Drag racing

The “Race Track, Not Street” drag-racing events scheduled for this weekend have been canceled due to confusion —or some sort of misunderstanding — over ownership of a taxiway at the Calverton Enterprise Park. The remaining events in the “Race Track, Not Street” series will go on as planned, except they will be located on the 7,000-foot runway, where they were held last year.

Drag racing events will be held on 12 weekends this year at the Calverton Enterprise Park, after approvals granted by the town board Wednesday.

The town board will schedule public hearings on new proposals from the two drag racing promoters that held events in Calverton last year. Plans call for four racing series over a total of 13 weekends.

More drag racing could be coming to Riverhead next year, as “Race Track, Not Street” promoter Peter Scalzo has submitted event applications for 12 weekends, each featuring two drag racing events at the Enterprise Park in Calverton.

The Scrambul Runway Challenge drag racing event scheduled for this weekend at the Calverton Enterprise Park will go forward despite last-minute safety concerns raised by Supervisor Yvette Aguiar.

Riverhead Supervisor Yvette Aguiar said today she would support making an unused airstrip at the Enterprise Park in Calverton a permanent site for racing. 

More than 200 cars raced on one of the Calverton Enterprise Park runways Saturday afternoon in the first installment of "Race Track, Not Street" series of drag racing events in Calverton. Photo slideshow.

An airstrip at the Enterprise Park in Calverton is now set up and ready for an eight day, eighth-mile drag racing series, called “Race Track, Not Street," starting this Saturday and running through the next four weekends.

The EPCAL Watch Coalition wrote to DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos to ask the state environmental watchdog to step in to make sure the drag racing events won't endanger the groundwater aquifer or protected grassland habitats. Of particular concern, the group said, is a solvent-based resin to be used to enhance traction on the runway for drag racing.

Some town board members expressed confidence that everything will work out fine, despite apparent conflicting terms of permit and runway agreement.“We always can stop it on a moment's notice if it's not what we agreed to,” Councilman Tim Hubbard said.