New Jersey Motorsport Park Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

(photo: aawil)

First, I think I can speak for all enthusiasts in the greater New York area, we're hoping the track pulls through and stays open.
That said, given its financing plan was contingent on sales of trackside vacation homes and shopping mall style retail...in Millville NJ, we are not surprised....

I enjoy NJMP's Thunderbolt track layout. Many are not so enthusiastic but I like the combination of the two fast corners and the more technical section. They have hotel rooms right above the garages, which is nice. and it's relatively close to NYC.

What I keep wondering is why, when they designed this facility, they did not think big enough for a track up to real international standards, with properly done runoffs, with tunnel access rather than bridge access to the infield, with the possibility of joining the two tracks into a single long course... I know it's not a fair comparison, but having driven at a track like Paul Ricard HTTT, I have seen what can be accomplished if you have the right combination of financing and knowhow (Paul Ricard is owned by a company controlled by Bernie Ecclestone, I would bet it's not losing money), I wish, someone would step up here in US... Oh wait, Austin and Tavo Hellmund's group are thinking right. Bummer about Texas being 1800 miles away!

Read the story by the Press of Atlantic City HERE
(thanks to Preeth Kumar and Jaffster for the news)

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Big Racing week end!

Huge racing week end this one. Of course Formula 1 is at Spa but also, MotoGP at Indianapolis, ALMS at Mosport and last but not least the Porsche Club of America is at New Jersey Motorsport Park where our own CG will be flying the Axis flag high! Go CG!

Anyway about Spa, the track everyone loves, this is a lovely clip the BBC made last year.



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That was supposed to be a Left Turn!

On board with Joey Hand in the Turner Motorsport BMW M3 Koni Challenge car at New Jersey Motorsport Park's Thunderbolt course.

"Round #3 Race of the KONI Challenge at New Jersey Motorsports Park. In car with Joey Hand in the #97 Turner Motorsport BMW E46 M3, running nose-to-tail with Bill Auberlen in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW E46 M3, fighting it out with each other and the Porsche for Position in the front of the pack.

The incident occurring at 1:50 forced Auberlen to pit out with a flat tire, removing him from podium contention (his co-driver Matt Bell led the race from the poll for 28 laps). Joey Hand continued on for a strong finish -- be sure to watch this race on SPEED saturday May 9th at 12:00pm ET. Be sure to set your DVR!"





And here is the rest of it.

What's My Line: Thunderbolt Edition.

I truly enjoyed New Jersey Motorsport Park's Thunderbolt track. It has a bit of everything and it's not a track that is much more fun if you have a monster horsepower car.

As it's a rather new track I though I would do a track guide like I did for Monticello. Keep in mind this is MY line and lines are like..... everyone has one. To that effect I would encourage you to share your own version.

The line I describe is not the strict "driving school", safe line, please keep that in mind. It is always useful to learn the official version first before you start exploring what might work best for you and your setup. Safety first, don't forget. As coveted as th title may be, there is no sponsorship deal for the Track Day World Champion.

After the jump you will find a video of three laps, each faster than the previous, from my last session on Sunday. My fastest time over three days and I had a passenger with me, guess I need a little more work down there! To my chagrin I was not able to fully destroy my now ancient v710's which though certainly heat-cycle'd out, stubbornly refuse to chord or become fully gripless. Amazing tire in my opinion, now I'll have feel bad about buying a new set come next spring.

You can download my Traqmate file HERE.
And if you are a sick bastard you can download Stee Traqmate file for the Cayenne Turbo which he ended up running HERE



For the Video ->
PDA and NASA put on a great show, we had open track, NASA races (Congratulations Spencer Lo-Buk Anderson for your third in the Honda Challenge Championship!) HPDE, demo rides...and a beyond awesome BBQ. Joe Cassella truly threw the gauntlet down on NASA Mid-Atlantic with that feast!

Great way to end the season.



(Additional pictures by The Dough)


more pictures at TrackTime Photos.

Thunderbolt!

We're probably the last people in the whole of the North East to finally get to New Jersey Motorsport Park's Thunderbolt track, better late than never I guess. I'm at the track all week end with NASA and PDA trying to destroy what is left of my remaining Kumho 710's. I chrded the fronts at Monticello a few weeks back but I had one more pair of used fronts in the garage, left over from last season. Waste not want not, the Freep would say. In fact, new tires would help a lot on this track and its long, long corners.

For now just a quick video of a couple of laps from Friday's open track day, more during the week after I come back.



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Lady Cab Driver coming to America

Posssibly the world's most famous taxi driver will be do some racing in the US in Grand-Am. She will be competing the Koni Challenge events at New Jersey Motorsport Park and Iowa speedway driving a VW GTI....



APR Motorsport has signed Sabine Schmitz, the winningest female endurance racer in the world, as a team driver. Schmitz will join the team for her first of two 2008 Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series races this weekend at Iowa Speedway, co-driving the No. 181 APR Motorsport/Team Janica Racing VW GTI with Mark White. Schmitz will be filling in for Randy Pobst, who has a conflicting race.



