Home Care In Atco, NJ

Things move quickly in the world of fast cars, but even hot-rodders have been shocked by the speed of the Atco Dragway’s demise.

And now, just days after the storied South Jersey raceway’s abrupt closure, there is this: The grandstands are already up for sale.

Joseph Fazzio Inc., a Glassboro-based metal and industrial surplus supplier, is selling the 5,000-seat grandstands of the dragway at the request of dragway former operator and owner Leonard Capone Jr., according to a Fazzio representative.

The asking price for the whole setup: $390,000. A bargain, the website states, from $2.5 million if purchased new.

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But the surplus operator also noted on its website that it is not the new owner:

***FAZZIO’S DID NOT BUY THE TRACK***

We do not know who the new owners are. We are working with the previous owners, any questions regarding the track should be directed towards them.***

“Any questions regarding the track should be directed to Mr. Capone,” the representative Zach Viscounti wrote in an email.

Except Capone hasn’t been giving interviews. His attorney M. James Maley Jr. declined comment.

Waterford Township officials also did not respond to requests to discuss the matter.

“The mayor, Tom Giangiulio, wants to make sure that the Waterford Township Committee is unified in our voice before we issue any comments,” said Committee member Joel Thompson in an email. He added that the dragway situation is tentatively planned to be discussed at this Wednesday’s Township Committee meeting.

For now the mystery of the abrupt ending of a 63-year-long chapter in hot rod history is still that: a mystery. With a lot of heartache thrown in, too.

This much is known. In 2020, Insurance Auto Auctions, an Illinois-based company with offices nationwide, put in an application with the New Jersey Pinelands Commission to redevelop the 180-acre Atco Dragway as an automobile auction facility. Not long before, Capone was the subject of court action for over $55,000 owed to a bank. That matter appears to have been later resolved.

The Pinelands Commission did not issue an approval for the auto auction application, finding inconsistencies with the Waterford Township land use ordinance and the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan. However, this step allowed the project to be reviewed and acted upon by the municipality. If approved, it would have come back to the Pinelands Commission.

But Waterford Township’s Joint Land Use Board didn’t approve the development, based on environmental and other concerns. Atco Dragway Enterprises sued the township. In May 2022, Maley, Atco Dragway’s attorney, informed the judge in the case that the two sides were going to try to work the matter out between themselves.

Whatever happened with that, the proposal was never refiled with the Pinelands Commission and therefore never got approval to proceed, according to commission spokesperson Paul Leakan.

Social media is rampant with rumors about who a new owner might be, if there is one. But those for now are just rumors.

Leakan said the Pinelands Commission has received no new or revised applications for the property. Any type of development or redevelopment of the land would require commission review and approval, he said.

The exception would be if a new owner wanted to get the raceway going again.

“An application would not be required if the new owner simply wants to reopen the property and operate it exactly as before,” Leakan said.

The manner of the closing has a lot of people scratching their heads. The weekend before, Atco Dragway hosted the 29th Pan American Nationals which even the raceway closing announcement called “the biggest and best ever.” And sometime before the fateful news was posted on the dragway’s Facebook page at 5:49 p.m. Tuesday, an earlier Instagram post that day said the dragway would be closed that night for a clean-up from the weekend event but would reopen Friday, July 21.

The Atco Dragway was the oldest dragway in New Jersey. Island Dragway in Great Meadows is still operating.

Kyle Rosner, the grandson of Edwin Rosner, one of the dragway’s founders, said he had reached out to Capone a few years ago when it looked like the property might have become an auto auction. As someone who worked in digital marketing and raised funds for business, he said he started a Facebook page Save Atco Raceway and offered Capone his services.

“He wasn’t too happy with me and gave me some flack,” Rosner said. “He cursed me out on the phone.”

Rosner said he also tried to start an effort to get the dragway historic landmark status, “but again, I got a really hard pushback from Len Capone. He was not interested in preserving the legacy.”

