Maple Grove Raceway appears to be on the verge of new ownership, potentially meaning a long future for racing at one of the East Coast’s premier dragstrips.

The Reading (Pa.) Eagle reported that the track’s potential buyers, Motorsports Developers of King of Prussia, met with local political leadership and the public of Brecknock Township on Monday night. While the purchase price has not been announced, the track went on the market in 2019 with an $8 million pricetag.

Heading up the private equity ownership group are Chris Winter, Joseph Casella and Jordan Levitt. Those principals met the public Monday night during the township’s Board of Supervisors meeting to discuss their plans and to answer questions.

“The plan is to keep it a racetrack and make the township money through different revenue streams,” Levitt said in the story by Eagle reporter Keith Smoker.

Added Casella, “Our plan is not to upset the apple cart, but make it faster and smoother, having a better use of the facility with no impact at all.”

Additional seating is planned by the potential new owners. They also have ideas to add a multi-use track for police driver training and go-kart competition, among others.

Maple Grove has been a staple of NHRA Northeast Division racing for some 45 years. It has hosted an NHRA national event since 1985, when Don Garlits (Top Fuel), Tim Grose (Funny Car) and Bruce Allen (Pro Stock) graced the winners’ circle. 

Its perennial autumn position on the national slate often results in near-perfect racing conditions, and Brittany Force set the Top Fuel elapsed-time record of 3.623 seconds last September at the Dodge NHRA Nationals. In 1989, Maple Grove was the scene of the first side-by-side 4-second race between  Shirley Muldowney and homestate favorite Joe Amato. Five years later, Blaine Johnson and Mike Dunn wowed the crowd with the first side-by-side 300-mph blasts in Top Fuel history.

The property on which the track is located has belonged to the Stauffer family for nearly a century. Racing began on the site in 1937, when a half-mile dirt oval called Brecknock Speedway opened. 

Not until 1962 did Maple Grove Drag-O-Way appear, and that was at a fifth-mile length. Two years later, track width doubled to 60 feet and racing began being contested on the quarter-mile. Additional development has lengthened the racing surface to 4,000 feet.