WALL — This time the rumors are true.
Speculation that Wall Township Speedway would not open this season are fact, not fiction, a statement from managing partner Timothy H. Shinn of Manasquan said Friday.
Shinn's signature represented the four partners who own the speedways — Fred Archer, Joseph Sanzari and the Creamer brothers, Fletch, Glenn and Dale. They bought Wall Stadium from the Nicol family, the original owners, Feb. 26, 2002.
"It is with an extremely heavy heart that I must, at this time, formally announce the closing of our beloved Wall Township Speedway, formerly known to the vast majority of us as Wall Stadium," the release said.
Shinn, a former modified race-car owner at the third-of-a-mile track, sponsored such drivers as Tom Mauser, and the late John Blewett III and his brother, Jimmy, of Howell.
Shinn's race cars ran under the colors of United Crane Rentals Inc., his company based in Kenilworth.
Wall Township Administrator Joe Verrunni admitted there had been many rumors about the status of the track, but he was surprised it had been closed when he got the word late Friday.
"That's a surprise," Verrunni said. "There has been a million rumors."
"I feel terrible about it," said Bill Johnson, an owner of Kelle Chevrolet in Farmingdale and a longtime sponsor of the track, "like I lost a relative.
"What a shame," said Johnson of Highlands, who was a race director for a short time under the new owners.
Johnson ran the highly successful Monster Truck Extravaganza at the speedway one Sunday a season for 13 years.
"We never had a bad show," he said. "It was a fun show."
Johnson was negotiating to bring his trucks back this racing season.
"If Timmy (Shinn) was going to run it (the speedway), I would be there," he said. "I just needed to know if (the track) was going to be open because I have to pay these monster truck guys up front (in advance)."
Three hours before the fax was received Friday afternoon, Johnson thought things were a go for him.
"It's sad," Johnson said. "What are they going to do with it?"
Sgt. Eric Heitmann of the State Police racing unit, the sanctioning body for all auto racing facilities — oval and drag strips — in the state, also had heard all the rumors about the track. He was trying to determine if and when the speedway planned to open or close down as late as Friday afternoon.
"Whatever deals they were working on must have fell through," Heitmann said, calling the closing a sad day for racing in the state.
Modified race-car owner and driver Harry Reed, whose son, Steven, finished second in the modified points championship last season, admits he was aware of the closing.
"That's what I heard," said Reed of Howell.
He said his son will run at Stafford Motor Speedway in Stafford Spring, Conn., when its season opens with the tour-type 200-lap 37th annual Spring Sizzler April 27.
"It is pretty sad," said Reed, who also ran big-block modifieds at Flemington Speedway before it unexpectedly closed on Nov. 8, 2002.
After continuously losing money, as Wall Township Speedway did, Flemington Speedway was sold to developers and demolished in early 2005.
Shinn's statement did not go into financial details, but it was known that attendance and car count in the pits, or back gate, continued to decline.
"Without getting into all of the whys and wherefores, please know that we, as a partnership group holding four equal 25 percent shares, did everything in our power these past six years since 2002, to provide top quality short-track racing and keep the doors to the speedway open," Shinn said in the statement.
"We have made numerous attempts to create a scenario which would enable us to continue with the speedway operation, all to no avail."
The closing led to more questions by those who have connections to the track.
"What do they plan to do with it?" asked former sportsman driver George Andretta of Wall. "Couldn't they have kept it open while they decided?"
Wayne Wilson of Old Bridge, president of the Garden State Quarter Midget Racing Club, which races on the speedway property, has been told to go ahead with their season.
"Tim Shinn told us we might be able to race for a half-year or more," said Wilson. "We're going ahead with our opening race, the Garden State Classic, March 29-30.
"Until anything different happens, we're racing," he said.
Shinn said in the release that the owners "did everything in our power, for all the right reasons, to continue the unprecedented heritage which was always associated with Wall Township Speedway/Wall Stadium."
And with that, the landmark track is gone.