Riverhead to Say Goodbye to Winter with Two Pre Season Practices April 18th & 25th
There is no question that the off season between the 2014 and 2015 races seasons on Long Island as well as the entire Northeast was one for the ages featuring record breaking cold and snowfall. However,that will all be a distant memory at Barbara & Jim Cromarty’s Riverhead Raceway come the final two weeks of April when Saturday afternoons April 18th and 25th the track will host two pre season practice days starting at 12 noon and as always feature FREE grandstand admission.
Track manager John Ellwood reports that despite the extreme conditions of the off season the facility appears to be in good shape leading up to the 65th Anniversary season of racing at the Route 58 oval which will begin with opening weekend Saturday evening May 2nd and Sunday afternoon May 3rd. While Ellwood and staff were handcuffed by the tough weather up until press time John did announce he has re-signed Rapid Recovery Towing as a seasonal sponsor for the NASCAR Modifieds as well as Applebee’s Restaurant of Riverhead who’ll back the Late Models once again in 2015.
Saturday April 18th at 12 noon the sweet aroma of Sunoco Race Fuel will permeate the air as the stock cars of the NASCAR Whelen All American Series take to the track for the first time in 2015. The NASCAR Modifieds, Late Models, Figure Eights, Chargers Blunderbusts, Super Pro Trucks and Legend Race Cars will all take part in several rounds of practice until around 4:00 pm. At that time the Enduro race teams will take over the track gearing up for their 30th consecutive season of racing at Riverhead Raceway. The same time schedule will apply for Saturday April 25th.
Pit gates for both practice days will swing open at 9:00 am to allow race teams to go through the mandatory Safety Tech Inspection, no car can see any track time until it has gone through and passed that process. The track has also set aside Saturday April 4th and April 11th for Safety Tech Inspection only starting at 9:00 am weather permitting. NASCAR and INEX race teams will need their license from either sanctioning body for the practice days as well as the entire regular season.
All the off and on track activity during the month of April is only a prelude to what promises to be a very special 65th Anniversary season at Riverhead Raceway. Opening night for the stock car set on Saturday May 2nd will feature Twin 30 NASCAR Modified features with a full slate of Late Model, Figure Eight, Charger, Blunderbust, Super Pro Truck and Legend Race Car action being presented starting at 5:30 pm.
The second half of 2015 opening weekend will feature a Grand Enduro, Truck Enduro, two 8-Cylinder Enduros as well a 4/6-Car Enduro which will get underway at 12:00 pm Sunday May 3rd