Full Speed Ahead ....( Maybe )

[rabbid1]

Uh Oh , Anybody look at Newsday today ! Not good !

[debbie33]

Why whats it say? Didn't get mine yet.

[Dennisc]

look at page A5 article is called "Riverheads last lap" very not good.

[RGeeProductions]

Ok, now maybe it's me but what's not good?
1. It's a good plug for the track.
2. Read it again, said "One recent deal didn't go through, the Cromartys said, because they want a guarantee that it will continue as an auto racetrack as it has for more than a half-century".
I take that that, Cromarty's WILL sell ONLY IF THE BUYER KEEPS IT A RACETRACK. I am not understanding why ANYONE would think this is "NOT GOOD"!!!!
Please, Please don't make this something it's not!!!
Newsday Article (http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-lirace0505,0,3488518.story?coll=ny-linews-headlines)

[W. J.]

So, any of you race fans out there have an extra $20,000,000 to make an offer??? The article states that the land is worth $1 million per acre in the area, and we have to deal with that. I agree that the Cormartys will try to get someone who wants to keep it as a race track to buy it, but that price tag is awfully steep for something that only generates 6 months of income in a given year.
Let's all keep our fingers crossed on this one.

[racing#s]

I personally feel that being it's one of the oldest sanctioned tracks in existence, NASCAR should do something.They should step up and get involved one way or another. Why don't they buy it ? Or, it seems the recent fad is for NASCAR drivers to buy a track. I believe there's like a half dozen drivers that own tracks. How cool would it be if a popular NASCAR driver bought it?! Again, like RGEE says, they're on the front page, a great thing. There's probably a few thousand people just finding out there's a racetrack in Riverhead. We can only hope it remains a racetrack.

[RGeeProductions]

Hey WJ, it is true that it's used only partially throughout the year, if the right people get involved it could be a multi use facility with the town. Fairs, car shows, motorcycle shows, concerts, etc, etc......
Seems this has never been done here, except the County Fair one year, but this would generate more income per short time of use.
Plus all the land south of the track to the railroad is not in use.
MMMM, 20 drivers, a cool million each....ahhh, just dreaming.....
200 drivers @ $100,000 each is more believable....but still dreaming

[The Bullfather]

200 drivers have a hard time buying tires. lol

Well, we all hear rumors............................

Now we know the track might be on the market, let's just believe and pray that it will be sold to a racing minded person!

[W. J.]

RGee, if 200 driver's had $100,000, there would be 150 Modifieds and 50 Late Models at Riverhead each week, LOL!!!

I like your suggestions about how to increase revenue and would love to see it happen. Perhaps today's front page Newsday story will bring out some fans, as racing#s said. We can only hope for the best, and I'll try to get a word with the Cromaty's today to see where things stand, just to mitigate the confusion we all know will come from this story. I've already had a message from someone who, "heard the track's been sold". Geesh, this is sickening.

[Dennisc]

Too bad Newsday didn't make a real good article on the track, like its history and the racing history that Long Island has, which is a very rich and interesting past. I always have time for the "back in the day" storys I grew up hearing.

[BOWATCHER]

The track owners are very smart people. Front page news priceless advertisement. Real estate listing priceless advertisement. Not a penny spent on advertisement. nuff said

[Old Man]

As BOWATCHER said the Cromatys are very smart and shrewd people. All that self promotion and didn't spend a dime.
The only problem with the track being sold will be with the town. As long as the Cromarty's own it, they will be able to keep it as a race track, but any body that buys it will have to apply to the town for a permit to run it as a race track.
For anybody to buy it and ask for a permit to run it as a race track will be the same as somebody wanting to open a new race track, and everybody knows where the town stands on that
Proof of that is Calverton, and it wouldn't make any difference who wanted buy Riverhead. Didn't NASCAR want to be involved in a track in Calverton and what did the town say to that.
The bottom line is, if it is sold, then the property will be another shopping center. The town will not let the track continue.
The only answer would be for somebody to buy 90% of it and keep the Cromatry's name on it for it to continue as a race track.