Still, Rosner said he’s proud his family was a part of it.

“I’m proud to have a connection to the dragway,” he said. “I’m proud of my grandfather for starting it. The fact that it lasted this long and has a dedicated fan base speaks volumes.”

Staff writer Jason Nark contributed to this article.

Atco Dragway’s owner says he has sold the property, according to Waterford Township Mayor Tom Giangiulio, Jr.

The mayor disclosed the news at Wednesday night’s township committee meeting.

But Giangiulio said Leonard Capone Jr., the raceway’s seller, would not divulge the name of the buyer, nor did Capone claim to know what the purchaser intends to do with the property. The only other detail Giangiulio seemed to have was that the new owner is a private buyer from Florida.

“The settlement has already occurred,” the mayor said. “We have no idea as to what will be done with the property or the time frame when anything will occur. This was a sale of a piece of property that was purchased in a private transaction.”

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» READ MORE: Atco Dragway's grandstands go on sale. What’s next in the dismantling of a drag-racing dream?

Neither Capone nor his lawyer, James Maley, could be reached for comment.

The public learned of Atco Dragway’s abrupt and surprise closing the evening of July 18 when the announcement was posted on the raceway’s Facebook and Instagram pages. It came on the heels of a busy weekend during which Atco Dragway hosted the 29th Pan American Nationals, which the closure announcement hailed as “the biggest and best ever.”

At Wednesday’s meeting, Giangiulio said Capone had sold the dragway before the Pan American event.

But the mayor stressed that township officials had no involvement or other knowledge about the sale. He said they learned about the dragway’s closing on Facebook.

“It was a shock to us as much as to you,” he said at the municipal meeting.

The news of the 63-year-old dragway has stunned racing fans. Atco was the oldest dragway in New Jersey. Only Island Dragway in Great Meadows is still operating.

In 2020, Insurance Auto Auction, an Illinois-based company with offices nationwide, put in an application with the New Jersey Pinelands Commission to redevelop the 180-acre property as an automobile auction facility. The Pinelands Commission didn’t approve that application, but it allowed the township to review it.

The Waterford Township Joint Land Use Board reviewed the development and rejected it, based on environmental and other concerns.

As of last week, no new applications for the property had been made to the Pinelands Commission. Any use but as a dragway would require commission review and approval, said a spokesman.

ATCO, New Jersey (WPVI) -- "One of our goals is to make sure that food is never a reason that someone needs to give up their pet," said Shanna Hart.

Hart, an employee and educator with the Food Bank of South Jersey, is spearheading an effort to donate the organization's excess of animal-related items.

"We started to get in a lot of animal food in the last about two years or so and we were having a hard time moving it out," she said. "So I became a 501 c-3 nonprofit and became an agency of the Food Bank of South Jersey."

Using her name as inspiration, Shanna Hart created 'Full Hart Pet Pantry.'

"In February, we had our first distribution. We had like 10 people come to that distribution," she said. "We feed over about 250 families, we help a month at this point."

Pet owners from up to an hour from Atco have been swinging by once per month to stock up on items for their furry friends.

"Well, I saw it on Facebook and I came in and I just couldn't believe my eyes," said Faye Freas, who cares for nine cats in Winslow. "I'm like no way, but it was 'way'. This woman is a Godsend."

Amanda Ferrante comes from Glassboro to pick up supplies, making the cost of food one less thing she has to worry about when caring for her dog, chinchilla, and six cats.

"It's beneficial for everybody in this town and other towns around," she said. "It'll help save hundreds of animals from being dropped off in shelters or anything, really."

Hart hopes it continues to grow after recognizing how dire the need is.

"We're small right now, but if we put a website up and started sharing more, we would grow so much more because there is such a need."

To learn more about Full Hart Pet Pantry, how to donate or how to become a monthly recipient, visit their Facebook page.

