With New York Motorsports promoter Dave Hance’s blessing, Summit Motorsports Park is expected to announce formally later this week that it will revive the heads-up outlaw-style doorslammer race that for a decade brought global attention to Old Bridge Township Raceway Park at Englishtown, N.J.
 
The Shakedown At The Summit is set for Friday-Sunday, Oct. 4-6, 2013, with test-and-tune Thursday, Oct. 3 at Summit Motorsports Park, home to the annual Night Under Fire August classic and the National Hot Rod Association’s Summit Racing Equipment Nationals.
 
What makes this renewal particularly unusual is the fact Hance built the Shakedown brand for a decade, then gave Summit Motorsports Park President Bill Bader Jr. his approval to use the name “Shakedown” without any type of compensation or proprietary consideration.

Bader offered, according to both Hance and track spokesman Kurt Johnson. But Hance said he trusted that Summit Motorsports Park would host an event worthy of his efforts and insisted he wants no payment.
 
The agreement came about through a telephone call from Bader to Hance during the recent PRI Show at Orlando, and the finishing touches to the deal came together during last weekend’s IMIS at Indianapolis.
 
“It has just spread like wildfire,” Johnson said of news that the popular race will continue. Hance had announced in October that the 10th anniversary edition of the event would be its last.
 
Hance, who has won races in both his Drag Radial and Pro Modified cars, said he plans to compete in the Shakedown At The Summit. He spoke glowingly about Bader and his Summit Motorsports Park team. Johnson spoke highly of Hance and his accomplishments.

Said Johnson, “It’s one of the largest heads-up outlaw-style races in the country, and we didn’t want to see it go away. There’s a lot more motivation here than profit or trying to do a large heads-up race. We didn’t want to see Shakedown disappear, because it’s got such good tradition to it. Dave has done a fantastic job. I respect him more than you’d believe. That’s one of my favorite races.
 
Johnson said he and Bader approached Hance because companies wanting to sponsor the event encouraged them to do so.  And, Johnson said, “Obviously we’ve got the facility to create a first-class-event atmosphere, and we really think we can knock this thing out of the park.”
 
Hance agreed: “They’re going to give the racers a safe place and great track. Wait until you see the E.T.s that come out of that place. It’s going to pick up right where we left off and hopefully be better. So it was an easy decision. Trust me, I would not have given the blessing if I didn’t think it would be good for the racers involved.
 
“I didn’t get the impression that Norwalk just wants to make a fast buck” he said. “Ultimately they will make a buck. And I hope they make hundreds of thousands of bucks. But I think they’re going to earn it, put on a great show for the racer.”
 
Hance made it clear he will not profit in any way from this event.
 
“I have no deal with them: no memorabilia deal, no T-shirt deal, no ‘If the race is successful, we’ll give you something,’ ” he said. He said he simply told Bader, “Feel free to use ‘Shakedown.’ I want no consideration whatsoever in return. Nothing. Zero. It just happened in a phone conversation. I wasn’t out looking for somebody to push it on.”

Johnson said he hopes Hance will change his mind someday about being involved again.

“We will leave this open for Dave to get back involved,” he said.
 
“Today’s world is so darn business-driven that some people forget about the respect side. In a lot of ways, that goes way further than anything you could do,” Johnson said. “We offered monetary support. He doesn’t want it. That just shows his character. I think he wants to see somebody that would carry it on the way that he would. And I think that’s why he’s supporting this. He knows we can run with this.”
 
Hance said he chose not to accept money because the rights to the name are, essentially, priceless and that no amount would be adequate to pay back those who worked for a decade to help him build the brand: “It really wasn’t mine to accept such money. So it was easier not to accept any money.”