What is this latest legislation? On October 21, 2004 Mercer and Monmouth County Assemblymen Michael J Panter and Robert L. Morgan introduced legislation that will have a direct and damaging effect on motorsports run within the Garden State. This bill is yet another veiled attempt by a small group of New Jersey residents to silence racing without regard to the feelings of other residents and racing enthusiasts in the state. If you attend racing events within one mile of a resident, this affects your racing activities or soon will affect the operation of the facility.

How will this legislation affect racing? The time restrictions suggested in this legislation would make operating any race facility in New Jersey nearly impossible. The far-reaching impact of these actions will hinder all forms of motorsports. At Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, the race program would need major adjustment and many classes would need to be eliminated. The already heavily restricted Sunday drag racing time schedule would be further restricted making completion of average events impossible. Weekly Time Trial Nights would also be under heavier restrictions limiting car counts and possibly leading to increased street racing danger in our state. Under this projected legislation Motocross events would no longer occur, as there would not be sufficient time to complete any such event within these guidelines. Also, the hours of use and volume at which a P.A. system operates would be time restricted. These are blatant attempts to put race facilities out of business in the state of New Jersey.

What can I do?Here is an update as to who we all should be contacting - The TOURISM AND GAMING ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE.
Assembly Bill 3425 is being handled by the Tourism and Gaming Assembly Committee. Contacting this committee directly is the most effective way we can express our concerns. More importantly, this will also give all out of state race fans an assembly person to contact.

Here are the Tourism and Gaming Assembly Committee Members:

Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew
Chair Tourism and Gaming Assembly Committee
21 North Main Street
Cape May Court House, New Jersey 08210
Phone 609-465-0700
Fax 609-465-4578

Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew
Chair Tourism and Gaming Assembly Committee
223 East Main Street
Millville, New Jersey 08332
Phone 856-293-8353
Fax 856-293-1501

Assemblywoman Linda Stender
Vice Chair Tourism and Gaming Assembly Committee
1801 East Second Street, 2nd Floor
Scotch Plains, New Jersey 07076
Phone 908-668-1900
Fax 908-668-9962

Assemblyman Kirk W. Conover
Tourism and Gaming Assembly Committee
The Courtyard
707 White Horse Pike, Suite B3
Absecon, New Jersey 08201
Phone 609-407-0407

Assemblyman Ronald S. Dancer
Tourism and Gaming Assembly Committee
2110 West County Line Road
Jackson, New Jersey 08527
Phone 732-901-0702

Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr.
Tourism and Gaming Assembly Committee
908 Oak Tree Avenue, Unit P
South Plainfield, New Jersey 07080
Phone 908-757-1677
Fax 908-757-6841

If you'd rather contact these Assemblymen/woman via email, you'd need to go to the New Jersey Legislature website.
1. Website address: www.njleg.state.nj.us
2. On the left side of the screen, click on Assembly Committees
3. On the right side of the screen, click on Tourism and Gaming
4. Click on each Committee Member's name.
5. Under their name is Electronic Mail:
6. Click on Contact Your Legislator.
7. Select the Committee Member you'd like to contact & send your email.

Thank you very, very much!

Your local assemblymen will be heavily involved in this process. It is crucial that we voice our opinions before it is too late. Inform your friends, fellow racers, sponsors, and the businesses that benefit from the audience to do the same. We are at a crossroads with this matter and without strong support we will all be forced out of existence. In the past we have all received great support from fans, racers, sponsors, and business owners who supported our point of view via fax, emails and phone calls to the Assemblymen proposing this legislation. If the statement came from outside of their jurisdiction the email and phone calls were most likely discarded. If possible, contact your local assemblymen by fax followed up by a phone call. By doing this you will send a hard copy and a clear message to your local politician about this latest attempt to hinder the motorsports we love. If contacting by email please copy Raceway Park at etownrcwy@aol.com. Email is effective but can be easily deleted. We must act now to defend motorsports. We must partner ourselves with the businesses that will be affected by this pending law to show that the impact of new legislation will harm the business of the facilities and other businesses in your area (i.e. Hotels, Restaurants, Performance Automotive businesses, etc.). By contacting your local assemblymen the true feelings of New Jersey residents can finally be heard. Contact the NJ Tourism office as well.

What Happens now? The bill must go through a few stages before it becomes state law. Currently the bill is in Bill Analysis. From there it will go to the House for approval and then to the State Senate for approval before being signed into Law by the Governor. We must act now to protect our interests before the bureaucrats take away our collective voice.