Atco Raceway sold

[dogg57]

The oldest continually operating drag strip on the East Coast has been sold.
Officials with Atco Raceway announced the sale this week to Len Capone, Jr. of Berlin. Capone and his family are no strangers to drag racing. His father was there Memorial Day weekend of 1960 – the track’s opening day.
The younger Capone ran a funny car known as “The Bear” in the late 80s and 90s.
No major changes are expected for the 2013 race schedule, which will be posted in January. Officials at the track said it is expected races will be added.
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20121220/NEWS01/312200035/Atco-Raceway-Waterford-sold

 

[this_is_nascar]

Not sure why, but I could never get into drag-racing. The thought of "races" that only last a few seconds never did it for me.

 

[ecampbell]

I could never really get into current NASCAR even though I've ben to several races, to me they aren't real cars. Give me the stock car races of the 60's. Bobby and Al Unser, Richard Petty. The auto manufacturers had to sell so many of the cars before they could compete with them. Remember the Dodge Daytona with the big spoiler?

 

[Gibby]

I could never really get into current NASCAR even though I've ben to several races, to me they aren't real cars. Give me the stock car races of the 60's. Bobby and Al Unser, Richard Petty. The auto manufacturers had to sell so many of the cars before they could compete with them. Remember the Dodge Daytona with the big spoiler?

Don't forget Junior Johnson, Ned Jarrett, and Cale Yarborough driving specialized big blocks reaching speeds close to two hundred. Cars powered by the 429 Boss and the legendary Hemi oozed of raw horsepower. I am old enough to remember the Wide World of Sports and the great racing of the time. The cars actually looked like what you could buy at the dealership and the brands were distinguishable - what wins on Sunday sells on Monday. My father was a local machinist during the hay day of the Trenton Speedway, so the family picture albums are loaded with pictures of the greats of the day. A.J. Foyt, Parnelli Jones and Mario Andretti are among those pictured, even Eddie Sachs.

I still have my 1988 Mustang coupe I raced at Atco, Englishtown and the local street scene. I bought it just after I got out of high school. The little maroon rocket will still run low elevens all day long with the help of Paxton. At the moment, the car is sitting stripped to bare metal waiting a new paint job. Atco is a great little track, even though you may come across a turtle or deer after the lights!

 

[ecampbell]

1969 Dodge Daytona Charger NASCAR


The Dodge Daytona was built especially for NASCAR racing. NASCAR required Dodge to build 500 street versions of this car before they could be raced. The unique aerodynamic design with the pointed nose and rear wing spoiler coupled with the 426 cubic inch Hemi engine made this a very fast car with excellent handling qualities. Mario Rossi owned the Dodge Daytonas driven by Bobby Allison that won at Atlanta and earned 13 top 10 finishes. The Dodge Daytona and sister car, the Plymouth Superbird, were so dominating that NASCAR outlawed the ‘Wing Cars’ in 1971.

 

[this_is_nascar]

I could never really get into current NASCAR even though I've ben to several races, to me they aren't real cars. Give me the stock car races of the 60's. Bobby and Al Unser, Richard Petty. The auto manufacturers had to sell so many of the cars before they could compete with them. Remember the Dodge Daytona with the big spoiler?

I absolutely agree. My alias was created many many years ago, when I was really into Nascar racing. That has come and gone a long time ago. Modern-day Nascar is an entirely different animal than what we're talking about. And, except for safety, it hasn't gotten better as far as I'm concerned.

 

[46er]

My favorites are the 6, 12 and 24 hour endurance races. A true test of the drivers and machine. Never cared much for NASCAR, except when they run the road courses, and I tired of drag racing. The endurance races begin at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, then Sebring 12 hours in May followed by the grand daddy at the Le Mans 24 hours; then Summit Point, Watkins Glen, petit Le Mans, mid-Ohio, Monterey and the new one at Austins Circuit of the America's. Corvette's have dominated their class, about the only American manufacturer that runs the endurance series, except for some private Ford entries. And that is really a shame.

 

[MuckSavage]

I too prefer road racing.....vintage racing. I have an old FIAT. In vintage racing, they put you on the track with cars the same speed (slow). In my case, it's MG Midgets, Triumphs, etc. How slow is my car? Well, there was a recent spotlight of it in a recent magazine. The title of the article; "FIAT 850 Sider....Slow to Speed, Fast to Rust"

Back on topic....Len Capone was a friend of a friend back in the 80's. I spent some time hanging around with him. He seemed like a good guy & I wish him the best of luck with htis venture!