269 replies to this topic

[Matt Bruce]

Maybe that was the figure 8 track. I guess it may have been urban legend that the track was split up, it was before my time. I know alot of guys used to talk about it when I was just a young lad, but I never had seen any pictures of it. Good to have old guys that remember all this stuff, like you.

[tonyp]

Back around late 66 early 67 we got into drag racing. We used to go to a track in Boonton which was a small shop, it looked like 2 small store fronts that they removed the wall between them. They had a road course in each half that no one ever was on, But if you went on a race night you could barely fit in the building. The crowds they got for drag racing was amazing.

Now the drag track was super smooth, but to fit it in the building they had to chop a hole in the mens room wall for the shut down area. So basically you could not take a leak when the races were running.

They used 36 volts and a master switch that turned both lanes on the same time and lots of foam to stop the cars at the end...

I'll always remember the hole chopped in the wall for the track to fit through...

[slotcarone]

If you missed the shut down area did you wind up in the bowl???

[tonyp]

LOL, I do not remember...

[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

[sportblazer350]

Vintage Hobbies. I know he sells old stuff and lots of HO I think. Not sure if there is a track as the store front looks pretty small.

Tyrell Road. a couple of blocks down from the connection to 78.

NJ Nostalgia Hobbies on Park Avenue. They race h.o. on an origianl Aurora tub track for 6 months, then switch to 1/32 scale for 6 months. They have a full inventory of new and vintage h.o. scale cars and parts, and current 1/32 home set cars and sets. Joe Corea is the owner.

[sportblazer350]

Wow... Tiny Tots. Remember it well and believe it or not the store is still there. I was around hmm... 12ish (circa 1964) and at that time Tiny Tots in Greenbrook, NJ, sold models, toys, etc., in addition to a section with kids furniture. So one day my grandfather takes me there to buy a model. We are walking around the store and I see a "back room" and this weird noise coming from it.

When I went to the room, my eyes almost fell out of my head. There were people racing cars on a big track. Nothing was cooler than that. Screw the model. What did I need to do to get one of those things? I had never seen a race track in a store before. It wasn't huge and it was a flat track. Can't remember when they finally removed the track from there but every time I drive by there I just smile.

Yes!! my favorite hobby store back in the early 1970's! I remember all of the model planes hanging from the ceiling. Back then i flew balsa wood gas engine control line planes, and raced h.o. scale cars (Thunderjets, Tyco pros, Riggens). But i do not remember any slot car tracks at Tiny Tots, what year did they stop racing there? I guess i just missed that era?

I was stil lgoing there, when my son was younger, and we were very sad when they finally decided to close. First we were told they decided to renovate the store, but it never re-opened. It did come back with as an outdoor playset type of store, like swing sets, pools, ???Now i think it is a thrift store? The end of an era for sure when they finally closed.

[tonyp]

They were done with slots basically when the commercial raceways opened up. I drive by the place all the time, not sure what is in there now.

[sportblazer350]

I also visited a raceway in Sayreville, burned down about 10 years ago, had a tri-oval and a drag strip, a small shop. and a much larger shop on Rt130 in East Windsor, i bought the owner's dragster, after he shut down his drag strip, forget the names of these 2 raceways, both closed in the 90's........

when i race h.o. scale in the early 70's, i raced in the hobby departments of toy stores in a series sponsered by Tyco. guess that makes me a bit younger than you guys that raced in the 60's......so now i race 1960's era cars at The Race Place on Rt 33 with the C.A.R.S. vintage club! All welcome to re-visit their past, race vintage cars, swap stories, etc. We are not a competitive group,. rather an easy going club having fun with 40 year old cars!!

[Jerk]

The first track I ever raced on was the race place at the collingswood auction and then 2 years later American Hobbies in Englishtown opened up with this track !!

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[Jerk]

It was called a Purple Mile and it was the BEST track I ever ran on !!

[Jerk]

It was absolutely HUGE !!!

[tonyp]

And a hell of a long way to walk when you fell off. I was already out of racing when Larry had his first raceway so I never ran on his track, Although I did run on one at the Columbus ARCO.

[Bob Methe]

Ran across this thread this morning, wow, brought back memories. I used to race in Red Bank NJ and West Long Branch. There were two places in Red Bank, one was Hobby Masters (Hobby Headquarters), has relocated a few times, the other was in the plaza one block west of the center of town, It was in an old Sears store that relocated. It was an "L" shape, one leg became a movie theater on White Street, the other the race track on English Plaza. If I remember correctly there were 4 tracks to race on. We used to race Cox, Monogram and Champion RTR cars. Still have a picture of my friend racing there, it's posted at my current home track by the keyboard.

