A New MotorSports Park in N.J.?
I must admit I haven’t heard anything previously about plans for a new racetrack located in New Jersey. That’s not to say I know everything, or attempt to. But with the amount of racing related newsfeeds and blogs I read it surprises me that something about the project hadn’t caught my eye.
Plans look to be well on the way to reality. In fact the “planners” say they only have “one more roadblock to clear and it’s off to the races for the N.J. Motorsports Park.” That roadblock is the Federal Aviation Administration. It must approve the release of land at the Millville Airport for the $100 million park.
They have dealt with the two “show stoppers” and biggest obstacles to any project this size. The environmentalists. City officials, the developers and environmental groups are in agreement on plans that help “protect wildlife” while allowing the motorsports park to move forward. And they have resolved another major sticking point, noise levels, by having “a buffer zone between the park and residential neighbors, and the noise level has been capped by the city at 80 decibels.”
How often does that happen? At least not without years of courtroom time.
But I see a major problem with the project as outlined.
It’s an ambitious plan with phase one - construction of which could begin in March - to include the 4.1-mile Thunderbolt Raceway, a go-kart track, a Tudor-style clubhouse, driver training facilities, tennis courts and a swimming pool. Hotels, restaurants and track side villas would come in later phases.
Track side villas? But I digress.
Do you see the problem I see? Maybe not, it’s hidden in a little New Jersey bias and frankly I haven’t told the entire story yet. Obviously at 4.1 miles in length the plans call for a road course. That alone is problematic as it would require NASCAR to add a third date for a road course event in an already jammed schedule.
But fear not motorsports fans, they have planned for that as well.
Some residents have been concerned that the motorsports park would be a NASCAR-type track, which would attract enormous crowds. Rest assured, it isn’t. Thunderbolt Raceway is excepted to attract an upscale crowd of racing enthusiasts who own Porsches and Ferraris and have extra cash to spend on entertainment and shopping.
Get the picture now? These grand schemers and residents of Millville don’t feel the need for that riff-raff from down South. They’re only concerned about courting the effete elite. The Porsche and Ferrari owners, complete with ostrich skin driving gloves, a never ending desire for “villas” and lounging around “Tudor-style” clubhouses while sipping Zima and sucking down Buluga whale caviar.
Kind of like a orange coned gymkhana track in a Wal-Mart parking lot, on steriods!
As a result these mental midgets want to toss away 100 million large on a 4.1 mile circuit - a length twice the size of most road courses - aimed at a target audience that may be smaller than that of the entire city of Las Vegas or Los Angles!
I’d root the the FAA to retain possession of the required land, but these schemers would just find another rathole to stick $100 million dollars into.
NASCAR, Auto racing, Sports
With NASCAR pushing their own track in Staten Island there is no chance for a competing facility in “Joisy”!
Any place that welcomes any form of racing should be commended. I only hope that an oval track is part of future phases.
I don’t have anything against a new track George. But the second para quoted plainly shows they don’t want or need NASCAR. At least that’s the BS the developers have sold them.
Which in my opinion will doom the future track to dismal failure. There is no way in Hell it will attract enough drivers of the type they are targeting to sustain any long term profits.
Picture this: It’s a warm Sunday in late July. 50 Porsche and Ferrari owners - plus a few souped up Lexus owners (a cons session to attract more drivers) - all playing weekend Schume’s.
OK fine that works for one weekend. What about the other 27 weekends with reasonable weather?
Never happen.
That aside. I was thinking after I posted this piece, the tone of the article seemed to indicate the FAA was the only obstacle left to overcome. Where does NJ sit? Smack in the middle of one of the busiest air corridors in the country.
Bet the FAA won’t give up the land.
I think it wil succeed for many reasons. We have a tiny track in northwest Connecticut called Lime Rock Park, which hosts 4-5 race weekend events. Rolex Grand Am (Audi LMP1 cars, unbelievable to watch them go!) American Lemans series, Ferrari-Maserati racing days, Rolex Vintage BMW weekend, a Busch North event and the ever present SCCA races. Not to mention the popular Skip Barber racing School, where for a modest sum and minimal instruction, you can take your road car on track for hot laps with your buddies. You can even rent the track for private functions, like taking your Enzo out to stretch it’s legs without running afoul of John Law!
All this at a track where they can’t race on Sundays due to a local agreement because there is a church across from the main gate! The point is there is a very healthy demand for tracks and racing that exists beyond NASCAR.
And if it’s main attraction happens to come from the Porsche-Ferrari-Beemer owning segment of the population, god bless them all for helping us live out our racing fantasies!
In closing your question relative to “….the other 27 weekends with reasonable weather?” is not valid. I can’t think of any successful tracks with that kind of schedule; even the dirt tracks of the mid-west don’t run that many weekends, do they? If they could race six- eight weekends it would be very successful from an attendence and use perspective. How that translates into paying off a debt service of $100 million is still a valid question, but I can’t imagine anyone fronting that kind of coin without a sure chance of covering expenses and making a profit.
We’ll have to disagree George. I think it’s a boondoggle. No mid-western tracks with a 27 weekend sched?
Check Flat Rock Speedway a 1/4 mile high bank just north of the Ohio line. Toledo Speedway is another, a !/2 miler both run under ARCA sanctioning. They run from mid-April until mid Oct. That’s 24 weeks.
Berlin Speedway (Johnny Benson’s home track under NASCAR sanction) in western Mi. runs the same sched.
Smoke’s new toy Eldora ran from the last week of Mar until the first week of Oct. in 2005.
The list is endless for mid-west tracks.
My comment of mid-west tracks was more of a question than a statement of fact. They are the only kind of tracks I thought might have that kind of schedule. If you look up the typical road course facilities you will find activites almost every weekend, even if there are no NASCAR style races.
I still don’t get your boondoggle angle: Do you expect them to try and bring NASCAR to the place after the fact? Maybe you’re right, maybe the owners know a track on Staten Island is so far fetched that “Joisy” will become a defacto second choice after the New York politico’s pick Brian’s pockets clean and still leave him with nothing for his toubles but an environmental nightmare.
I expect NASCAR would find someplace closer to Manhatten for a alternate site, like the Meadowlands. After all, it’s the New York crowd they want. And you also forget, NASCAR wants to own the track, not be subject to promoter’s lawsuits like in Texas.
Simple, it’s a boondoggle because I don’t think the target they are aiming for will support the money being spent on it.
I agree many road courses do as you outlined. Waterford Hills race track just north of Detroit, a road course, does the things you mention.
But the 5-6 weekends they do it is a minor blip on their bottom line. Nearly all their revenue comes from SCCA sanctioned events and rental fees from various sports car clubs each year.
Marc said:
“But the 5-6 weekends they do it is a minor blip on their bottom line. Nearly all their revenue comes from SCCA sanctioned events and rental fees from various sports car clubs each year.”
Which was the point of my first comment. But it is still hard for me to concieve of the cash flow necessary to carry a 100 million dollar nut. Lime Rock has been around for years and makes modest track improvements. If they had to toss a number like that into construction of facilities I think they’d go bust!
Maybe they can get CVC to buy their track, like they just bought the rights to F1!
I am an agent who has a house listed near the proposed track. Does anyone know for sure if this track is happening?
Sorry Linda, I have no clue. You may want to contact the Millville city planners if anyone should know they would. Also the purposed track has a website According to the Project Status page, “completion of the full approval process is near with construction commencement estimated in the Spring of 2006.”