Although geographically it’s the fourth smallest state, New Jersey, the founding state of this newspaper, has had a long history in racing. Things in the Garden State aren’t looking too good right now.
The senior venue is now Wall Township Speedway, for years known as Wall Stadium. It was opened in 1950, after its creators Jennie and Tom Nicol saw racing at the Lonsdale Arena in Rhode Island. They patterned their third-mile high-banked paved track after Lonsdale.
Their surviving son, Tucker, sold the track to a syndicate three years ago. Many pundits knew this was a risky proposition, as a weekly track that draws 2,000 to 3,000 fans cannot show the kind of profit to make the investment show black ink.
Rumors abound that the old speedway is in trouble and the only way the partners can get out of their financial bind is to sell it. If it is sold, it won’t be a race track anymore. The neighboring airport has wanted to buy the land for expansion.
There used to be a lot of tracks in New Jersey, but on Saturday nights, fans had two choices for years, either Wall Stadium or the Flemington Fairgrounds. Flemington went to weekly racing in 1955 and the two tracks ran successfully head to head until Flemington closed in 2000.
The loss of Flemington was tremendous. It may have been one of the most charismatic tracks in the United States. Gritty racing and spectacular accidents made it a popular stop. It had the most ardent and vocal fans I’ve ever seen.
Flemington had a terrible dust problem, which couldn’t be cured.
With environmental concerns, promoter Paul Kuhl finally paved the square track. The configuration of Flemington did not take to being paved. Side-by-side racing was non-existent. Competitors and fans began to go elsewhere.
I was there the last year and couldn’t believe what was once the noisiest place I ever remember was as quiet as a church.
Kuhl gave up and shut down the track. There is almost no evidence left of the 82-year-old speedway. The story is a sad one.
If Wall shuts down, this will leave only New Egypt and Bridgeport speedways in New Jersey. Both are Saturday night dirt tracks. Bridgeport has had as many promoters as it has champions. New Egypt was under new ownership last year.
Meanwhile, one wonders what will happen to other weekly race tracks. Some are on shaky grounds. Oswego (N.Y.) Speedway is the crown jewel of supermodified racing. It had to be saved by a new ownership group. Same for Pennsylvania’s Big Diamond Raceway.
Orange County Fair Speedway is the fastest growing county in New York. Will the track in Middletown survive?
Both Utica Rome and Fulton speedways in New York have been sold. DIRT has lost much of its luster with tracks straying away from them. DIRT cut purses last year and moved some mid-week events to the weekend.
The surviving tracks are mostly family owned. It’s the dedication of these people that will keep weekly racing afloat.
We all grew up and became interested in racing because of the short tracks. I am concerned for their future. What will the situation be in five years?
Let’s hope it’s better.