Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, which has hosted drag racing since 1965 and the NHRA Summernationals for the Mello Yello Drag Racing Series since 1971, will not conduct quarter-mile or eighth-mile drag racing at the historic New Jersey drag strip this year.

Owned and operated by the Napp family, the decision has been made to end drag racing at the facility and refocus the business on other types of entertainment.

“It is with a great sadness that the Napp family is discontinuing drag racing, however, the family looks forward to continuing to provide the best outdoor events in this new era of Raceway Park,” a statement from the family said.

Raceway Park will still use the stadium portion of the facility, which includes the VIP hospitality tower and grandstands. It will also continue to host auto and racing-related events, like the Spring and Fall auto swap meets, car shows, motocross practice/racing, kart racing, drifting, road course activities, mud runs and monster truck shows. The facility will also host musical concerts, festivals and more.

“NHRA drag racing events have been held at the track in Englishtown for almost 50 years,” said NHRA president Glen Cromwell. “The Summernationals have played an important part in our heritage and we hope that fans in the area will try to make it to another one of our events. Our focus remains on making the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing series a memorable experience for our fans, racers, sponsors, partners and tracks.”