NEARBY: Father's Day car show supports veterans in South Jersey

WATERFORD - The New Jersey Forest Fire Service has reported "significant progress" in bringing a Wharton State Forest wildfire under control, even as the blaze grew to 1,500 acres and spread from Waterford to Medford and Shamong.

As of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, the blaze was 85 percent contained, the fire service said.

But the agency added, "An observational flight this morning indicated that there are internal pockets of unburned fuel that will continue to burn today."

It said no buildings were threatened by the fire, which had been 75 percent contained at 9:30 p.m. Monday.

The fire's containment area includes forested land in Medford and Shamong and some along Jackson Road in Waterford, where flames broke out Sunday night near the former Atco Dragway.

Jackson Road was closed shortly from Atsion Road to Tremont Avenue before noon Monday and will remain closed until further notice, the fire service said.

No other road closings were expected.

Camden County officials urged motorists to find alternate routes around the fire.

The county's department of public safety was ready "to support the state with any needs they have while they fight this wildfire in Waterford,” County Commissioner Jonathan Young, the agency's liaison, said Monday.

“Nevertheless, and maybe more importantly, we need drivers to stay off Jackson Road in that area, so the firefighters can do their work and (to benefit) the health and welfare anyone entering the area by car.”

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When initially spotted early Sunday night, the fire was estimated at 100 acres along Jackson Road.

By 10 a.m. Monday it had spread to another 400 acres. A few hours later, it had tripled in size.

The Fire Service said crews used "a backfiring operation (Monday) to burn fuel ahead of the main body of fire throughout the day."

The agency said the fire was reported around 5:30 p.m. by its Medford firetower, then was triangulated by the Apple Pie Hill tower in Tabernacle.

Atco Dragway, also on Jackson Road, closed abruptly in mid-July. It announced the shutdown in a Facebook post that gave no reason for the track's demise after 63 years.

Visit https://twitter.com/njdepforestfire for other information.

This story will be updated.

SOUTH JERSEY — The Dragway Wildfire doubled in size from the morning, reaching 1,200 acres as of 4 p.m. Monday. But 40 percent of the fire has been contained, according to state officials.

Crews have been "making progress" since the fire was first reported early Sunday evening, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service said. The blaze has been burning around Jackson Road and the shuttered Atco Dragway in Waterford Township, but the containment area expanded into Medford and Shamong in Burlington County.

Jackson Road will remain closed until further notice between Tremont Avenue and Atison Road in Waterford. Camden County officials urged drivers to find alternate routes.

"At this time, the department of public safety are standing at the ready to support the state with any needs they have while they fight this wildfire in Waterford," County Commissioner Jonathan Young said late Monday afternoon.

The fire reached 200 acres Sunday night and grew to 600 acres as of 10 a.m. Monday, with 10 percent contained at that time in the Wharton State Forest. The containment area expanded into parts of Medford and Shamong in Burlington County.

Find out what's happening in Cherry Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Dragway Fire — near the former Atco Dragway/Jackson Road in Waterford Township — was first reported around 5 p.m. on Sunday.

Fire officials around the Garden State have warned residents of the increased potential for forest fires in 2023, as the lack of snow in South Jersey this winter has prevented pine needles and leaves from compacting. The result: this "ground fuel" may rapidly dry out on breezy or windy days that are at high risk for wildfire.

While 99 percent of wildfires in the state are attributed to human carelessness, accidents or arson, the riskier peak wildfire season may actually be extended due to changing climate patterns, state officials said.

“The continuing impacts of climate change mean our state is experiencing more severe weather conditions, storms, wind and drought that can result in a longer wildfire season, which is why it is more important than ever that the public exercise caution and take steps to help protect their homes and property,” New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Shawn M. LaTourette previously said in a statement. “Preventing wildfires also helps avoid catastrophic releases of carbon that contribute to and exacerbate climate change.”

The New Jersey Forest Fire Service recommends the following to reduce the risk of wildfires: