Hello Motorsports enthusiasts, Lee Craft here with the Monday morning racer. Racers and race fans alike. When we experience the loss of a popular and prestigious venue from whatever form of motorsports it may be, it is simply gut wrenching. It's almost as if you've lost a member of the family. I know from the NASCAR world, people still mourn over the loss of a NASCAR date at North Wilkesboro Speedway and the Rock and Rockingham North Carolina North Carolina Speedway. Well, sadly, this feeling now comes to those of the world of NHRA drag racing. If you had hopes such as myself after the 2018 announcement at the Summer Nationals were not going to be run in English town New Jersey at Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, those hopes are now dashed. The capital sports report put out this article on March 21st, 2019 at 12 a.m. entitled Raceway Park begins demolition of drag strip. It began this week and many found out via photo circulating on social media, which you are seeing. Now, that's how I found out the news via Cruz Petrigan's Twitter feed and what a sad day it is to see the wall at Old E Town coming down the track being torn up. Now, in this video, I do want to ask you what are your favorite moments of English town? And if you are in that market, living in that market, where are you going to attempt to attend another NHRA National Meet to get your dose of Nitro Sea Pro Stocks run down the strip and enjoy everything else about NHRA Drag Racing. Will you attempt to go into New Hampshire? Will you go down to Virginia? Will you possibly go further into Pennsylvania? Where are you going to attempt to catch an NHRA Meet? For me, one of my most popular memories reminds me of my childhood and growing up in a family that loved in particular NASCAR and NHRA, we had a lot of VHS tapes of races and we also had a VHS tape of the year in review, Drag Racing 1986 done by Diamond P Productions. And in 1986, a memorable moment in NHRA Drag Racing occurred and it happened to Big Daddy Don Garlitz. I can recall Don Garlitz fires off the line, the car goes into a power willy enough air gets underneath that top-fuel dragster. It lifts straight up into the air and what we know is a blow over and it periwets on its rear slicks, lands back down on the ground, does a reverse burnout, Don Garlitz drives forward just a bit, parks it at an angle, gets out of the top-fuel or hands raised and you have the moonshot of Big Daddy Don Garlitz at English Town, New Jersey and it is forever etched in the great moments of NHRA Drag Racing. I can remember watching that over and over and over again. Let me give you a little bit of the history about English Town though. It was opened July 4th 1965 by a family that was affectionately known as the NAPS and it operated for over 52 years and it held a prestigious event in NHRA Drag Race in the summer nationals. Also there was a few times it was known as a super-national but it was one of the crown jewel events for Drag Racing. It was a big race that you wanted to win along with a race of Pomona and certainly along with the biggest race of them all. The US national was in Indianapolis but old bridge township raceway park was not just for drag racing. They held AMA, sanctioned motor cross events, auto swapped swap means and shows, drifting events, carting events, they even held concerts and music festivals at this particular facility. So it's going to impact the local area even greater than just losing a drag racing event. They're at Old E-town. There's a few other events I want to mention as well. Kurt Johnson had a six-second breaking run and pro-stock and Carolyn Melanie, she was also the first woman to go over 200 in a door slamer at English Town. Again, subscribe to the Monday Morning Racer like this video and in the comments section below, share your memories of English Town and share where will you go now to drag race or catch an NHRA national meet. Lastly, at the end of this video I do want to remind you that in losing this track we also did at English Town lose a great competitor in 2008 in Scott Colletta. A world champion several times over and by many of his peers a lively individual that lost his life too soon. He lost his life in English Town, New Jersey in a fiery funny car accident in 2008 and in honor of him, God bless and keep the pedal to the metal.