[rabbid1]

That's genius !

[W. J.]

It is all too true, for those of us who remember what happened at Islip. Michael LoGrande, then Islip supervisor, wanted Islip closed. The Cromarty's fought valiantly to keep it open, and reached an agreement with LoGrande & co. to keep Islip open for 10 years. 2 years later, LoGrande convinced the owner to sell Islip, and when the Cromarty's tried to buy it outright, LoGrande let them know in no uncertain terms that no race permit would be available to keep it open.
Unfortunately, the same thing could come about this time too.

[The Bullfather]

.............and no one at the rally for oval racing in yaphank. :disgusted

[W. J.]

They were all at Riverhead and Wall.....

[outlawfab]

There were quite a few cars at Riverhead from 9:30 on.

[rabbid1]

Those must have been the cars from the people disguised as empty seats . Pretty light opening night turnout . Fans should support the track we have !!
Or they'll all cry when its gone.

[outlawfab]

at least the track makes it avalible to us who choose to show up.kevin orlando had his charger out roger had his latemodel out a couple of blunderbusts and brigati in the mod trying things out to make their cars better. mighty mike ran 4cyl enduro as well as william schwarz who came up from his new place in north carolina to run enduros. i also noticed a few cars entered in spectator drags with the no strip no levy bumperstickers. also kudos to mighty mike for the ariel advertising saturday afternoon

[The Bullfather]

The point is to support ALL forms of racing on Long Island. Many current drivers were drag racers. We've lost 2 tracks all we have is Riverhead and I totally support it. The drag racers have also lost 2 tracks, THAT'S ALL THEY HAD! There was no other venue to turn too. With rumors year after year, I'd hate to be in the same boat was OUR fellow RACE FANS.


I've seen lines built up from the hot rod industry. So and so doesn't like customs, they don't like muscle cars, they don't like tuners.........so on and so on. What I saw today was all different style of racers. They want a track and I don't blame them.


WE ARE RACE FANS, we all have the common bond of loving some sort of racing form. We should be able to come out, not everyone who races on Saturday night shows up on Enduro Sunday. And not everyone made it to Jersey. For the drag racing fan, they have no choice but to travel to Jersey for the nearest form of drag racing.


NEVER EVER shun your noses to any form of racing, we are all in the same boat for the passion of racing. NEVER EVER give up for chasing your dreams and ambitions. We need to support the racing community. I welcome everyone who was standing on the corner of Suffolk Ave. who wants to part of LongIslandJam community. I want to be able to be welcomed into their world. We have a love of racing and cars. Most of us grew up around with some form of hot rods in our blood stream.


We shouldn't be making jokes about it. Some people felt unwelcomed on this board because of comments made back to them. NEGATIVITY needs to stop. Bickering and complaining gets us nowhere. They have bumper stickers that read NO MOTORSPORTS = (a politicans name). Some stickers read NO DRAGSTRIP=(apn), but they are fighting for MOTORSPORTS. Most of them are drag racers, but they still see a vision for a full racing complex. It's a damn shame to see no one from our community show up in support who was home sitting around waiting for next week. I'm proud I was able to represent Long Island Jam today and get to talk with a couple of people about racing and hot rodding.


If ever a track we built, I hope Racer hub was able to get the resources to cover drag racing. Many forms of racing are represented from Long Island. It will continue this week on Pitbull as Joey Scarallo is interviewed............who? Joey races for Rahall/Letterman in Indy Pro Series with IRL and former Trans-Am racer from Happague. Pitbull was able to introduce Mike Renn, 4C Super Mods. Cars that were built and started right here on Long Island by a bunch of fabercators. Long Island has many forms and outlets of racing, including a Motorcross track in Yaphank. I've tried to make my way over there and let some information about the track. www.islandmotocross.com



Racing on Long Island go beyond the walls of Riverhead and we as Racers and Race fans should appreciate and understand and support them.

