After a closure of more than five years, the English Mountain Raceway in Newport has opened under new ownership, giving auto enthusiasts a place to push their vehicle to the limit legally.
Josh Ottinger and two other partners bought the property in October 2017 and have been renovating the track and the facilities on property, formerly known as the English Mountain Dragway.
"It was grass as high as my head. We had to come through here, bushhog it and redo some of the wiring," Ottinger said.
Ottinger first raced on the track when he was 14 years old. Now, he's helping the raceway continue create memories.
"A lot of people, this was the first track that they ever raced on their whole entire life, now they're coming back, experiencing it with their kids, their grandsons and everything," Ottinger said.
Ottinger says the purpose of the raceway is to give people a place to race so that they don't race illegally in the streets.
Josh Stallings lives is Cosby and says he has brought his 2013 Dodge Dart to the raceway since it reopened.
"Now that this is open it can keep all these people that use to street race off the street, now they have a place they can come. We run back to back, we don't have to worry about getting pulled over, don't have to worry about our cars getting seized," Stallings said. "It takes a lot of worry out of other people's hands because if we're running up and down the roads, you know there's likely to be other people on the roads, too."
Drivers who want to race pay $20 and can run the track the entire day. Admission for spectators costs $5.
Ottinger says revenue from admissions goes to continue updating the raceway, including painting the concession stand, restrooms and other facilities.
"Our goal is to get everything repainted, get some more parking leveled out, repaved and just make it our own little touch," Ottinger said. "Just to make it stand out, like a million bucks."
Ottinger said the raceway has already established a reputation as a destination.
"A bunch of the guys who do a lot of street racing, they'll come up and they'll say, 'man I have more fun here than I did racing the streets, and I just love the environment and everything,'" Ottinger said. "They come to an area that they know they have somebody they can relate to, and they can also pass the torch onto their kids."
The has a series of special events planned outside of its regular hours, including a children's Power Wheels race on Saturday.
On March 31, Kye Kelley of the Discovery Channel series "Street Outlaws" will visit the track with his a new car. In July, the raceway will host a race with $20,000 in prizes.
The raceway is open Fridays starting at 5 p.m. with races beginning at 6 p.m. Saturdays the raceway opens at 11 a.m. and is open until 11 p.m.