269 replies to this topic

[wjtaylor]

Tony P

 

Referring to posts 69/70

 

I picked up this thread to send a link to, wait for it, Ed Benardella.

 

I decided to have anouther look around and I thought I had responded to this thread some time back but apparently not.

 

The track you guys picked up was likely from Closter raceway and was at that time owned by Rick Elting, who you may remember. He and I talked some about it back when the thread was active. Unfortunately, Rick passed away back in January, so we won't learn anything more.

 

Bill

[tonyp]

Yup

[Ralphthe3rd]

Hi Guys, I haven't been on this site  for years, and never posted much back then. But I'm back, and I found this topic, and have a question. Although I've lived in PA for the past 40 years, I was raised in South Plainfield-NJ, and although I was poor and couldn't afford the Big Slot Cars back when I was a kid(I was, and still am an HO guy), I used to go to the YMCA in Plainfield, and sorta remember a Slot Parlor -I think right next to it, but I only walked in there once as a small kid, and don't remember much. Can you guys refresh my memory, Thanks

[sidejobjon]

How about O`Dowds ice cream on rt 46 caldwell NJ. Back room had to have at lease three large tracks. Place was huge what I remember, Packed on weekends.
Great family fun go for Icecream slots in back. Can`t believe hobby slowed down so much , I can`t get enought "I`am ho freak".
Also Drews Hobbys in Nutley small store ,HO track you rent time winner of race would win more time. Mrs Drew would ingrave date & put model # on TJET chassis when you bought . I won cars on ebay with this on cars "I wonder If they new what this was.
These two were not Tracks but well worth mention if you are from New Jersey Branch brook cycle sold tons slot cars. And Two Guys sold TJETS for 1.99 instead 2.99 on label. WOW now look at EBAY.
Thanks John

Here are some of Drews Engraved Chassis & picture of store, You large scale guys would go down street to Nutley Raceway also on Franklin Ave. Days without internet i would go to Drews to race ,Lived in Bloomfield & did not hear of Nutley.

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[John Streisguth]

I remember riding my bicycle all the down there from Montclair...once!  LOL Much to far away, especially since I had two places in town or just over the "border" in the Brookdale section of Bloomfield.

[sidejobjon]

I remember riding my bicycle all the down there from Montclair...once!  LOL Much to far away, especially since I had two places in town or just over the "border" in the Brookdale section of Bloomfield.

John that would be Brookdale Cycle ,out side of Brookdanle park.

[John Streisguth]

Correct.  Started doing races there during the vibrator car era

[tonyp]

Drews engraved the chassis so only cars bought there could be run on the track. I don’t know if the policy changed later on or not.


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[sidejobjon]

Tony is that what got you started engraving, like it
SJJ

[tonyp]

Nah Bob Emott was the first see do it.


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[Bill from NH]

Tony used to include a flower with his name..

[Bill Fek]

slot car paperwork attached, New Jersey connections

 

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•  sl3.pdf   2.23MB   85 downloads

[Bill Fek]

some east coast racing info 1971, enjoy

Attached Files

•  e.pdf   1.14MB   83 downloads

[Lowend1]

I stumbled upon these forums last night during a recurring wave of nostalgia. I was only 8 or 9 when I raced - it was relatively short lived, because a year or so later, the local tracks (Bergen County) started to close up shop. I got back into it with the resurgence in the late 1980s, which also waned after a couple of years. Haven't been to Zeppelin in years, but apparently there is now a track at Shadow Hobbies in Woodland Park. I'll have to check it out one of these days - still have my two cars from the 60s and the ones I bought during the 80s revival as well.

Anyhow... in the litany of heyday NJ tracks, I didn't see the three that I frequented - Tiny Tim's on Passaic St in Rochelle Park, Garfield Grand Prix on Midland Ave in Garfield and Heights Raceway, which I believe was on the Boulevard in Hasbrouck Heights. Of the three, Heights was the biggest operation. Anybody else remember these?

[Pete L.]

I started racing at Wizards in Mercervile, Hamilton Twp, way back in 1993. My father and I bought our first slot car, a Koford brass and wire Group 12 wingcar and a Koford resistor controller. We had fun with it but never really learned how to run it till we went to Lugnuts Raceway in PA. There we learned how to properly glue a lane to go full punch.

We didn't actually participate in a race until Speedzone opened up in Hightstown, NJ. We were actively racing Group 12 and 20 wings on the 220 foot Hillclimb, 4.5" Nastruck and 4" NASCAR on the oval, and LMP Contenders on the flat track. We ran there for around three years until Frank had enough and closed up.

I remember nights racing 4" NASCAR where we wouldn't leave until 11 pm because so many guys showed up.

We raced the flat track on Friday nights S16D GTP and GP 12 WSC cars, great track. I also ran the stockers when they came to the flat track...won a few, ask Don P.

[Carlo]

Come race with us...

 

Slot Car Superstar at the Teaneck Speedway.

545 Cedar Lane, Teaneck NJ (30 min from NYC)

 

Our tracks:

 

1- The Orange track: 195 ft – Built by: Steve Ogilvie. The Orange track, AKA “The Beast of the East,” is the track that hosted the 2007 USRA Nats.

2- The Blue track: 155 ft – Built by: Gary Gerding. The blue track, AKA “The Anaconda,” is the track that hosted the 2010 USRA Nats and 2014 ISRA Nats.

3- The Black Hillclimb track: 125 ft – Built by: Steve Ogilvie

4- The Purple figure-eight rrack: 95 ft - Built by: Steve Ogilvie

 

Plus drag strip, NASCAR Oval track...