[maestri fan 1]

Just for the record this is a question not a starting of a rumor, but doesn't Bill Denniston own 51% of the track? I just remember hearing this at one point about a year or 2 ago.

[W. J.]

1. NO Bill does not own 51% of the track.
2. The post was about today's rally, nothing to do with LAST NIGHT at Riverhead.

[art11758]

.............and no one at the rally for oval racing in yaphank. :disgusted

I saw you there Pete. Yes, the turnout was rather disappointing. The bumper stickers are an interesting thing. The first batch was the the "No dragstrip". Which promptly pissed off the the ATV/moto crowd. So the second batch was the "No Motorsports". Both batches were paid for privately. Just like the flyers that were handed out yesterday. The passion of a few is hopefully what will carry "us" until everyone figures it out. I just wanna believe it won't take too long....... The opportunity is here, right now. Stay tuned.
Oh and even with all sorts of traffic, I still made the 'tour show at Wall. (Features only tho' :( )

[The Bullfather]

I do have a batch of stickers that read "no motorsports=no levy" if anyone would like one, I have about 20 or so. No matter who is in office, we should be able band together and try to make something happen. Long Island Racing started with the Vanderbilt Cup, we've had many tracks come and go. Many atv areas come and go, many go-kart tracks come and go...... I think you get the point. :O)

[unowho243]

Pete I would like 2 of the motorsports stickers if possible?

[debbie33]

Pete I would like 2 of those stickers also. I have a dragstrip one, but it's really not my thing, so I never put that one on.

[randomrodder]

You are right on the money Pete.

I went through this with the Street Rodder/Hot Rodder/Customs/Rat Rods, etc., etc., in the past. It's time for all like minded people to join together in one accord if we want to see our motorsports survive in the future.

The one thing that will surely cause our demise is apathy and the "let the other guy do it" attitude.

Go on and laugh as you sit at the track of your choice while others fight to keep the battle going for a motorsports complex for ALL enthusiasts. See how far that gets you.

Politicians are concerned with two things, money and votes. Show them enough voters and the money follows suite. Wise up and play the game by the rules or lose everything you've got.

We need a Motorsports Alliance on Long Island, an Alliance of all factions of the automotive hobbiest, from ricer to drifter to oval track racer, and fans of course to quarter pounders. Then there are the Street Rodders, Hot Rodders, Cruisers and so on.

Can it be done? Someone with the right determination and a vision can do it. SEMA, (Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association) keeps most motorsports from being banned completely by our elected officials in Washington D.C.

It's time to wake up and smell the coffee folks.

Enjoy your season of racing.

The Old Man.

[Troyer driver]

