PHOTOGRAPHS BY VAN ABERNETHY

Longtime track owner Jim Halsey confesses that while the impressive renovations certainly fit well into the commemorative narrative , the timing was more coincidental than anything . “ We ’ ve actually been wanting to do a lot of this stuff for a while , but financially it just worked out better to do it now , so it ’ s actually a coincidence that it fell on our 60th anniversary ,” says Halsey .

Perhaps the most noticeable renovation at Cecil County would be the high-quality aluminum bleachers that were just installed in August , with another set scheduled for install on the opposite side of the track this winter . Brand-new LED lighting was also delivered in August , along with some

Track owner Jim Halsey

upgrades to the sound system . While the track surface is in good shape and was last improved in 2020 , Halsey was gearing up to make a few other adjustments such as lengthening the sandpit , and rearranging the turnoff down at the shutdown area .

Halsey and his wife , Cathy , are the longest tenured owners of this NHRA-sanctioned facility located in Rising Sun , and over the last 25 years of ownership , Halsey has only seen a couple things that truly surprised him , not the least of which was the impact , albeit , short-lived that the Fast and Furious movies had on their business . “ I was still a fairly new track owner when that first movie came out in 2001 , and the following spring this place was crazy ! I remember having 500 racers here for our Friday night street racing , and we were doing 50 grand in revenue on a Friday night !” recalls Halsey .

Unfortunately , the Fast and Furious craze was short-lived , and after about six months , it returned to normal levels . “ I guess the other thing that has surprised me the most in the last 25

November / December 2023

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