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Englishtown Raceway Abruptly Closes Its NHRA Drag Strip

For decades, Englishtown Raceway Park in New Jersey has been home to the NHRA’s Summer Nationals. But today, the track announced it’s stopping drag racing, effective immediately. Other activities at Englishtown will continue, notably Club Loose’s drift events, but this is an abrupt end to an era.

All quarter and eighth mile events are coming to an end, while dirt bike, karting, road course and drift events will continue. The reason for the closure of drag racing appears to come from the track leasing out that area to Insurance Auto Auctions to store cars. Englishtown previously held some of the thousands of cars flooded by Hurricane Sandy back in 2013, so this relationship isn’t coming out of nowhere.

A source familiar with the matter said that IAA recently came back and made an offer the track “couldn’t refuse.”

So the end of drag racing at Englishtown doesn’t seem to be coming from something falling through with the NHRA so much as car storage being more lucrative.

(Jalopnik.com)