Antonicellis purchase New York International Raceway Park

New owners plan to maintain existing classes and schedule

Courtesy: George Pease

Vito and Sylvia Antonicelli of Lancaster, New York recently announced their purchase of the New York International Raceway Park in Leicester, New York from Bob and Donna Metcalfe.

Situated in Livingston County on over 345 acres, NYIRP has played host to many IHRA national events during its tenure along with weekly bracket racing. Centered between Buffalo and Syracuse, NYIRP is centrally located so it draws racers and fans from nearby Pennsylvania and Southern Ontario. The new owners have indicated a desire to return the track to national and possible divisional event status in the near future, as it was the site of the IHRA Empire Nationals. For 2008, the track will be IHRA sanctioned and a part of the Summit Super Series program which qualifies NYIRP to send a team to the bracket finals this year at Pittsburgh Raceway Park.

Living in Lancaster, Vito Antonicelli owns and operates Vito Antonicelli Race Cars in Cheektowaga, N.Y. a complete race car chassis and fabrication business. Sylvia operates Complete 360, a bookkeeping business. Some of the finest race cars have come out of his chassis shop, including his personal Top Sportsman ‘63 Corvettes which have won Best Appearing and Best Engineered awards. He also won an IHRA Iron Man in Top Sportsman competition a few years ago at Toronto Motorsports Park. The family and crew bracket race weekly at Lancaster Dragway and NYIRP when not attending IHRA events.

Being racers, they know first hand what it takes to make a race track grow and prosper.

“Our first priority is to make everyone at NYIRP feel welcome,” said Antonicelli. “Sylvia and I want to offer the racers and fans a safe and consistent race track with skilled and personable people who really put our customers first. I know everyone would like to see the Empire Nationals return and I really hope that within a short period of time, it will happen. Right now we just want to concentrate on getting prepared for the 2008 season. We will keep most of the existing race programs intact for now including honoring the ‘Bob’s Buck’s” program for last season’s winners and make some notable improvements in 2008. Our goal is to make NYIRP one of the premier race tracks in the region. The racers and fans in this area are remarkable and we have some of the best cars and drivers in the country. We want to capitalize on that by giving them a place to call their second home, “he continued.

One new event for the track in 2008 will be the inaugural running of a Pro Modified Racing Association (PMRA) event, to take place Saturday, June 7.

The opening date is scheduled for April 19-20, 2008 and a drivers meeting will be held on March 7, 2008 at the Holiday Inn in Batavia, NY from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. so that the drivers can meet the new owners.

Call (716) 684-2205 for more information.