New owners excited about speedway
Upper Freehold official partners with Princeton man to buy racetrack
BY JANE MEGGITT
Staff Writer

SCOTT PILLING staff Fred Vahlsing, of Princeton, (l) and William Miscoski, of Upper Freehold Township, talk about their co-ownership of the New Egypt Speedway, Route 539, Plumsted.

Last year, William Miscoski and his friend, Fred Vahlsing, were playing golf at the Cream Ridge Golf Club in Upper Freehold Township when Miscoski asked Vahlsing, "How would you like to own a racetrack?"

At the time, Vahlsing said his wife would kill him, but just three days later he told Miscoski, "Let's do it." Now the pair are the new owners of the New Egypt Speedway, Route 539, in the New Egypt section of Plumsted.

For Miscoski, the deputy mayor of Upper Freehold, buying the track in the 50/50 partnership with Vahlsing brings him full circle in his love for car racing. He started attending races as a fan eight years ago and began racing a year after that. He then started a race team, and now he owns a track.

When asked why he decided to purchase the speedway, Miscoski said he has a passion for the sport and the opportunity to own a track became available. He also said former owner Richard Grosso told him he planned to sell the speedway and that he would rather see Miscoski have it than anyone else.

Last year, Miscoski sold his Cream Ridge Golf Club in Upper Freehold to the state, although he continues to manage it under a five-year contract.

"I've been in the golf course business all of my life," he said. "I still love it, but when the racetrack is successful, I would like to get out of the golf business and do this."

His brother-in-law, Kenneth Horner, along with his nephew, Bradley Horner, would manage the golf course in his absence, he said.

Miscoski said he asked Vahlsing about a partnership in owning the speedway because he did not want to go into the business by himself.

Vahlsing has been in the dirt business all his life and is an excellent businessman, Miscoski said, adding that Vahlsing knows how to prepare the track and get the dirt right.

Vahlsing, of Princeton, said he and Miscoski were both involved in drag racing in their youth. However, Vahlsing had only gone to the New Egypt speedway once as a fan before actually buying the track.

"Racing is like a narcotic," Vahlsing said. "Once you have a race car, you can't get out of [racing]."

Referring to his drag-racing days, Miscoski said he used to think the guys racing cars around in circles were nuts.

"I wanted to go straight," Miscoski said. "Now I realize [that] guys going around in circles aren't so nuts. It's fun."

The 42-acre speedway site can host between 2,000 and 10,000 fans on race nights. The Grossos totally rebuilt the facility in 1997, according to Miscoski.

Grosso spent $2 million revamping the speedway, according to an article in the February 1999 issue of Trackside magazine, the official publication of Thoroughbred Racing SA (South Australia).

Miscoski called the speedway a first-class facility and the finest racetrack in the Northeast.

Beginning April 7, the speedway will hold races every Saturday night and be open every other Friday night. The track will also hold a "Pandemonium in the Pinelands" World of Outlaw Sprints on May 20, and "Midsummer Night's Mad-ness" on Aug. 1.

Miscoski said that between 120 and 150 cars usually race on Saturdays. It's uncertain how many vehicles will appear on Fridays because the new owners plan to bring another racing class into New Jersey called Super Late Models.

They also intend to introduce Outlaw Stock Cars and create other classes of cars on a regular basis, according to Miscoski. The speedway will continue to feature Sprint cars, Super Stocks, Sports-man, Modifieds and Haldeman Ford SS Sprints, he said.

The partners have a philosophy that the speedway is not just a racetrack, but an entertainment facility.

"We're not just in the racing business," Miscoski said. "We're in the entertainment business."

They plan to host many special events, which includes having NASCAR drivers competed against the regular New Egypt drivers. They also plan to hold tractor pulls and mud hogs, which Vahlsing describes as trucks digging 100-foot-by-30-foot trenches and filling them with water.

"You start at one end with a truck and see how far it can go," Vahlsing said.

Other possible events at the speedway include carnivals and/or concerts, the co-owners said.

Vahlsing said they may also help create a high school racing program, in which students could either learn to build a race car or get involved in the sport in some other way.

Miscoski said Plumsted officials like the speedway and know that the new owners will follow the rules and be an asset to the community.

The new owners have lowered the admission price and have leased a food concession. They will also allow audience members to drink beer in a designated area of the track.

Miscoski's daughter, Sarah, and her husband, Noah Crome, will run Sarah's Snack Shop at the track. The track employs about 30 people, according to Miscoski.

"That doesn't include all the volunteers who love racing and help out around the stands and in the pits," he said.

The New Egypt Speedway will open under its new management at 11 a.m. March 31 with an open practice for all divisions. Admission on that date will be free.

Most races will cost $15 for admission, but there will be a discount for seniors. The new owners also hope to be able to provide a discount for high school students as well as a season package price, according to Miscoski.

For additional information, visit the Web site www.newegyptspeedway.net or call (609) 758-1900.