Closure of Long Island Dragway will hurt island's racing industry

Rick Montana and his brother Chris have built drag-racing cars on Long Island for 20 years, turning speedy Mustangs and Monte Carlos into one-seated, 1,500-horsepower road tigers. Those souped-up cars, which can make it down the quarter-mile in less than 7 seconds at speeds of more than 200 mph,

For years, the Montana brothers loaded up their best car each weekend onto a trailer and headed out to Long Island Dragway in Westhampton to go head-to-head with the best drag racers in the region.

As their reputation for building cars grew, the brothers began picking up side work. By 2000, they had decided to make race cars their full-time jobs and started Montana Brothers Race Cars in North Bay Shore.

But now, with the dragway slated to become senior housing, Nick and Chris are thinking about moving the business down the coast.

I'm looking out of state - New Jersey, Pennsylvania, where there are multiple tracks, said Nick Montana. I have to go where the business is. The only remaining track is Riverhead Raceway. At one time there were four drag strip and four oval tracks. We've lost a lot.

Because 40 percent of Montana's clients already live out of state, he wouldn't have to launch a business from scratch if he relocates. But he'd rather not uproot his family.

Montana concedes that the Long Island Dragway doesn't hold the same allure on the East End as, say, the Hampton Classic Horse Show, but he asserts that the racetrack plays an important role on Long Island - serving as an outlet for sports enthusiasts who might otherwise practice illegal street racing. It's also a driving force behind businesses like his.

Montana projects that the revenue stream generated from local clients will screech to a halt once the track closes, and he suspects that other shops will switch gears or leave the Island entirely.

But just when the racetrack will cease operations remains unclear.

Jan Burman, president of Burman Properties in East Meadow, said he's spent the past four years trying to purchase the property. There are many roadblocks, he said, referring to issues such as health codes that he's working through with the town and county. In the interim, the drag strip, owned and operated by Gary Chimeri, would stay open indefinitely, Burman said.

Calls to the Long Island Dragway were not returned.

When the property owner was looking for ways to reuse the property in 1999 or 2000, the town looked at viable options, said Donna Giancontieri, assistant to Town of Southampton Supervisor Patrick Heaney.

Because some of the property is in the Pine Barrens, a protected area, there were limitations on what could be built there. After a series of meetings, the land was rezoned to accommodate senior housing.

While residents may cheer the anticipated closing of the track, which the Southampton Town Board rezoned in 2002 amid noise complaints from neighbors, racers like the Montana brothers wonder if enthusiasts and the community can't co-exist - if not at the Dragway, then elsewhere on Long Island.

It's a nice family sport, said Montana, adding that husbands and wives, children and grandparents enjoy spending an afternoon at the track.

There's also the issue of illegal street racing. Some worry that the drag strip's closing will result in drag racing on public streets and highways.

It's a real dilemma. There are not many places [for racecar enthusiasts] to participate, said Lt. John James, a spokesman for the Southampton Town Police Department. But the concept of them drag racing on some of our streets - that concern has not raised its ugly head. The issue hasn't presented itself. And it may not, while the track remains open.

James added that though the track's closing would eliminate noise complaints, a senior housing complex would increase volume on the roads and calls for service when there are accidents. It would also be likely to result in more frequent calls for emergency medical service. It's a trade-off of sorts, James said.

Some in the racing industry question what has happened to Long Island, which once welcomed racetracks. While the Island has all but closed its doors to the sport, other parts of the country attract thousands of fans, boosting revenue at area hotels and restaurants.

The Montana brothers, who build racecars exclusively, acknowledge that they may enjoy better profits elsewhere. Jobs can range from $5,000 for certain upgrades to $100,000 when the sky's the limit for a client's budget. They work on four or five full cars a year, but always have cars in the shop for what Montana calls quick jobs.

Former professional racer Joe Perna, owner of Joe's International Auto in Massapequa, said skilled auto mechanics like the Montana brothers would be able to find plenty of work on the Island, but probably not in the racing scene.

If I had a shop like that, I'd move off the Island, he said.

Kevin Krieg, manager of Lindenhurst-based S-K Speed Racing, which was founded in 1962 and employs 20, said he has no plans to move off the Island because there's a tremendous amount of business around. But that business comes primarily from clients with high- performance street vehicles - Corvettes, Camaros and Mustangs - rather than racetrack customers, said Krieg, whose out-of-state racetrack customers either drive to S-K or have the shop mail them parts. We saw the handwriting on the wall, Krieg said about catering to the street-vehicle crowd as the tracks began closing. It's move or be moved.

Added Perna: Colorado, Tennessee, Canada, Florida and California all have tremendous [racing] facilities. There are signs at the airport in Denver that say 'Welcome race fans.' Events bring in 50,000 to 100,000 spectators and a lot of revenue. But [on Long Island] it falls on deaf ears. Nobody cares.

Once Long Island Dragway closes, Montana said local enthusiasts would have to pay more than $150 in fuel and tolls to travel to New Jersey to race on a track.

All we want is a good safe place to race, Montana said. He hopes that town officials on the Island recognize the revenue potential and open another track here, though he doubts that would happen unless the child of someone high up gets hurt because of illegal street racing.

A track could only make it on Long Island if it had the support of professional racers and the surrounding communities, Perna said.

It could be done, said Montana, adding that retaining walls to hold in the sound, muffled cars and daytime-only hours would promote harmony between enthusiasts and neighbors.

And there's one more benefit.

It'll take the kids off the street, he said.