April 10 was Test and Tune Day at Island Dragway in Great Meadows. The 61-year-old track is well-respected in the drag racing community, so it wasn’t surprising to find a lengthy line of vehicles waiting to pass through the gate at 10 a.m. First stop was the Tech Inspection, a requirement of any vehicle expecting to race that day. The drivers then rumble and roar their way to their “pits,” where they prepare for the test drives.

Test and Tune Days are simply open practice for the cars. What they do on the track is just a test session, particularly important after being off the track all winter.

Melissa Milano is Island Dragway’s business owner and track operator. As such, she’s involved with office work, insurance, scheduling, advertising and social media. She’s the third generation in her family to head up Island Dragway, following her mother Kathy DeMarcky, and her grandmother, Catherine Kowalick.

A Warren County resident all her life, she graduated from Hackettstown High School in 2001. She and her husband, Carl, have two young daughters.

Does she hope they’ll follow in her footsteps at the Dragway? She quickly responded, “I’m open to whatever they want to do. It was always expected of me that I would do this. It’s very stressful. Last year, we were forced to close [due to Covid] and initially had no idea how we were going to make it. If you have a rainy season, you’ll end up being closed a lot. It’s a tough living, but we’re passionate about it.”

A Brief History of Drag Racing in Warren County

Drag racing thundered into the 1960s, spreading from the west coast. Wally Parks, who founded the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) in 1951 in California, was trying to get racers off the street. That’s always been the goal of dragsters. People are going to race no matter what and the NHRA wanted to give them a safe place to do it.

When they began building racetracks in California, Melissa’s grandfather, Edward Kowalick, was looking for something to do with his farm in Great Meadows. The story goes, according to her mom, he wanted to build either a golf course or a racetrack.

Her grandfather announced, “We’re going to bring this drag racing stuff to the east coast.”

Melissa quipped, “My life would be a lot different if this was a golf course!”

Construction began in the late ‘50s and the first races were held at Island Dragway in 1960. And, in 1964, the first racer in the country to attain a speed of 200 mph achieved that milestone at Island Dragway!

The world’s fastest 1/4 mile ever on a dragstrip was 3.58 seconds at 386 mph at Santa Pod Raceway in the United Kingdom in the Vanishing Point rocket funny car driven by Sammy Miller in 1984!

For comparison, during the Test and Tune Day, “I wouldn’t expect any 200 mph cars today,” Melissa said. “That one [that just sped by in a thunderous blur] was going about 170 mph. That might be one of the faster cars here, especially since it’s a little cool out. A couple times a year we’ll have cars that hit 200 mph, sometimes 220.”

Island Dragway sits on 43 acres of land. The family has 500 acres total, but the rest is basically farmland.

As for the name? There are a couple theories where the name Island Dragway originated, but unfortunately both Melissa’s grandparents are gone, so she can’t confirm them: “The house up on the hill is my grandparents’ old house,” she began. “My mom lives there now. Back in the 1800s or so, when this was all marshland, that was called Rose Island. This was always called Island Farm, so the drag strip just became Island Dragway. The other theory is because the property is surrounded by water – the ditches and the Pequest River on the far end – it’s an island. It could be either one.”

A Racing Family

Melissa grew up around drag racing. She laughed, “I actually met my husband Carl (also from a racing family) when we were six years old! We’ve all grown up here.”

She even raced junior dragsters—cars developed for kids and teens—when they first came out in the ‘90s. “When I’d mention it in school, people thought I was talking about go-carts or power wheels, they didn’t believe it was actually racing. Eventually I stopped talking about it at school.”

Like the rest of the kids in the family, her first job was at Island Dragway—”working the concession stand, filling soda cups with ice.”

Her cousins all moved out west, but Melissa stuck around, admitting, “I always knew I was going to end up operating the track. I like working outside. I don’t always like being the one to make hard decisions, but you have to do what you have to do.”

She took over after a couple tough years. Her mother decided to close the track at the end of 2012 after Hurricanes Irene and Sandy flooded it—”in the end she just kind of gave up. She was so tired of the floods, lamenting, ‘I just can’t do it.’” So Melissa took over and they reopened Fourth of July weekend 2013.

The Times Are A-changing

When a racetrack has been around as long as Island Dragway, there are bound to be some changes over time, especially in safety and regulations.

“I don’t even know if there were rule books in the ‘60s,” she said. “I know they existed in the ‘70s and they were very broad. You needed some kind of a helmet, you didn’t have any certifications. If you had a jacket and gloves, great!”

Now, she said, rules are strict in drag racing, often coming from the result of someone else’s unfortunate mistake.

“Sometimes we get hassled, especially our tech guys. They take a lot of flak from people who grumble, ‘I just drove two hours, and you’re not going to let me pass tech?’”

