Eric Goodale Captures First Career NWMT Win at Home Track
It took him quite a few tries but Eric Goodale is finally a winner on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and he did it at his home track of Riverhead Raceway.
Getting your first victory in front of family and friends at home is very special to Goodale who couldn’t have been more excited.
“It just feels so good to finally be able to cross that line first,” said Goodale. “It doesn’t get any better.”
Goodale took the lead from Ted Christopher on lap 174 and never looked back. Christopher got the jump on Goodale on the restart, but made a mistake going into turn one on the next lap that Goodale capitalized on.
“My plan was to follow him for a bunch of laps there until it really got down to the nitty-gritty with about 10 to go,” said Goodale. “But he bobbled going into one and opened the door for me. There was no way I could sit there and not take it. I got underneath him and spun the tires pretty much all the way down the backstretch to make sure I stayed underneath him.”
The racing was incredible all night long as many were using the outside groove. Christopher took the lead away from pole-sitter John Beatty on the outside and actually chose the outside on a restart as well.
Goodale, Christopher, Matt Hirschman, Ryan Preece and Timmy Solomito completed the top five.
Davidowitz Does It Again
Richie Davidowitz had been trying so hard to score his first Legends win and a year ago finally got the job done with big money on the line. A year later with two wins from the 2014 season under his belt; he repeats his feat taking home the big money once again.
Davidowitz started seventh but reached second by the sixth lap. He then just had to follow Artie Pedersen III for a little while to see where he could make his move.
He chose to make the pass for the lead on the outside and took the lead coming off of turn two on lap 14.
“He was protecting the bottom so good,” said Davidowitz. “So I went out there and I got beside him and I was able to pinch him down. The car has been so fast every week. I’d say it’s more the car than me, but I’m not going to stop here. I’m going to go out and try to win every race.”
Pedersen, Brendon Bock, Vinny Delaney, and Brad Van Houten were the top five.
Zeh Wins Again
There’s no disputing the claim that Eric Zeh had the fastest Charger car in Riverhead this weekend. Zeh set a new track record in time trials with a lap of 13.067 seconds. Zeh redrew the fifth starting spot, but it didn’t take him long to get to the front of the field.
As Roger Turbush and Ray Minieri battled with each other for the lead, Zeh sat right behind them. Turbush was forced up the track and Zeh jumped to the bottom as Minieri checked up. Zeh took the lead on just the third lap and led the rest of the race.
“I knew we had a car to win,” said Zeh. “Luckily we were on the bottom and we made our way through quickly.”
Zeh, Turbush, Minieri, Jay Henschel, and CJ Lehmann were the top five.
Walkowiak Scores Dominant Blunderbust Win
Tommy Walkowiak would not be denied. He drew the pole position after time trials and set sail as the rest of the field battled behind him.
Walkowiak led by a whole straightaway by lap 10. But that lead was erased one lap later for a massive wreck involving Gary Caldwell and Ray Shannon.
Caldwell blew a motor and spun out in his own fluid just past the starting line. As he came across the track he was nailed by Shannon, which destroyed the front of Caldwell’s car. Both drivers were okay.
Walkowiak took off again on the restart and it looked like he’d just cruise to the checkered flag until he encountered lapped traffic. The traffic allowed Tom Pickerell to close, but it was too little too late.
Walkowiak held on for his 53rd victory. Pickerell, Jimmy White, Scott Maliszewski, and William J. Wegmann completed the top five.
Photos available at: http://www.racerhub.com/photos/index.php?cat=2281
Hoosier Tire 200 Results:
1. (5) Eric Goodale
2. (4) Ted Christopher
3. (10) Matt Hirschman
4. (21) Ryan Preece
5. (7) Timmy Solomito
6. (8) Doug Coby
9. (3) Shawn Solomito
10. (23) Bobby Santos
11. (20) Ken Heagy
12. (1) John Beatty Jr.
13. (16) Jamie Tomaino
14. (25) Glen Reen
15. (9) Patrick Emerling
16. (24) Justin Bonsignore
17. (30) Jimmy Zacharias
18. (22) Wade Cole
19. (29) Dave Brigati
20. (17) Woody Pitkat
21. (15) Donny Lia
22. (19) Rowan Pennink
23. (18) Ron Yuhas Jr.
24. (13) Frank Vigliarolo
25. (27) Gary McDonald
26. (11) Kyle Ellwood
27. (14) Tommy Barrett Jr.
28. (12) Todd Szegedy
29. (26) Dave Salzarulo
30. (28) Melissa Fifield
Chargers Results:
1. (5) Eric Zeh
2. (7) Chris Turbush
3. (3) Ray Minieri
4. (9) Jay Henschel
5. (6) Cj Lehmann
6. (8) Dave Roys
7. (11) John Baker
8. (4) Greg Immerman
9. (12) Owen Grennan
10. (13) Cory Midgett
11. (1) Roger Turbush
12. (13) Daryn Miller
13. (2) Scott Pedersen
14. (14) Brian Midgett
Legends Results:
1. (7) Richie Davidowitz
2. (1) Artie Pedersen III
3. (6) Brendon Bock
4. (3) Vinny Delany
5. (8) Brad Van Houten
6. (4) Kyle Soper
7. (9) John Beatty Jr.
8. (10) Dylan Slepian
9. (2) Ray Fitzgerald
10. (11) Allan Pedersen
11. (20) George Tomko Jr
12. (12) Vincent Colletti
13. (14) Eric Hersey
14. (22) John Harley
15. (21) Michael Rutkoski
16. (13) Bryan Kelly
17. (24) Steve Hersey
18. (17) Mike Van Houten
19. (27) Steven Woytysiak
20. (15) Tom Marsh
21. (23) Gregory Harris
22. (19) Kurt Krieger
23. (18) Ed Cheslak
24. (5) Kevin Nowak
25. (25) Gary Molnar
26. (26) Wally Davidowitz
27. (16) Chris Rogers
Blunderbust Results:
1. (1) Tommy Walkowiak
2. (4) Tom Pickerell
3. (8) Jimmy White Jr.
4. (9) Scott Maliszewski
5. (14) William J. Wegmann
6. (7) Jack Handley Jr.
7. (10) Brian Brown
8. (15) Tim Mulqueen
9. (2) Johnny Cricchio
10. (11) Tom Sullivan
11. (3) William A. Wegmann
12. (6) Joe Warren
13. (17) Dennis Scott
14. (12) Thomas Puccia
15. (25) Bryan Sescila
16. (24) Brian Quilliam
17. (23) Charlie Zukowski
18. (18) Bob Muller
19. (16) Frank Scimeca
20. (21) Jessica Cohen
21. (22) Roger Turbush
22. (13) Edward Mistretta
23. (19) Gary Caldwell
24. (20) Ray Shannon
25. (5) Terry Stiles
Source: Rob Blount/LongIslandJam.com