In addition to her endurance successes, Schmitz is perhaps equally famous for her years as a BMW factory driver. The “Queen of the Ring” is believed to have more laps than any other driver on the famed Nordschleife over the past decade (she estimates a lifetime total of over 23,000 laps of the 14-mile circuit). Schmitz still works for BMW, driving the firms “Ring Taxi” many weekends of the year. When not on the Ring, Schmitz makes frequent guest appearances on the popular BBC Television program, Top Gear, often challenging the anonymous “Stig” to race, test cars and outrunning the hosts on the Ring. Additionally, Schmitz hosts her own weekly motorsports show called ‘D Motor”, on the DMAX Network, in her home country of Germany.

Schmitz was the first women in the world to win a major 24 Hour race, and is the only women in the world who has two 24 Hour titles to her name, along with countless VLN Series endurance wins (VLN is a German series comparable to the Rolex GT series).

Schmitz became fast friends with many at APR Motorsport via much testing and driving done by Pobst, Ian Baas, Mark White and Dion von Moltke as well as many of the APR staff at the Nordschleife over the past few years. When Pobst announced he couldn’t drive in two Grand-Am KONI Challenge Series races this season, it very quickly became clear Schmitz was both the team and co-driver White’s first choice.

“I am really excited to get the chance to race in KONI Challenge, in a German car with Mark White and APR Motorsport,” Schmitz said. “I have spent a lot of time with the APR Motorsport Team, as well as Mark over the years, including spending some time this past spring on the Nordschleife in a GTI race car. We all developed a great amount of respect and friendship for one another and I hope to do a good job for team, as filling Randy Pobst’s seat is not easy!”

“When we sat down and narrowed our choices as to who we’d like to put in No. 181 for these races, Sabine immediately rose to the top,” White said. “She is scary fast, something I know this first hand from our time on the ‘Ring together, and has a proven ability to keep a car in one piece, as evidenced by her endurance racing success. She also brings that ‘Rockstar’ quality, similar to Randy’s, and her presence will raise the whole team’s game. This weekend will be big fun and we should have a great shot at a podium finish!”

Schmitz is tentatively scheduled to compete with APR Motorsport at the Iowa Speedway and New Jersey Motorsports Park events

New Jersey Motorsport Park is up and running

One of the the two tracks at the New Jersey Motorsport Park, the Lightning course, is now open for business. The course is on the right in this picture.

Let's take a look at the track from a driver's prospective....

YouTube is a wonderful thing! Here is Lightning from inside a Corvette Z06.

an e92 M3.

In the wet.



and finally on a motorcycle (finally a proper track for motorcycles in the North East!).

Progress at New Jersey Motorsport Park.

I know all of us in the North East are anxious for news, our friends at NJMP sent us a progress report and some fresh aerial reconnaissance .

Despite weather related delays, the Lightning course is almost all paved. Kart tracks are graded and ready for asphalt.

We are all waiting for the big track, Thunderbolt. It looks to be somewhat further behind however they are confident it will all get paved in time for summer. Very nice!

Thunderbolt and Lightning! New Jersey Motorsport Park

During this long off season, what should have miserable North East track rats banging their heads and singing falsetto in joy like Wayne and Garth?...Thunderbolt and Lightning!

Chances are that if you read this web site, you have heard of New Jersey Motorsport Park, the new twin track (Thunderbolt and Lightning) facility in southern Jersey being developed by the same group responsible for Virginia International Raceway. If you read this, you probably also felt the disappointment of past projects which never seemed to work out... there is a big difference here, HUGE, this one is for real. Paving is well on the way and the 2008 schedule has just been released.

From the looks of it, it's a happy time to be a Porsche Club of America member. PCA have 10 events for a total of 26 days compared to a big fat ZERO for BMWCCA (....hopefully that will change.)

Great news for motorcycle riders as well, the facility is bike safe and there are many track day/schools on the schedule. Must be nice to finally have a good track available for two wheel fun.

And of course there is professional and historic racing, Grand Am Rolex Sport Cars, ARCA, SVRA and even pro drifting with the D1 tour making a stop.

Stay tuned as we will bring you any new developments as they become available.

Now if we could only figure out a way to make winter go by faster....

2008 New Jersey Motorsports Park Spectator Calendar

Aug 7-10, 2008 SVRA
Aug 15-17, 2008 Shelby Club of America
Aug 29-31, 2008 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series
Sept 12-14, 2008 D1 Grand Prix
Sept 26-28, 2008 ARCA RE/MAX Series