The place in West Long Branch was in the plaza on the corner of Wall Street and Locust Ave. It had 3 tracks. We used to ride our bikes there with a big honkin' wood pit box! Wish I had that today!

I also wish I could remember the names of these places .

[John Streisguth]

I raced for many years at Nutley, both before and after the move to Belleville. Since the heyday of slots was before I was old enough to drive, I was kind of limited by my parent's "indulgence" to drive me to different tracks. I do remember racing at Closter, although I seem to remember some kind of road course rather than a standard commercial track. Also, I didn't see anyone mention O'Dowds out in Pine Brook. That place was HUGE, with 4 or 5 tracks including one that was massive, and may have been a 300' Indy or something nearly as big. I remember the Race Place in Wall Township (some type of auction/flea market). I went there about 20 years ago when I got back into slots and I don't think the tracks had been repainted since they were first installed; you could see the fibers of the wood (not even particle board, something even cheaper). Glad to see that place is still around.
Other tracks I remember:
some place in Clifton, on a road that parralleled Rt. 3
Point Pleasant, right in the center of town
Chadwick Beach, probably only open a year or so. I spent more time at the track than at the beach
My first exposure to slots bigger than HO was another small shop in Pine Brook, I think Rich's Hobby Town? I ended up getting a small Scalextric track (probably 1964) with Lotus and BRM formula cars.
The first place I ever raced was Brookdale Cycle, who had an HO track back in the day of the vibrator cars.

But Nutley was my first exposure to pro-level racing. With all of the great talents that raced out of there, you certainly learned a lot.

BTW: When Nutley was in their original location, they had an Engleman-type track in addition to the King. Does anyone remember waht that was?

[tonyp]

John, Nutley originally had 3 tracks, a 165 Engleman which was shaped like a king track except with a square (triangle shapped) donut. This was in the position of the king, up front across from the sales counters was a small Engleman track which was the same shape as the Engleman 200 or like Elmsford for instance. Not sure how long those were maybe 120'? Right along side the sales area there was a small Black Engleman track maybe 80' in length they would run rentals and some great Monogram midget races. After the first or second PRO race the black track made way for more pit areas for "Evil Bucks Racers". Nutley also had a HO track, one of the fiberglass Aurora ones.

I raced at Clifton Raceway in a 24 hour race sponsored by K&B. Not sure if it was the same place, It had 2 crappy road courses complete with launch ramps in and out of the banks. But they did have the first banked slot car oval track I ever saw.

[John Streisguth]

John, Nutley originally had 3 tracks, a 165 Engleman which was shaped like a king track except with a square (triangle shapped) donut. This was in the position of the king, up front across from the sales counters was a small Engleman track which was the same shape as the Engleman 200 or like Elmsford for instance. Not sure how long those were maybe 120'? Right along side the sales area there was a small Black Engleman track maybe 80' in length they would run rentals and some great Monogram midget races. After the first or second PRO race the black track made way for more pit areas for "Evil Bucks Racers". Nutley also had a HO track, one of the fiberglass Aurora ones.

I raced at Clifton Raceway in a 24 hour race sponsored by K&B. Not sure if it was the same place, It had 2 crappy road courses complete with launch ramps in and out of the banks. But they did have the first banked slot car oval track I ever saw.

Good grief, I think I actually remember that weird donut on the Engleman king. I guess I just figured that it was "improved" at some point to a round donut. That must have been pretty early on. Any idea when they got the true king? I know at the Belleville location it was the first sub-4 second king. I do remember the Engleman up towards the front of the store; the black was not there when I started racing there, which must have been about 1968 or so.
Great memories

[tonyp]

Good grief, I think I actually remember that weird donut on the Engleman king. I guess I just figured that it was "improved" at some point to a round donut. That must have been pretty early on. Any idea when they got the true king? I know at the Belleville location it was the first sub-4 second king. I do remember the Engleman up towards the front of the store; the black was not there when I started racing there, which must have been about 1968 or so.
Great memories

PVA won the Car Model Race (I think that is what it was) at Nutley and Sunday there was a big rain storm, On monday when Mike Tango came into work the roof had leaked all over the track and ruined it. I'll have to see if I can find that race in my old papers.

[Bob Emott]

We ran a pro race at Closter. Horrible King track, no bite, slippery and hot power. The ultimate combination. They had a really nice building and a big hobby shop upstairs.

I remember blowing up early and going upstairs to buy the new sensation, the Rubik's Cube.

