Long Island trio to join Riverhead Raceway Wall of Fame

A racing trio that totaled 117 career victories and 15 championships at Riverhead Raceway will be inducted onto the track's Wall of Fame Saturday.

The careers of Wayne Anderson of Yaphank, the late Joe Biondolillo of Holtsville, and Bill Park of Manorville, will be honored during an on-track ceremony.

Biondolillo dominated figure-eight racing at Riverhead for a dozen years until 1997. During that span, he won 53 main events in the cars he nicknamed "Crystal Blue Persuasion" after the 1970s hit by Tommy James. Biondolillo was a six-time track champion.

After capturing the 1997 Miller Lite National Figure Eight Championship race and track title, Biondolillo and his team moved over to the late-model class in 1998 and won three feature events.

Anderson is one of only three drivers to capture the NASCAR modified championship five times at Riverhead Raceway in its 63-year history, his last one coming in 1991. He now works with modified driver Timmy Solomito, an Islip resident who is second in the points standings this season.

Anderson won the 1994 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship, driving for car owner Lenny Boehler. He also claimed track titles at Islip Speedway and New Egypt Speedway during his driving career.

Park won four NASCAR modified championships at Riverhead, the first in 1997 and then three times in a four-year span: 2005, 2007 and 2008.

Park remains active at Riverhead as a car owner with rising talent Ryan Preece of Berlin, Conn., as his driver. They won twice together in 2012, and Preece was voted the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour's most popular driver last year. The 22-year-old competes in about 14 races a year at Riverhead for Park.

Anderson and Park are tied for fourth on the all-time Riverhead Raceway NASCAR Modified wins list with 32 victories each.

"I'm having a great time and I'm enjoying being an owner because I'm still involved in racing," Park said. "I've had a wonderful, fulfilling run."