Riverhead Raceway to celebrate renovations Saturday

The new owners of the Riverhead Raceway have planned a fireworks show Saturday to celebrate major renovations at the 66-year-old racetrack.

Eddie and Connie Partridge, NASCAR team owners who live in Calverton, bought the quarter-mile raceway in August for $4 million and announced plans to improve the property, the last racetrack remaining on Long Island. They run the racetrack with their nephew, Thomas Gatz.

The Partridges said in a news release that spectators at the “grand opening celebration” will see a “virtually a new racetrack with every building undergoing a total makeover from head to toe.”

Alterations include a new beer garden featuring live music each week two hours before races start, the owners said. They said they also improved lighting, refurbished the restrooms and rebuilt the concession stands.

Doors open at 4 p.m. with heat races starting at 4:30 p.m. and main races beginning at 6:30 p.m. The fireworks show is scheduled to begin after the races are done.

Barbara and Jim Cromarty, who owned the raceway for 30 years before selling it last year, said they were waiting for a new owner who would keep the property a racetrack.

The Partridges own the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour team of driver Ryan Preece, as well as a tree farm and trucking company in Calverton.

Eddie Partridge said at the time of the purchase last year that he planned to improve the raceway to attract families and “bring a large audience back.”