Who opens a meditation center across from one of the busiest racetracks on earth? Let’s think about the logic here: Old Bridge Township Raceway Park, which has been in continuous operation since July 4, 1965, is open four days a week for drag racing (both quarter-mile and eighth-mile. The property also houses four motorcross tracks, a road course that’s used by cars and motorcycles, a go-cart track and an airport for private planes and helicopters. It’s also rented out during the week to fine people in the publishing business and to automobile manufacturers, who get a safe place to test the limits of new cars and project vehicles. Oh, then there are the monthly cruise nights. And now a group wants to come in and build a place where people can meditate a couple of times a day.

The only people who get in touch with their spiritual side anywhere near this 400-acre complex are racers and car enthusiasts. It’s loud, exciting and everything we love—and something the new neighbors will no doubt find abhorrent when they try to practice their religion. But that’s the plan of the Dayalbagh Radhasoami Satsang Spiritual Association of North America (say that 10 times fast!). The group, which is a subsect of the Hindu faith, plans to build a spiritual center that will hold twice-daily meditation ceremonies. Oh, and it also wants to build 16 residential apartments and eight smaller apartments for visitors. Now the picture is getting clearer. Michael Napp, one of Raceway Park’s owners, has seen this movie before. When the track opened, it was literally in the middle of nowhere. As the area became populated, the new neighbors (often residing in homes were illegally built within spitting distance of an airport runway) complained about the noise to the state, which stepped in and restricted the track’s hours of operation. The biggest burden is that the track can only run open exhaust on Wednesday and Sunday and has a curfew. It puts the track at a competitive disadvantage to other facilities in New Jersey and nearby Pennsylvania. Napp undoubtedly fears that once the new neighbors move in, they will complain about the track, which will result in further restrictions. What kind of hammer will the state bring down next? Who knows? But you can bet it won’t be good for Raceway Park or its patrons. The fewer hours the track has to operate, the worse the potential is for dangerous, illegal street racing.