Writing on the wall (or the cover of Newsday)
You are all right; Riverhead has had a long and colorful past and now its time that it will sadly come to an end. I read all the postings with utter enjoyment and just laugh how foolish can you all be? The Cromarty's only know one thing “Money”. The article states that the land is worth $1 million per acre in the area. Does this take in account that there may be some environmental issues with the soil under the track? If someone did buy it, what would they find, and or have to do when they are required to do an environmental impact study to keep it as a track? Would this prohibit any one from buying it? Is all of the land that the track uses for parking owned by the Cromarty's? Would the new owner have to provide the town with a traffic study? What if it was required to have public meetings to “Grandfather” the track to the new owner? I for one would love to sell tickets to that. The article states “The track, which draws a crowd of nearly 4,000 people on Saturdays and Sundays through late September, is a portal into the past”. Is this the same fuzzy math that Enron used? Just look at the spectator stands on a weekly basis, and I for one can’t get that number, or are we counting all spectators, people signed into the pit gate, guests, people sighed in for free, employees of the track and last but not least, the dogs that the Cromarty's own? I, for one, would love to see the tracks financial books if I were looking to buy the track, or is this why the “deals” fall through? The article states “One recent deal didn't go through, the Cromarty’s said, because they want a guarantee that it will continue as an auto racetrack, as it has for more than a half-century”. Deeper in the article, it states that “But the racetrack could not be built there today. It now exists as a pre-existing, nonconforming use. And, the tax bill -- $39,298.80 this year -- reflects its limited income as a race track”. If the track was sold and the new owner needed to do improvements to hopefully get it to some kind of “conforming” status, I am sure that the county tax assessor would love to re-assess that figure and the tax bill would go up. Is this one more reason that there has been no “Deal”? The article states “While it still has a local fan base -- and because of NASCAR rules, many of the cars that race at Riverhead can't go to other tracks without expensive rebuilding -- the Riverhead Raceway has become an icon of Long Island's past”. I looked at the Riverhead Raceway rules and I can only find that the Modified division uses the NASCAR Modified tour rules. All other weekly divisions are Riverhead rules and just like any other track, uses NASCAR safety rules as a guide line and the track makes the rules as for each division. What is with the new rule that you have to pre-order and pay for your tires in advance or just get what scraps are left over if you should choose to not pre-order? Sounds like someone is having credit problems with Hoosier. How in the world, after they raised the tire prices, can the track expect anyone to be able to do this? Tell me of one short track that has the same rule! It was a warm welcome to see that Riverhead has as in the past messed with the payout purse, so more expense falls on the racer and more into the pockets of the owners. Maybe if the owners of the track spent some money improving (and please not another hospitality trailer) the track with all the money that was made during the golden years with the 300 + car enduro weekends (I would like to see the tracks financial books for those years) and providing the fan with some better weekly racing (not the dog and pony NASCAR Cup cars, monster trucks, motorcycle thrill show), and got some big names to come and guest drive like Wall, Stafford, and Thompson do (oh wait, you have to pay them). OR look at the show’s that other tracks have like the Spring Sizzler, Ice Breaker, World Series, Fall Finale, Turkey Derby, to name a few, there may be some hope for Riverhead; but no, we are stuck with the Cromarty Cup.
My crystal ball tells me that the owners will just keep on the self destructive path they are on till the last nail is in the coffin.

I will be taking pre-orders (payment in advance for credit reasons) for seats to the funeral of Riverhead Raceway, sorry to say, if nothing changes

[randomrodder]

Mr Troyer Driver, things were like that back in the day of Mr Hawkins and Mendelson. Drivers from all over the East Coast would converge on Islip and Riverhead Speedways to do battle with our homeground battle axes, ah, those were the days. Pre-poodle days. Or should i say, pre Phoo Phoo days.

[Dwight Clock]

I would seriously doubt that, on a piece of real estate worth 20 million, that a deal would fall through because of the "books". The bottom line is that there is no way that a race track of 1/4 mile can generate as much income as commercial development on the same property. There has been offers and talks for years about Riverhead. It will eventually happen, but hopefully not for a few more years. I applaud Jim and Barbara Cromarty for wanting to insure the facility remains a race track. The reality is, though, that they may not have a choice. Just as in the aforementioned Michael LoGrande deal, the powers that be may not be willing to keep the property zoned for such. This country is littered with shopping centers and industrial parks that sit on the sites of former speedways. Riverhead will become another. It is just a question of when. Enjoy it while you have it.

[Gravel]

1. NO Bill does not own 51% of the track.
2. The post was about today's rally, nothing to do with LAST NIGHT at Riverhead.

Sorry WJ, but I also remember Bill D. telling people he owned 51% of the track.[if not the whole thing] If he HAD a deal and it fell through, thats one thing. But he has said on many occasions, to many different people, that he owned the track. I was not there on Saturday, so I don't know what was said.

[The Bullfather]

Nothing was addressed. I was suprised there was no pre-season/opening night drivers meeting. I guess they wanted to get all the cards in order, with the article coming out. I'm sure they knew of it also. But maybe this week all drivers will be addressed about the upcoming season. I thought we had one open night every year. a "Keep it clean and safe boys" rally. It's always good to have before the season starts.