Riverhead Raceway will donate trees to town

Riverhead Raceway will be back in the NASCAR spotlight Saturday when it hosts a NASCAR Green "Clean Air Tree Planting Program."

Riverhead was one of five tracks in the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series to be selected for the the green program, established in 2009 to stress environmental awareness.

The track will have a full slate of races, with the finale being the first 8-cylinder demolition derby of the season.

"We are really old-timers with NASCAR," said Barbara Cromarty, who owns Riverhead Raceway with her husband Jim. "We go back 38 years with them, so we are a very special track to NASCAR, let's put it that way. But it's always an honor any time they select you for something, and we enjoy it."

The track will receive upward of 100 trees from NASCAR, which the Cromartys said they will donate to the Town of Riverhead. Town Supervisor Sean Walter will be on hand to receive the gift.

"We have to figure out where we're going to put the trees, but we have a bunch of new parks that have been created in the town," Walter said. "There will be plenty of locations, both on town property and off town property, to put the trees. This will be a wonderful thing."

For the Cromartys, who moved to Riverhead in 1958, this event is especially meaningful. Barbara Cromarty recalled first moving to the town when only a few businesses and tractors occupied one-lane roads.

"We are thrilled to do this, and it's a lasting heritage," Barbara Cromarty said. "Those trees will be there hopefully forever. We're happy to be part of the community. Riverhead is a great, active community, and they do wonderful things."