In a turn of events that certainly has New Jersey area racers and fans grinning ear to ear, the news has come to us that the Island Dragway, shuttered last year and believe to be lost forever, will be re-opening in the very near future, perhaps as early as July.

The historic race facility located in Great Meadows, N.J. that operated for more than fifty years and hosted all of the legends in their heydays, ceased operations in December, signaling what appeared to be the end of a long, history-making era. Although no concrete information ever came forward, it was  strongly rumored that the facility faced economic or environmental hurdles, or perhaps both, that were too much to overcome and keep the gates open.

Images credit Island Dragway

Fortunately, it appears that things have taken a turn for the better and the famous strip where “Big Daddy” Don Garlits recorded the first ever 200 mph pass will live to host a drag race another day.

Below is a statement released on the track’s Facebook page on Monday:

After months of waiting, listening, reorganizing and a great deal of thought we are finally ready to make the public announcement that we hope everybody has been waiting for. We WILL be re-opening during the 2013 season!! We are HOPING for sometime as soon as July. The rumors about financial hardship are true and we are not out of the woods yet, though with proper management and some luck from the weather we hope to stick around for a long time!

There seemed to be people coming out of the woodwork to offer a helping hand, so we would like to take some up on that offer. If you would like to donate some time or money please send us an email at [email protected] with your name and contact info, every little bit helps! Local businesses who would like to set up a sponsorship package, please contact us as well, this is bound to be one of our best seasons with the amount of publicity we have gotten as of late!

We are looking for EMS providers for this season. Any EMS providers with Friday-Sunday availability please email [email protected]

We are also looking for clubs interested in hosting or helping with special events, particularly Import, Truck and Rat Rod/Jalopy events. If you know of a club or are just have some AWESOME ideas, please send an email to [email protected].