(Press Release from Riverhead Raceway)
Riverhead Raceway owners Eddie & Connie Partridge and Tom Gatz released their 2019 event schedule on New Year’s Day with the 69th season of racing and family entertainment at the historic quarter mile oval getting underway with opening weekend Saturday evening May 4th and Sunday afternoon May 5th.
The 2019 slate of events features plenty of new twists and turns along with way, most noticeably the implementation of Wednesday night rain dates for full card Saturday night rain outs where applicable.
The promotional trio also revealed in the new schedule they’ll stage three regularly scheduled Wednesday night events in 2019. Riverhead Raceway like so many tracks in the Northeast during a soggy 2018 season was besieged by rain having suffered 8 washouts along the way.
The NASCAR Whelen All American Series weekly menu of racing will be headlined by the NASCAR Modifieds who’ll find their weekly feature event distance increased to 50-laps. The open wheel warriors will have many special races dotting the 2019 slate including the 3rd annual Islip 300 on Saturday June 15th with the race now carrying double track points.
Another signature race returning for 2019 will be the Baldwin, Evans & Jarzombek 77 that will compliment the annual Cromarty Wall of Champions induction ceremony on Saturday evening July 27th.
Other extra distance races planned for 2019 include the 69th Year Celebration event Saturday June 29th and a 100-lap affair set for Whelen Engineering Night September 14th. Three 75-lap feature event races are also on the new schedule taking place on May 11th, June 1st & August 24th. In total 19 scheduled points paying events are scheduled for the NASCAR Modifieds of Riverhead Raceway in 2019.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour will make their two customary visits to the Route 58 oval on Saturday evening July 6th and again Saturday September 7th featuring 200 lap events. The regulars of the WMT consider the two Riverhead races “wild card” events that can quickly change the complexion of the 2019 championship chase.
The backbone of the Whelen All American Series are the various support division that compliment the NASCAR Modifieds weekly and all six of those classes will be in action for opening night Saturday May 4th.
The INEX legend Race Cars will be nearly as busy as the Mod Squad this year going to post 18 times during the spring & summer. The Late Models, Crate Modifieds, Blunderbusts and Super Pro Trucks all go to post 15 times with the Figure Eights in action 13 times in ’19. The Street Stocks as well the Mini Stocks will race 12 times in the new year. The newly announced Vintage All Stars will see action on 4 occasions.
Another new twist in 2019 finds the Enduro racers having just two stand alone Sunday events book ending the schedule on opening weekend Sunday May 5th and then final weekend Sunday September 29th. The loyal “Enduromania” racers will transition more towards Saturday night racing in 2019. The Truck and 4/6-Cylinder Gut & Go Enduro classes have 7 races planned while the 8-Cylinder class is scheduled for 6 races.
The first of the three Wednesday night shows will entertain fans on July 10th and be followed by mid week events on August 7th and August 28th. The final Wednesday night will be the 2nd annual Back to School special with a special event to be announced at a later date.
The new Wednesday rain date policy for 2019 is explained on the Riverhead Raceway schedule as follows: “In the event of a full card rain out on a Saturday, Riverhead Raceway will attempt to make up the event on the Wednesday following that rained out event date. Exceptions to this will be all Whelen Modified Tour events. Possible exceptions to this may also include, but are not limited to: Any special event such as the Islip 300, Fireworks night, INEX National Qualifier, etc. Riverhead Raceway will communicate any possible rain dates as soon as a decision is made.”
The 2019 schedule is again chock full of fun and exciting family entertainment attractions including 4-Cylinder Demolition Derbies, Fireworks, School Bus Figure Eight & Demolition Derby events, Monster Trucks and Kids Big Wheel races. New in ’19 will be a Mini School Bus/Van Demolition Derby contest.
Two practice days will preview the new season of racing Saturday afternoons April 20th & 27th featuring free grandstand admission for spectators. The track Technical Inspection staff will host two Safety Tech inspection days Saturday April 6th & 13th, no car can take to the track on the two practice days without first going through and passing Safety Tech.
Complete details as to what is happening, new & exciting in 2019 at Riverhead Raceway can be found at www.riverheadraceway.com. Marketing and race sponsorship opportunities are plentiful for 2019 with further details available by e-mailing the track at [email protected]. The track phone number remains 631-842-RACE.
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