There will be town-sanctioned drag racing on the EPCAL runways over five weekends this summer, if two separate proposals for drag-racing events are approved by the Riverhead Town Board.
Board members today heard from Andre Baxter of Scrambul Inc., who is seeking a special event permit to hold two days of drag racing on the EPCAL runways in June.
Earlier this month, they heard a pitch for a series of events from veteran motorsports promoter Peter Scalzo of Florida.
Both men have special event permit applications pending to stage drag-racing events at the Enterprise Park in Calverton.
Baxter is proposing to stage the “Scrambul Runway Challenge” at EPCAL on the weekend of June 19-20, from 7 aim, to 7 p.m. (Rain date: June 26-27.)
The event would include eighth-mile, quarter-mile and half-mile races. The half-mile race would be on the 7,000-foot runway, while the o eighth-mile, quarter-mile races would be on the 10,000-foot runway.
Scalzo’s events would involve only eighth-mile races on the 7,000-foot runway only. According to his special event permit application, Scalzo proposes four daytime events: July 31, Aug. 1, Aug. 7 and Aug. 8. These will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. He also proposes four nighttime events: Aug. 13, Aug. 14, Aug. 20, Aug. 21. These will take place from 4 p.m. to 10:45 p.m.
Both events are limited to street cars and aim to attract people who enjoy drag-racing as a hobby.
There are thousands of racing enthusiasts on Long Island and advocates of the sport are delighted that Riverhead Town is poised to allow these events to take place. They’ve been advocating for a permanent drag strip at the EPCAL site for more than a decade, but their pleas fell on deaf ears at Riverhead Town Hall.
“Half the battle is getting them to listen and go past the first step,” John Cosali of the Long Island Drag Racing Club said in an interview today.
Cosali said he believes the events will demonstrate to the public that Long Island really does need a drag strip.
L.I. Needs a Drag Strip is the name of a group formed by drag racing enthusiasts to advocate for a drag strip on the island.
John Consoli of L.I. Needs a Drag Strip said “it’s exciting” that the Riverhead Town Board is finally willing to entertain these proposals
“We’ve as a group been to countless town board meetings over the years,” he said. “Everything we’ve been working towards was to get to this point, to raise awareness, to show the general public why this can be successful and why we want to bring this back to Long Island,” Consoli said.
“With Pete and his team getting involved, this can be done,” he said. Both Consoli and Cosali said they are not familiar with Baxter.
In an interview after today’s meeting, Baxter said while Scrambul is a new company, he and his team members have experience staging and working at these types of events, though not in New York.
Scrambul Inc. was incorporated in December, according to state records. Baxter, a Hempstead resident, is the company president and CEO. A native of the Caribbean Islands, Baxter said he has been involved in events like this on the island of Jamaica as well as in Florida. Together he and his team members have over 30 years experience, he said.-
“I’m hoping we can get out there and have a lot of fun,” Baxter said. “The site is perfect for an event with street cars.”
Baxter and Scalzo both stress that safety is their top priority and their protocols will meet or exceed insurance company requirements.
Both said the cars that will be racing in their events will be equipped with mufflers.
At the Scrambul event, spectators will be limited to the area adjacent to the 10,000-foot runway, Baxter told the town board today. Video of the half-mile races on the 7,000-foot runway would be live-streamed on a large screen for viewing by spectators.
Town Board members had favorable reactions to both proposals, though they did question whether the events would create traffic congestion. Traffic concerns would be addressed by the police chief as part of the special event permit review process, Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said.
The sponsors will have to work out the terms of license agreements with the Community Development Agency, including the fees to be paid to the CDA for use of the site.
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