Goodbye till next year: Cromartys plant trees, drop the curtain on Riverhead Raceway’s 63rd season

Riverhead Raceway’s 63rd season came to a close Saturday, with a special twilight Enduro program at the quarter-mile oval on Route 58.

Barbara and Jim Cromarty reflected on their 34 years of operating the track yesterday after a ceremony at the Riverhead Town Animal Shelter, where six of 71 trees donated to the town by NASCAR and the Cromartys were planted.

The Cromartys have operated Riverhead Raceway since 1978. It’s Long Island’s last remaining auto racing track.

Until 1984, they also operated, but did not own, the Islip Speedway. They’d begun renting the site to stage other — non-racing — events in 1974.

“When the fellow who ran it died, the owners asked us if we’d want to run the races,” Mrs. Cromarty said.

“They said we were the only people who actually paid the rent on time, so that’s why they asked us,” Mr. Cromarty joked.

“That’s how we ended up in auto racing,” his wife said. Mrs. Cromarty has taken a modified for a spin or two around the track, but not in competition. “Just for fun,” she said.

The opportunity to run the Riverhead track presented itself in 1978, and they jumped on it. They’ve been running the races there every summer ever since. For the first several years, they ran races on Friday nights in Riverhead and on Saturday nights in Islip, Jim Cromarty said.

In 1984, the Islip track was sold and shut down. At about the same time, they said, the Riverhead track went up for sale. They bought it.

That was also about the time the landmark Indian came to Riverhead, Mrs. Cromarty said. It was one of 12 giant Indians among the numerous larger-than-life plastic sculptures at the Danbury State Fair. When the fair shut down and the fairgrounds were sold — the site is home to a shopping mall today — the statues were auctioned off.

“It was pouring rain and I was drenched and we lost out on 11 of the 12 Indians. I told him, ‘You better get this last one.’ And he did,” Mrs. Cromarty said laughing. “It’s a good thing, too.” The Indian has become a local landmark and even made an appearance in the hit HBO series, “The Sopranos.” When a “for sale” sign went up at the track for the filming of the television show, Mrs. Cromarty said, their phone was ringing off the hook with calls from people frantic that the track was being sold.

“We’re not going anywhere,” she said.

Riverhead Raceway opened as a dirt track in 1949. It changed to asphalt in 1955. It is part of the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series circuit and the only NASCAR stock car track in the N.Y. metropolitan area. For coverage of the 2012 Riverhead Raceway season, click here.

NASCAR announced its “Green Clean Air” program in 2009, pledging to capture carbon emissions produced by racing with the planting of trees in communities that host NASCAR tracks. NASCAR donated $10,000 to purchase 71 trees to be planted in the Town of Riverhead. The trees planted at the shelter will beautify the site and provide much-needed shade for the for the dogs there. The Cromartys selected Riverhead Town as the recipient of the donation.

“We really appreciate this thoughful donation,” Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter said at Friday’s ceremony.

Did you know… Amityville native Jim Cromarty and his wife Barbara bought the home that became famous as the “Amityville Horror” house in a bank sale in March 1977. The Cromartys lived there for more than a decade. The home was the scene of a mass murder in November 1974, when Ronald “Butch” DeFeo shot his parents and four siblings in their beds.  Subsequent owners George and Kathy Lutz moved out of the waterfront home shortly after moving in, claiming it was possessed by demons. A book said to be based on the Lutz family’s real-life paranormal experiences, The Amityville Horror: A True Story (published in September 1977) spawned controversy, lawsuits and major motion pictures. One of the lawsuits was brought by the Cromartys, who maintained that the Lutz story was “a crock.” While living in the house, the Cromartys were tormented not by demons but by hordes of tourists coming to their home to gawk or hold ceremonies to purge the home of evil spirits. See an interview with the Cromartys on the ABC TV show That’s Incredible.

Another interesting Riverhead connection… A Riverhead native son, Judge Thomas M. Stark, presided over the murder trial of Ronald DeFeo, Jr. in 1975. DeFeo, 24, was found guilty on six counts of second-degree murder in November 1975. Stark sentenced DeFeo to six concurrent sentences of 25 years to life. DeFeo has been incarcerated at a maximum security prison in ustate Duchess County since Dec. 4, 1975. He turned 61 on Wednesday.

RiverheadLOCAL photos by Denise Civiletti

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