure: