Part-time Peconic resident Oxee goes for 60th win

People love the East End for many reasons - the beaches, the wineries, the farms. It all adds to the general mystique of the area.

For Roger Oxee, it's all those things plus one - racing.

Oxee grew up in Westchester and the 58-year old currently lives in upstate Carmel with his wife and youngest son. But he always spent his weekends in his family's Peconic home and has been going to Riverhead Raceway every Saturday night for as long as he can remember.

"In the beginning, I was dragged [to the track]," he said. "Then I started dragging people. I used to have my heroes there, and years later I started racing with them."

Unlike some drivers, Oxee didn't get behind the wheel of a race car until he was 27. He saw an old Figure Eight car in a field on the East End and decided to buy it. He took his lumps (he didn't win his first race until his seventh season) and he thought about quitting.

But 31 years later, Oxee is still ticking. Saturday night, the Late Model driver who is currently tied for second in the division goes for his 60th career win in a 50-lap double-point feature event.

"I've worked a normal job my whole career to be able to do what I love to do on Saturday nights," Oxee said about his love of racing. "It's an addiction."

So too is his need to travel to the East End - even when he isn't racing - despite a daunting 145-mile trek.

"I've spent my adult life on the Long Island Expressway," he said. "I live for my weekends on the Island, even before my racing. It's where I'm my happiest. We go down to the beach, take a swim. We're happy just doing nothing sometimes."

Saturday night won't be one of those nights.