Tony,
I didn't know you didn't know the early history of the Closter king... It became the BIR king. I bought it from a guy who was a regular at Closter who bought it when the raceway closed with the intention of obening his own raceway. It was stored in a garage under his apartment for oround 20 years and he paid the rent for all those years!!!! H told me about it and I said if yoy ever want to sell it, let me know.... Whell, he finally realized he was never going to open his raceway and his landlord wanted to raise the rent anyway, so the track had to go... That was just the time that I wanted a king track for BIR hobby shop which was in Union, NJ. So, out went the Hillclimb and the pinched oval (made from one flat large radius turne off an American Monarch track and the finger turn off a Blue King and a couple of home made straightaways) and in came the King.... I had to knock down part of one wall to clear the bank, but we got it to fit... Tony P was working at the raceway building some of the 10,000 or so chassis that he probubly build in his carreer....!!!
I gave the gentlemen $500 to pay for a bit of his years of rent, and we moved the track to Union, only to find that the track had fbeen stored in a garage that was at the downhill end of the driveway and was getting wet whenever it rained... The formica on the finger and the leadi and feadout were warped and the supporting wood on the strack sides was falling off and it took quite a bit of work to make them runable, but since the other two tracks were already gone, I had no choice (Remenber the old adage, Look Before You Leap..) Anyway, Tony has mennoned most of the word that went into the king to make it wat was called the best standard Blue King "back in the day"... It ended up in PA complete with the signature screw heads holding the formica on the finger.... I don't know where the hillclind ended up, and the raceway ended up as an indoor R?C race track after Tony and my intrest's went that way....

[tonyp]

I do not remember the name of the guy we got the track from but I remember moving it. LOL... The guy used to race will Bill Taylor and that group. I think at the time we bought the track he was doing "Art photography". LOL...

[Dooner]

Does anyone remember the track in Vineland, NJ? I heard it was an Engleman which later was split into two raceways. 110 ft went to Millville, NJ as a figure 8, and the other 110 went to Chicks Hobby Center in Paulsboro, NJ. Both tracks are gone now, Chick got rid of his around 86` or 87`and Bill in Millville sold his building just a few years ago.I raced on both those tracks, but not Vineland, that was before my time.

Yes I remember that raceway in vineland. It was on one of the main streets. From what I remember, the track was huge to me and the parts area was in the center of the building. When I went there must have been just before they closed. There was no one else on the track. It was sad to see a track go to waste.

[MrWeiler]

Ray, yes I was there but do not remember much about it. Was that the place with the fiberglass tracks? Also a guy named Nick Carpuck? Used to race there and also at Nutley.

The weirdest track I ever ran a car on was at Cranford Raceway. They had a two-story track that ran from the first floor to the second. You actually stood on the second floor in the infield to drive the cars. As you came up the hill to the second floor the cars actually went behind you. It did have a cool Laguna corkscrew style downhill though.

It was not a raceable track. All the tracks they had (three) were weird. I believe the owners were carpenters and built the tracks themselves. On Friday nights we would always pick a track we never went to before and go to run there. I do not think they made it to the pro era.

Cranford was my local track when I lived in NJ (68-69). PVA would drop in about once a week to test--he lived in Scotch Planes, about 10 minutes away. We had weekly races, mostly on the front track that was kinda engleman-esque but with 2 doglegs and a donut--that was the normal track and was FUN and fast. As I remember we were running 20s for most of the races I was at.

We also raced a couple of times on the Cranford custom "hillclimb" but you are right it was WEIRD. You drove from inside the track on the upstairs area and the track was spread over two stories of the building and after you came up the hill you had to turn and look behind you so you didn't loose the car...goin back downhill was an offcamber dogleg and about a 20-25 foot drop down to the donut...

Nice people, strange track

[tonyp]

The owners were carpenters I believe and built all the tracks . All The tracks were weird but the "Hill Climb" was designed by someone who never saw a slot car track before. It was fun to run some laps on... but un-raceable. The other 2 were pretty nice actually. Nice raceway overall. I think they may have had a drag strip also.

[Dooner]

Tony or anyone who remembers,
Years ago I walked into a raceway in South Jersey that had what I think was an original Aristocrat 135 on the first floor on the left as you walked in the building just past the parts counter. As you walked in straight ahead was another track with a very steep bank that looked like it was climbing the wall. Upstairs was an RC track. The owner's son was not very friendly. He was watching the track for his Father whom I believe was a psychiatrist.
Does anyone remember that raceway or have pics?

Here is a pic of an Aristocrat. Maybe this will jog some memories.

[tonyp]

Tom, No idea... Could it be The Race Place in Collingswood? I don't believe they had an RC track upstairs but I could be wrong. If so they are still around, have the same track and have a flat track upstairs...