Despite their best efforts to keep the event in Wheatfield, the “Shredd & Ragan Cruise Nights” are moving to Lancaster.

“It’s a shame — when you have something that comes together and grows and grows, you hate to uproot it, but we didn’t have any other options,” said Ted Shredd, co-host of WEDG-FM 103.3 The Edge’s “Shredd & Ragan Show,” which organizes and sponsors the Wednesday night event.

Instead, the Cruise Nights, which rev up May 21, will be held at Dunn Tire Raceway Park in Lancaster, leaving Wheatfield in the dust after a five-year run.

As they were preparing for this year’s schedule, organizers hit a couple of snags. First, because of some Summit tenants’ objections to the event taking up their parking spaces, Cruise Nights was going to be moved to a parking lot in back of the mall. Then they pitched the idea of moving to property near the former Bell Aerospace lot nearby. However, insurance for that venue was four times higher than at The Summit, and the Bell Aerospace property lacked lights, meaning they would have to be rented, Shredd said.

“We tried our best to keep it in Wheatfield, but it got to the point where we’re a few weeks out and our hands are tied. It’s a free event and we want to keep it that way,” he said, adding that he and Ragan even announced recently on the air that they were planning on holding Cruise Nights at the Bell Aerospace property. “It just became so expensive to use that we just couldn’t do it. It was going to be a losing proposition.”

The news came as a surprise to Wheatfield Supervisor Tim Demler, who knew that the event organizers were still ironing out some wrinkles but didn’t think they were going to change the location.

“I was not aware of that,” Demler said Monday. “I’m disappointed, frankly, because it’s not just the mall that benefited from that. People went to (other) local establishments.”

While some in Wheatfield, especially residents who complained of the noise and smoke generated by the burnout pit, will welcome the venue change, others aren’t happy to see Cruise Nights speed off.

As the official post-Cruise Nights gathering place, sales at J.T. Wheatfield’s restaurant on Ward Road were double what they were any other night of the week, owner Joe Tomasino said.

“It had tremendous impact. It meant a lot to our business,” he said. “When that show was in its hay day, we would more than double our profits. We’re still scrambling to try to figure out what we’re going to do to fill that hole.”

Tomasino said Cruise Nights’ impact trickled down to other businesses in town, including gas stations and convenience stores. Demler said he fielded calls from several other businesses that wanted the event to remain in Wheatfield.

“Despite what some people think, the local business community did benefit from it,” the supervisor said.

Shredd said the event’s organizers appreciated Wheatfield’s support over the last few years, and they’re hopeful that people will make the 35-minute drive to Lancaster. Having a speedway adds an extra element to the event, and Cruise Nights plans to take advantage of that by offering “grudge matches” in which buddies can race against each other on the track, Shredd said. There also will be amateur drag racing.

As for the residents who despised Cruise Nights, Shredd said, “They can have a summer full of peace.”

Contact reporter David J. Hill at 693-1000, ext. 115.