Raceway Park seeks
new multi-use course
Track owner says
‘low-speed’ track would
be one of a kind in N.J.
By sue m. morgan
Staff Writer
OLD BRIDGE — A new road course proposed for Raceway Park will not generate noise or traffic and will not even be used for racing, according to track owner Michael Napp.
Napp hopes his proposed 1.35-mile multi-use course will attract an upscale clientele that will benefit the local economies of Old Bridge, Manalapan and neighboring towns.
Napp was expected to begin making his case for the low-speed track at the Old Bridge Planning Board meeting on May 6.
With the township-based law firm Heilbrunn Pape and Goldstein, representing him, Napp will seek preliminary and final site plan approval for the track, which would front Pension Road.
If constructed, the course would be used by driving schools that teach defensive driving and driver improvement courses, and by car clubs for Porsche, BMW or Mazda owners, Napp told Greater Media Newspapers.
"Ninety-nine percent of the time it will be for club rentals and schools," Napp said.
The track might also be leased to major automobile manufacturers for "ride and drive" events in which those interested in learning to operate a given vehicle, such as a BMW or Lexus, could actually drive it along the track.
"This course is designed as a fun course, not a race course," Napp said.
Most cars should be able to safely reach 65 mph, Napp said. The course should also be able to accommodate high-performance vehicles that would reach speeds up to 100 mph on the track’s straight-away and 40-50 mph on the curves, he added.
Those speeds are relatively slow compared to vehicle speeds reached on the racetrack’s two drag strips, he said.
No unmuffled vehicles would be allowed to use the track, Napp said.
All vehicles using the track must also have valid registration and license tags, he added.
Neighbors of the track need not worry about any vehicular noise or traffic jams being generated if the multi-use track is added to the 40-year-old venue, Napp said.
"This is not a noise-producing track," he said. "It’s not [for] a spectator sport."
"We won’t be bringing in items that can clog up streets or create traffic jams," he added.
If the track is leased to a car club, such as a Porsche collectors’ club, for a scheduled day or weekend gathering, about 50 to 100 vehicles might use the track in one day over a period of time as part of that event, Napp said.
A driving school might have 12 vehicles on the track at a given time, he noted.
The "ride and drive" events could benefit the local economy because they would bring in professionals associated with major vehicle manufacturers.
Such events are usually staged by professionals who bring in company VIPs, speakers, and catering companies, and are designed to promote new products, Napp said.
Event attendees, usually car manufacturer employees or customers, would come to the "ride and drive" to learn about and test-drive newly released vehicles, he said.
Raceway Park has hosted "ride and drive" events on its drag strips and in its parking lots, but would like to be able to offer a course specifically designed for that type of event, Napp said, noting that there currently is no such course in New Jersey.
The racetrack complex, located just north of the Manalapan border, currently has two drag strips along with a public riding dirt bike track and a small airport.
Permission to use the course would be by reservation only, Napp said. "It should not be a nuisance," he said. "We don’t want to create any more noise or any more traffic."