2008 New Jersey Motorsports Park Club & School Calendar

July 11-13 EMRA
July 18-20 SCCA
July 25-27 Keith Code Motorcycle School
July 28-31 Bertil-Roos Driver School
Aug 2-4 Porsche Club of America
Aug 7-10 Bertil-Roos Driver School
Aug 11-14 Keith Code Motorcycle School
Aug 15-17 NY Sportbike Club
Aug 18–19 Porsche Club of America
Aug 19-21 Skip Barber Driver School
Aug 22-24 SCCA Regionals
Aug 25 NE Sportbike Association
Aug 25-28 Skip Barber Driver School
Aug 29-31 NE Sportbike Association
Sept 1-3 Skip Barber Driver School
Sept 5-7 Porsche Club of America
Sept 5-7 Woodbridge Kart Club
Sept 9-11 Skip Barber Driver School
Sept 10-11 Porsche Club of America
Sept 12-14 Porsche Club of America
Sept 15 NE Sportbike Association
Sept 19 VRG Race
Sept 19-21 SCCA
Sept 27-28 Team ProMotion (Motorcycle)
Oct 3-5 Absolute Cycle
Oct 3-5 Porsche Club of America
Oct 6 NE Sportbike Association
Oct 10-12 Porsche Club of America
Oct 11-12 Sportbike Track Club
Oct 17-19 Porsche Club of America
Oct 17-19 SCCA Regionals
Oct 20 Team ProMotion (Motorcycle)
Oct 24-26 SCCA
Oct 24-26 Porsche Club of America
Oct 31-Nov2 NY Sportbike Club
Nov 1-2 NE Sportbike Association
Nov 1-2 Porsche Club of America
Nov 7-9 NASA/PDA

New Jersey Motorsports Park Releases Inaugural Race Calendar for 2008 Season
Professional Racing Returns to New Jersey at All-New Venue

Orlando, FL and Millville, NJ – December 6, 2007 – At the annual Performance Racing Industry
(PRI) tradeshow in Orlando, Florida, the racing world received official word that professional
Motorsports is returning to New Jersey in a major way.
New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP), a new Motorsports complex in Southern New Jersey featuring five Motorsports venues, will host five major spectator races in its first year of operation and 34 club and driver school events have
already been booked, filling out the schedule. The marquee race of the season – Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series – is slated for August 29 – 31. More than 100,000 spectators are forecast to visit Millville, NJ over the course of just
two months next summer, as the facility welcomes some of America’s top touring racing series.

NJMP features two road-racing courses: Thunderbolt Raceway, named for the historic P-47
Thunderbolt aircraft which was stationed at Millville Army Air Field during World War II and
where its crews were trained, and the Lightning Road Course – named for the P-38 Lightning –
the first American dual engine fighter.

The Sportscar Vintage Racing Association (SVRA) will hold the first public spectator event in NJMP history on August 7-10. Historic cars as diverse as the Ferrari Formula 2, Porsche 356, Jaguar E-Type, McLaren M8D Can-Am and Shelby GT350 participate in SVRA events, and will grace the Thunderbolt track.

The Shelby American Automobile Club will hold its national convention, complete with a concours and racing event on August 15-17. Carroll Shelby himself had a hand in the layout and conceptual design of the Thunderbolt Raceway, so it’s fitting that some of the legend’s greatest creations will be put to the test on a track that bears his imprint.

On August 29-31, NJMP will present its crown jewel event for 2008, as the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16 brings its exotic Daytona Prototype and GT racers to Thunderbolt Raceway. Arguably the most competitive racing series in America, the Grand-Am Rolex Series features superstar drivers like Scott Pruett, Alex Gurney, Max Angelelli and Bill Auberlen, as well as world-renowned teams such as Chip Ganassi with Felix Sabates. NJMP expects Grand-Am’s first visit to the facility to be the biggest spectator draw of the season.

On September 12-14, professional drifting makes its road course debut in New Jersey as the D1 Grand Prix comes to town to compete on the Lightning Road Course. Drifters balance speed, artistry and showmanship in this unique judged Motorsport event, and will contribute plenty of rubber to the fresh asphalt at NJMP.

The ARCA RE/MAX Series, America’s most diverse auto racing series, returns to road- course racing for the first time since 2001 on September 26-28 at Thunderbolt Raceway, wrapping up NJMP’s inaugural spectator season. Spectators will get a look at the next generation of NASCAR hopefuls, as they race stockcars around the 2.3-mile road circuit.

New Jersey Motorsports Park is already nearly fully booked for its first season of operation. Beyond the five initial public events, national and regional enthusiast clubs will hold events at the facility, including the Porsche Club of America, BMW Club of America, SCCA, Skip Barber Driving School, and New York Sport Bike Club.

East the hard way

I always have a bit of a hard time convincing people that the Pocono East course is fun. Truth is, Pocono Raceway is not the best facility and the East course is the rattiest looking course there. Tight, lots of gravel off line, East's layout is however very entertaining and has the distinction of being a real handling course, the kind of tight track an Elise or an Exige would love.
We have quite a few videos from there you can look up, but today I have a video sent in from a reader and fellow F1 fan (a Kubica fan to be more specific!) that shows a slightly different prospective.
All I kept thinking looking at Krzystof's video was....man it's gotta hurt when those Pocono East rocks come flying up. I feel for bikers in our area, they really have few options, hopefully for them, the new New Jersey Motorsport Park tracks in south Jersey will be bike friendly. Always better on the track than on the street!

Oh, and check out at the end of the video just how nasty snap oversteer is when you only have two wheels!.