There have been a few accidents over the years at Island Dragway, but none recently. Hank Dinger, of Belvidere, who’s been Island Dragway’s announcer since 1966 when he was a senior in high school, said, “You really can’t run an operation like this without some kind of mishap. Most haven’t been too severe, thanks to the safety equipment and the tech line they run at Island Dragway. Accidents will always be part of the sport, so you enforce the rules, and make it safe for racers, crew members, and spectators.”

A couple other changes Hank brought up had to do with the composition of the racetrack and the use of technology during the races.

Racetracks were originally dirt. Then they were paved with macadam. Over the years, a certain length beyond the starting line was concrete, then transitioned to macadam. The mix used for the macadam has been modified and the glue spread on it is a new compound, giving a much better grip down the racetrack. In the old days, racers had to tune cars to match the track. Nowadays, the new compound equalizes that all out.

Technology has helped the sport advance. From an employee and announcer standpoint, the biggest innovation has been reaction timers, which measure the time it takes from when the tree light goes on to when the front tire pulls out of the staging beam. It’s proof of which racer won or lost. From a spectator’s perspective, it’s the electronic scoreboard, which gives them more real-time data and evidence.

Nowadays, there are three finish lines on the straight track: 1/8 mile (660 feet) is used for the junior racers, 1,000 feet is used for Super Pro on points days; and 1/4 mile (1,320 feet) is used in all other classes. Super Pro is the fastest class that runs on Island Dragway’s points series, although there isn’t a separate points day for them.

(Nearly) The Last of its Kind

The number of active dragways in New Jersey has dwindled to one.

Atco Dragway, in South Jersey, opened a few months before Island Dragway. This year, Atco is selling. If the sale goes through, Island will be the last drag strip in the state.

The next closest to the north is New England Dragway, in New Hampshire. To the south is Cecil Dragway in Rising Sun, Maryland. None remain in New York City, so Long Island and New York City tend to travel to Island Dragway or out into New York State. To the west, there’s ibe a little closer by. Maple Grove Raceway is just outside of Reading, Pennsylvania.

Melissa spoke somberly: “As tracks are closing, we’re seeing a slight increase here. That’s okay, but we’re here more for the sport. It’s not good when a track closes because they don’t get rebuilt. We broke the mold when we reopened. Racetracks rarely reopen. It’s totally cost prohibitive to rebuild.”

Hank suggests there are two things killing drag strips.

The first is noise. “As people encroach on the drag strip, they complain about the noise. So, the town slaps a noise ordinance on the track.” The second thing is land value, he said. Land uses like warehouses and apartments would generate more money.

He worries that, without the safe space of racetracks, some might take back to the streets to race like in the old days, which would end up with people hurt.

Melissa reported there is even legislation to do away with the ability to modify any vehicle, which those is the race industry oppose.

Breaking the Stereotype

Although drag racing is male-dominated, Island Dragway has been led by women for many years.

Not only did Melissa race when she was younger (and she hopes to get back out there again!), but there are lots of women who race.

“Our junior class is female-dominated, there are lots of sisters,” she said. “They’re the future of our sport. They grow up, they get bigger cars, and ultimately move into the regular classes that race every week.”

While it may seem like Melissa’s whole life revolves around racing, that’s not quite the case.

Melissa is also an accomplished photographer.

She was once advised, “Choose two things you’re passionate about, but make your second favorite your career.” So, she earned a degree in photography from Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University, where she developed an eye for street photography.

“I was trained on film; I love black and white film. There’s nothing that touches it,” she said, admitting, “I’d put a darkroom in my basement if I had room.”

She has also traveled all over the country for a company that specializes in preschool photos and has done newborn shoots and engagement sessions. “Now it’s a hobby to get out of the house!”

If you plan on visiting the Dragway this season, remember to bring your mask (and perhaps ear plugs)! Melissa said, “We try and tell people to keep their masks on. In the bleachers and at the concession stand, masks are required. When the drivers are in their own pit area, it’s a little more relaxed.”

To learn more about Island Dragway’s 2021 season, Melissa said to hop over on Facebook for up-to-date information.

“We usually print a schedule,” she said, “but with the Covid regulations we don’t know when things will really open up, so there’s a couple events on the back burner as we wait and see.”

For now, smaller events are scheduled: April 17 is Summit ET Race Day from 11-9 pm. On May 2, they’re having the Air Raid Volkswagen Show. Sometime in May, will be the Nostalgia Spring Fling, featuring cars 30 years and older.

Island Dragway, 20 Island Road (off Route 46 West), Great Meadows, NJ 07838
Phone: 908-637-6060
Website: www.islanddragway.com/
Facebook: www.facebook.com/IslandDragway/

References:

Grateful for added input from Hank Dinger, Island Dragway’s announcer since 1966.
wikiHow has an extensive tutorial on how to do a burnout: www.wikihow.com/Do-a-Burnout
“Drag Racing 101” brochure, Summit Racing Equipment
www.sema.org/epa-news
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Pod_Raceway