Track-rental at Island this Fall 2023
 

Putting this post on here to see how much interest there is in doing a track-day private rental up here at Island Dragway this fall season. I know I personally haven't had the most successful drag racing year, but I think I would have a good chance of doing so at a Private rental with the opportunity to make lots more runs than a normal Test-n-Tune event. When news of Atco closing came along, it got me a little more serious about making this a reality, so lets here what you think.

I called and spoke to Melissa today who gave me the quick run down on rentals. I then filled out the online rental inquiry form and got to see the available dates. All rentals are on Fridays only and she mentioned one Friday in early October was tentatively taken. Early September is kinda too soon, and there is no rental availability in November at all.

open dates as of now:
September 8
September 15
September 22
September 29
October 6
October 13 (possibly tentatively taken)
October 20
October 27



If there is a handful of us here who are interested, along with a good enough amount of other buddies/racers, I think we can try to get this idea into a possibility.


here is a link to the island rental page.
https://www.islanddragway.com/2014/06/25/track-rentals/

Trust me, I know it is expensive to pay about $200 to go flog on your car at the dragstrip, so I totally get it if there is not a huge amount of people who can commit. What I do ask though, is if you think you are a solid YES or if you just have anything helpful to add, please feel free to jump in on the discussion here.

I am asking around my groups and I think October 6 or the 20th are the two best options at this point. That is, if the 13th is truly already taken.. I will check on that soon.

Edit:
I called today and Melissa said she still has all 3 dates in October (6, 13, 20) available. She mentioned that the 6th is Colombus day weekend too which might make for a good 4 day weekend.

id be good for either.

October is best for me. At minimum I'd spectate, Maybe I'll bring something boring just so for the poser shot in from of the NJFBOA sign.

As of today, Oct 20/27 would be best dates for me.

late Oct would be the only option for me

October is fine for me.

Dave, thanks for taking this on.

Any October date is good for me currently

sounds good guys.

I have a list going with a bunch of people on it and I am still waiting to hear back from about half of them. The general trend is that we are looking for Friday Oct 13 or Friday Oct 20th.
So, that being said, since I Do want this to happen, if you guys want to invite other people you know or friends of friends who have vehicles that would fit this event, please start suggesting it.
People can reach out to me as much as they need to. My email address is martin.dave3@gmail.com

I mentioned about reading the website to see if your car has any issues with their rental/track rules. For clarification, do NOT worry about the antifreeze being in the car. They must have that in there for some of the real deal drag cars. However, they do NOT check inside your cooling system at tech, they have never asked me about coolant, and nobody expects you to run water on a street-car track rental day. A battery hold-down is a must though, they do check that. But it doesn't need to be some heavy duty overkill setup, as long as the battery passes their "shake around test" you should be good, but be smart about it. Make sure You feel safe enough about it, and any other tech related stuff. Tires, lug studs, lug nuts, hood latch, windows must be able to be UP when you make a pass, good hose clamps on pipes and tubes. You know, stuff that is reasonable and you would want done right on the car anyways.

Any tire requirements? I plan on getting drag radials but that probably wont happen until the spring since I'd need to buy a second pair a rear wheels.

if charlie is there doing tech (i hope not) hes the ball buster about screw in valve stems and little stuff. he gave me a hard time and carl (track owner) came over and told him to chill over my 17" drag radials with regular valve stems. i was like "dude, i ran here friday, you teched me, didnt say anything, now today youre gonna be like that" saying i cant run faster than 11.50.

at the point now if its not charlie techning me i dont even have to get out of the car.

so yea, drag radials "should" have extended studs, but then every s550 mustang and charger wouldnt be allowed to run. also faster than 11.50 screw in valve stems are required as well. the battery hold down thing too.

dave either day in october is good, just post it up about 2 weeks out please so i can make sure we are off of work. ill have 2 cars there, possibly a 3rd.

Hey Dave can you keep me In the loop on the track rental on what day its going to be .. Thanks

ok thanks. I assume tech cant say anything about a bone stock car on street tires though. I just wasnt sure if people look down upon a street tire car running on a track rental day, something about ruining the prep or such. Because if its not an issue, I'd join this fall, and I already avoid the water box anyway. Just need a helmet and jacket.

Recommend if permitting street tires that you consider them running in only one lane and/or out of the groove as if there is enough cars with them it will deteriorate the prep.

what blackbird said, street guys stay out of groove. that worked well at the atco rentals.

yes definitely. Island typically puts 'the cone" out for treaded street tires on normal T&T events. basically they put a cone along the inside center-line area before you pull up to stage, and this cone directs/pushes the street treaded tire cars out of the rubber 'groove". DOT radials like the Mickey Thompson ET Street SS tires are allowed to stage and launch from the normal groove, as are slicks. I will check on this via my next upcoming phone call.


Currently my other questions are:
- we don't really have to drain all coolant from our cooling system? I've run there so many dozen times and not once has the coolant ever been checked or asked about. I think they just had this in the rules from a long time ago, maybe NHRA rentals or something? Anyway's I'll clarify.

- Does every car need metal valve stems (on all tires)? Sometimes the tech shed checks this, but I doubt it is likely on a private rental. I have metal valve-stems in my rear wheels, but I have rubber ones in the front skinnies and have never been hassled.


So far, it is looking like Friday October 20th is going to be the day. I've got a sufficient amount of responses both here, on text messages, and friends of friends to move forward with booking a date.

As I go through the reservation process, I will sure up the details with prices, and really whatever is listed on the website is probably the price breakdown still.
This is in-motion for the next couple days unless I hear an overwhelming amount of people requesting another day or different circumstances happen (like the date got picked by another group already).


I don't have facebook, instagram, or anything else in that realm, so if you guys do wish to share it with local racing groups,thats fine too. I've been glad to hear it made it down to the South Jersey fbody guys and elsewhere.

If anyone has questions, or wants to pass my info along, use my email: martin.dave3@gmail.com
Once I get a good group of participants I will keep both this forum page and a group email chain going.

Do they still have the tech guy that loves to switch the battery cutoff? Cause that isn't cool

I don't know actually. I usually just pull up, jump out and flip it off for them if i see they are looking at me.


I booked the date, and paid the deposit. We can now plan on this being a set date to have your rides ready by.

Price breakdown is as listed on their website, unless I hear otherwise.

The price for the first 15 drivers to sign-up is $150. For any drivers beyond 15, it goes to $200 per driver/car. There is a max of 40 cars allowed. As for prep, we can discuss it further, but basic prep is to have EITHER of these
a. both lanes glued and prepped to the 330 foot mark
or
b. one lane unprepped and one lane prepped to the 1/8th mile (660 feet).

...however, we can also have additional lane prep added on if we think we need it, even if we decide that day, so just keep all that in mind.

Helmets are checked over by the tech for sure, so make sure you really know/follow the helmet rules correctly. if You have any helmet related questions, ask them.

My paypal address is viper6916aol.com and you can use this to pay me. I will keep a detailed record of names, payments, and info along the way so you can be certain things will be orderly. When you paypal me, please also provide your full name, username, type of car, and your phone/email address. Using paypal, try to click the option that says "sending $ to friends and family" as then I will not incur paypal fees. It also wouldn't hurt to send me an email as a "heads-up" that you sent me payment, thanks. my email address is martin.dave3@gmail.com

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...2637f1c8_c.jpg

They don’t want coolant in cars because if it leaks onto the track, it’s a difficult cleanup. Otherwise, it’ll be an ice rink. So it’s more of a do you want to be that guy who stops racing for an hour because you didn’t switch to water only.

Dave, as mentioned in our text message I'm in for this

$ sent

Yes, please let me know about the street tire thing, either a specific lane or just stay out of the groove. I'd definitely like to get my car to the track this year still.

You guys ran water at the rentals? For real???

I don't run coolant or water at the rental. Weight is weight.

I want in but I am not following, are street tires permitted?