04/12/2002

BACK TO RACING AT MEDFORD
by Stacey Holmberg

    The first race of the Medford Raceway 2002 season went under way on Friday night.  While everyone was anxiously waiting to see what the undecided weather was up to, there were a few questions to drivers to be answered.  The questions to be asked were: "How does it feel to be back racing?" and "What are your goals for the 2002 season?"  Here are what some drivers had to say:

Eric Hersey (Jr. 2) "It feels good to be back racing, but I'm upset on what had happened to me."  "My goals for this season would have to be, to win
opening night and hopefully win the championship."

Kevin Gordon (Jr. Sportsman Champ) "I'm happy, happy to be back racing."  "I would like to win every race and possibly the championship in my class."

Timmy Lutz (Jr. 1) "It feels great to be back racing."  "My goals are to win some races, but mostly think about my line and to be smooth."

Mike Lodi (Medium) "It feels real good to be back racing."  "Well, I moved to Medium from Amateur, and I hope to run against more people, and basically just have fun.  My sponsors for this are: Budweiser, Steiger Craft Boats and MNL Marine."

Michelle Furia (Jr. 2) "It feels good to be back racing."  "I hope to start winning, have a good year, go faster because of the new class, and possibly winning a championship."

Jesse Gutierrez (Cadet Kart) "It feels good to be back racing, and I'm very excited."  "My goals are just to basically race, and win some, and just mostly have fun."

Joe Orlando (Medium) "It feels good to be back racing."  "My goals are to win some races, do the best I possibly can and just have fun."

    Finally after talking to a couple of drivers, the weather turned around and racing got under way. 

Novice
    The Novice class was very consistent.  Andrew Reeve took the win with new comers Lauren Kasky second, David Schneider third, and Brian Grennan fourth.

Jr. Sportsman 1
    Timmy Lutz took an early lead, then Lutz and Brian Searight were battling for the lead where they got a little aggressive with one another and spun together.  Everyone else was consistent, with Kenny Hyde taking the win, Dylan Polis taking second, Timmy Lutz 3rd and Searight 4th.

Jr. Sportsman 2
    In the beginning Eric Hersey and John Gloor battling very closely.  The first 10 laps first through fourth place were very close, then Travis Polis and Gloor bump which gave Hersey to gain 5 kart lengths on everyone.  John Gloor would go on to clip the wall, which would result in a visit to the pits to fix the damage.  Then at the restart, Gloor moving fast from last, Hersey takes the win with Polis 2nd, Michelle Furia 3rd, Gloor 4th, Ryan Hofmann 5th and Joey Rizzo 6th.

Jr. Restricted
    Tonight with only two karts, last years champ, Nick Conroy, and former Jr. II racer Caitlin Lefferts.  Both karts very smooth, Conroy takes early lead for the race win and Lefferts finishing 2nd.

Kadet Karts
    Jesse Gutierrez, William Schneider, Craig Lutz and Buddy #94 were the racers in this class.  They were all winners taking the checkered flag around the track after their race was over.  These 5 to 7 year olds shall move up when they turn 8 years of age.

Medium
    Two karts moved up from different classes, Joe Orlando from Jr. Restricted and Mike Lodi from Amateur.  Both Orlando and Lodi very smooth, but Jay Agugliaro took the early lead and stayed up front the whole race to take the win, with Lodi 2nd, Orlando 3rd and David Manoogian 4th.

Jr. Sportsman Champ A
    Kevin Gordon took an early lead and won the race with everyone else behind him very consistent.  Michael Johnson 2nd and Joseph Burns 3rd.

Jr. Sportsman Champ B
    Joseph Tufferelli was the only kart so it was an easy race for him.

Sr. Champ
    John Denniston would take the early lead with his only other competitor Dennis Karpski in 2nd.  The race would go on smoothly and finish the same way it started.

Jr. Champ
    Nicole Vigliarolo was the only one in this class, the first time ever racing a go-kart.  The daughter of two-time Modified Champion, Frank Vigliarolo Jr., said she had a good time.

    For a night of racing that might not have went on, it was a really good night.  Stay tuned to LongIslandJam.com with more questions and battling actions from Medford Raceway headed your way next week.

Sources:  Stacey Holmberg/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:  April 17, 2002