Looks like Isabelle has to find a new strip to run.
It’s sad to see this happen. I think the newspaper article is spot on with the cost of racing. It gets real expensive and the cost involved caused me to stop racing years ago. At least the track will stay open for other types of events.
Steven
Hi Dave and correct 
Atco is a possible alternative but Isabel may just retire from the sport and stop tempting fate (I.e., insurance does not cover drag racing!). Trouble is that I may be more likely to get my kicks on the street without the outlet E-town has provided me.
I thought about posting this sad news yesterday but decided not to.
Visit those old tracks before they become victims of high-priced real estate & the spread of suburbia. As kids, my dad would take us there (Wall stadium too) a few times/year. Once we got our licenses, my buddies & I spent a fair bit of time at either E-town or Island Dragway (still open, BTW). Good memories.
A bunch of us old guys were lamenting yesterday via email about the demise of the 1/4 mile there. Two of the guys still go a few times/year with their teenagers (who are into carting and drifting). That was good to hear: maybe the next generation still values gears, gas & burnt rubber. I wonder if they still have the man-made “lake” for water-skiing?
PS - Dave, your name came up yesterday: Phil asked how you were doing, & I sent him a link to the Hot Rod article.
We also had a closing of one of our drag strips that has been around for years, they were using an airport on the weekends.
NHRA said that updates had to be made before any more racing, the updates for safety would be a problem for the airport so they shut it down last year. Goodby New London drag strip
I had no idea that July 23rd, 2017 (the Old Time Drag’s event) would be the last time that I would run Isabel down E-town’s 1320’. Well, it was (as always) a lot of fun. I have been running at E-town (on and off) since I was 17. I’ll be 59 this year, so 42 years…
In car culture as in life peoples taste change and how they enjoy the car hobby change. In the 70’s it was all about drag racing. You don’t have very many grassroots drag racers that go to the drag strip every weekend. Then you have shows like Street Outlaws that say why go to the strip it’s more cool and challenging to drag on the street.
I see just the opposite happening on road courses with HPDE. Those tracks are investing money on upgraded facilities and newly paved tracks. There tracks are booked with different events all season, even during week days. I think we have three car cultures driving it. The young crowd that like imports and drift. Gingerman “GridLife” events attract over 4,000 people for a weekend. You have the pro touring crowd that want to push their car on the track. Which is the smallest of the three groups. Then the older crowd with their new C7 Corvette, Porsche, BMW, etc that not only enjoying the HPDE they want a top self garage at the track to keep their car and create a man cave at the track. The M1 track in Detroit is creating a car culture village around it. https://m1concourse.com/about-us/
Like Brian was saying, we’re fortunate in Ohio as well. The three dragstrips within 60-90 minutes drive from me have invested heavily in upgrades and improvements recently. With the exception of the biggest one, the other two are out in no-man’s land so property values haven’t caught up with them yet. The biggest one hosts a National Event and carries naming rights from Summit Racing. So while they’re in a more populated area, I doubt they’re going anywhere soon.
Almost the same can be said for the circle tracks. While the most popular one closed a few decades ago due to noise curfews and escalating property values, the other four are still going. Some have had lean years but all are either under new ownership or management and are gearing up for another successful season.
The one closest to me and the place where I spend most of my time (racetrack-wise) just underwent a long drawn-out sales process that kept it closed for most of last summer’s season. But the new owners took over on Labor Day weekend and they ran the entire Fall season and are now even running a winter “Beater With a Heater” figure eight series on Sunday’s during the winter. Good Stuff!!
Mark, you trying to tell us something about where you’ve been on Sunday’s lately?
Ha! Not tried it yet. But the coverage I’ve seen looks like a real hoot.
How much do those go for.
Don’t know, but way above my pay grade budget 
I don’t see myself ever renting a garage at a track. I prefer to travel around to the different tracks and not get comfortable just at one track.