Comment:

When I was a kid, you could run the same car, with the same rules at Alcyon, on Friday, Flemington, or Middletown on Saturday, and Nazareth on Sunday. The fans would go to all three. Not every week, for most of them, but as often as possible, because the same cars and drivers were there. If you were a McLaughlin, or Tasnady, or Olsen fan, for example, and lived near Alcyon, you were at Alcyon every Friday, BUT you would go to Flemington as often as you could on Saturdays because you wanted to see "Your" driver run there. If you lived near Flemington, you would be there every Saturday, but you would go to Alcyon on Friday, or Nazareth on Sunday as often as possible, to watch your guy race there.

It just doesn't make sense to me, to have two tracks, so close together run the same night. (New Egypt, and Bridgeport) The car counts would be so much higher at both tracks if they ran different nights. As for East Windsor, why do they have to have Sail Panals , or for that matter, why do sail panals have to be illegal at Bridgeport? Higher car counts mean better racing. Better racing means more fans. More fans mean more money.

Back in Alcyon's heyday, in the late 50's, a new dirt track opened in South Jersey - Vineland Speedway. It was only about a half hour away from Alcyon. The owner of Vineland decided (for some reason), to run on Friday night, the same night as Alcyon. Low car counts, and lack of spectators caused them to pave Vineland. Still low car counts and few fans, so, the owner of Vineland took over Alcyon and closed it. (Condensed version, but essentially accurate). If he had run Vineland on Sunday, he would have gotten a good car count, and a large fan base. Lets face it, Pennsylvania has no problem filling the pits and the grandstands at any of their 410 sprint car tracks. Thanks Jim Murrow

Regarding the tracks working together, here's a little insider information only privvy to the visitors of the Vault...  I have attempted to establish a channel of communication for discussions to occur between those involved with New Egypt Speedway and those involved with Bridgeport.  I wanted this to happen because while they may appear to be competitors on the surface, there is much more to be gained if a dialog is established between them.  This would allow for some consistentcy in the rules which would make things easier for the owners and drivers.  This would also allow for cross promotion and for larger sponsors to be attracted as exposure could now be offered throughout a larger demographic.  The tracks might even be able to run some special events where one track would not run a division for a specific night so that the other track could have a special event featuring competitors from both speedways.  In addition, the biggest gain would be the increased strength in possible political positioning when dealing with noise, hours of operation, and other issues that speedways find themselves in battle with their local and state politicians.

Without getting specific, the idea was met with open arms by those involved with New Egypt Speedway.  The offer has fallen on deaf ears with those involved with Bridgeport.  Although dissapointed, I am still leaving the door open and will be happy to help set up a meeting in the future. 

For what it's worth, I have also been in touch with the management of East Windsor Speedway and although dissapointed with some of the actions of the past, I have offered to help get the word out and maybe even help with some spectator side activities should they decide to run a dirt surfaced speedway this year.

I wish these other speedways would join New Egypt in being available to have discussions for the overall improvement of our sport so that new memories can be created for future generations.