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Riverhead, NY Oct. 13th.
Faced with an extremely unfavorable Saturday forecast, Riverhead Raceway management announced Friday morning the once postponed Championship Night program set for Saturday evening would shift to Sunday afternoon. Championship Night, originally slated for Saturday September 30th was rained out and moved to October 14th. The track has not been able run a program since the Eddie Partridge 256 WMT event on September 16th, as rain also fell washing out the Cecil Palm Tree 160 September 23rd.
While making the disclosure to move Championship Day to Sunday, track officials updated the race day itinerary for race teams and fans. NASCAR Modified and Eagle Chevrolet Crate Modified trailers enter the pits at 7:30 am, with tire selection for Modified teams starting at 8:00 am, Pits will open at 9:00 am, practice will commence at 11:00 am. Qualifying starts at 1:15 pm, general admission gates open at 1:00 pm.
The Cecil Palm Tree race run in honor of the late track owner Eddie Partridge will now be a 66-lap affair and decide the 2023 NASCAR Modified championship. John Beatty Jr. of Merrick and Dylan Slepian of Dix Hills are separated by 16-points heading into Sunday. Both Beatty (2017) and Slepian (2015) are former INEX Legend Race Car champions at Riverhead and are seeking their first career NASCAR Modified championship. JR Bertuccio of Centereach, the 2002 Modified champion sits third trailing Beatty by 18, two back of Slepian for second. Chris Young of Calverton is fourth heading into Sunday, 24-markers out of the lead while Jack Handley Jr. of Medford sits fifth, 40-points back of the leader.
Enter the 25-lap Late Model finale Jeremy McDermott of Riverhead has secured his 7th LM championship. Gerard Giordano of Freeport, Artie Pedersen III of Center Moriches and Chris McGuire of Miller Place are in a tight race for the runner-up spot. The brothers Grennan, Owen & Chase are separated by 8-points for the 2023 Eagle Chevrolet Crate Modified title with defending champ Owen on top entering their 25-lap finale Sunday.
Eight points is also the separation in the 2023 Blunderbust championship tussle with Jim Laird Jr. of Rocky Point having the advantage over Brandon Hubbard of Mastic Beach. Neither driver has ever won a track championship. Keeping on the eight-point differential for a 2023 Riverhead Raceway championship, the INEX Legend Race Car title fight joins in on the fun. 2019 INEX Legend Race Car champion Richie Davidowitz of East Moriches holds the 8-point margin over upstart talent Jeffrey Farruggia Jr. of Riverhead as they go to post in their 20-lap feature.
For all things Riverhead Raceway please visit http://www.riverheadraceway.com, emails reach us at office @riverheadraceway.com and our phone number is 631-842-RACE.