 

Check us out at: www.slotcarsuperstar.com

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[McGary911]

Well, this isn't the first time this thread has been dusted off. I registered to share some memories and some info about a few NJ tracks in or near where I grew up in Point Pleasant Beach.

 

Some mentioned a track in the middle of downtown Point Pleasant Beach. There WAS one but it was in a hobby shop...not a dedicated slot facility. The place was called Cliff Wilson's hobby shop and he had all kinds of cool stuff in there. He also had a small slot setup. They were HO cars if i recall correctly. That would have been around '74ish. I was only like 6  back then so it's a little foggy. I do remember that a great day back then was walking with dad a few blocks to Cliffs to look at all the cool stuff and if dad had a couple of extra bucks in his pocket, I'd go home with a plastic model. That was located @ 618 Arnold Ave. It must have closed in the late '70s. It's now split into 2 stores...one a tattoo joint called Slinging Ink that's been in business for a long time now...and the other side has changed tenants a bit over the years.

 

I got into slot car racing when i was maybe 11 or so. We'd head about 20 minutes north to the Race Place located in Wall Township at the Collingswood Auction (more of a flea market). I see many others know that one as well. It was run by a father, John and a son (also John) and a daughter who's name I  can't remember. They wee all super nice. They had 3 tracks and a bunch of video games there. After beating up a bunch of rental cars my aunt's then BF bought me my first car...a Parma Womp Womp. I eventually saved up money and got myself another as well as a group 12 and a group 20. 27 was out of my pay range back then.

I can't remember how many aunts and uncles who me and my buddies would beg to drop us off at the race place for a few hours even if we only had a dollar or 2 in our pockets for track time. They were always able to find a way to take us. I learned so much about motors, the cars, how to solder....when i was like 12. From time to time, out of the blue, they'd announce a "Wildcat Race" on one of the tracks. Whoever was running at the time was in the race. I think it was 5 laps and you ran whatever car you had on the track at the time. The winner would get a coupon for 30 minutes of track time AND a 1" x 3" sticker saying "I won a Wildcat Race at the Race Place". For a little kid a handful of those stickers on your car box would make you feel 10 feet tall.

 

As others have mentioned, it burned down along with the rest of the auction. They were able to regroup and open again up the road on rt 33 in Farmingdale in the Talco building. I thought that was long gone but they website is still active, as is the phone? wow.   I moved to Florida years ago so I have no idea. Hope it's true.

 

Finally, there was a full sized track in Point Pleasant beach on Washington Ave and route 35 south across from the train tracks. I think it opened up in the late 80s. I found out about it when a guy was in my neighbor's garage checking out the Sportsman car they kept there (ran it at Wall Stadium) which I also helped out with. I guess I was 13 or so. Turns out he had just opened up that slot track. I think some may have mentioned Majestic Raceway? That might be it. This was great. A slot car track a 5 block walk from my house. Whoo hoo. It turns out he wanted to hold races and had a timing computer but had zero clue how to hook it up. In comes the 13 year old who loves computers and wiring (remember where I learned to solder?). It was a Commodore 64 with a bunch of custom harnesses and software to turn it into a slot car track scoring system. If he could hold races he figured he could make more money. Well, it was tricky and may not have been the cleanest install in electronics hardware history, but I got the computer set up, wires run and tapped into the track leads. It freakin' worked. He was happy. I was happy (and relieved). He offered me some money but I turned it down. I liked the challenge and helping a guy out who was bringing one of my favorite hobbies close to home. I finally agreed to let him give me a Flexi-Car for my efforts (It may have been a Flexi-2, as I just checked and I have both in my old box). They were brand new at the time. I'm sure I got some free track time every once in a while on future visits. Unfortunately, the place didn't last that long. I think others have mentioned it moved to Brick to try a new location. It was a long time ago but that sounds right too.

 

I still have all my cars in the garage and It would take very little effort to get them running again. I'll check out the site here. There used to be a track kind of close to me in Jacksonville but it closed down years ago (even before Covid). I'd love to dust the things off one more time and give them a rip.

 

Anyway, sorry if this was a little long winded but reading this post brought back a lot for me. I think I was able to fill in a small gap or 2 about slot car racing in NJ back in the day.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

John

[LiqTenExp]

 

Come race with us...

 

Slot Car Superstar at the Teaneck Speedway.

545 Cedar Lane, Teaneck NJ (30 min from NYC)

 

Our tracks:

 

1- The Orange track: 195 ft – Built by: Steve Ogilvie. The Orange track, AKA “The Beast of the East,” is the track that hosted the 2007 USRA Nats.

2- The Blue track: 155 ft – Built by: Gary Gerding. The blue track, AKA “The Anaconda,” is the track that hosted the 2010 USRA Nats and 2014 ISRA Nats.

3- The Black Hillclimb track: 125 ft – Built by: Steve Ogilvie

4- The Purple figure-eight rrack: 95 ft - Built by: Steve Ogilvie

 

Plus drag strip, NASCAR Oval track...

 

Check us out at: www.slotcarsuperstar.com

 

 

I stopped by there on Sunday it this looks like it is setup just for kids parties now. Will there ever be official racing again and tracks prepped for it?

[sidejobjon]

Brad Kerber,

Any room for some HO scale?

Good luck with your new raceway

[sidejobjon]

Here is some NJ Slot car raceway history o`dowds RT 46 Pinebrook.

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