05/05/2002
THE
SUN SHINES ON ENDURO OPENER
by Doug Watson
After last weekend’s rain out,
we were happy to find bright sun and 70’s temperatures as
the Enduro warriors and fans arrived at Riverhead Raceway. A
total of 258 cars and trucks would compete in various events
through out the day. With Bob Finan’s voice echoing clearer
then ever we were all excited for the first green flag of
Enduro competition for 2002. It was good to see the familiar
faces and new faces that adorned the pits. Many of the teams
looked ready to roll. The time and dedication most of these
teams put into their cars is missed when the mass of rolling
metal takes to the track. Speaking of dedication, on the way
to the track Scooter Scott broke down in his hauler. Not
wanting to miss the first race he jumped in his Enduro car and
drove it the rest of the way to the track. That’s one way to
heat up the car before the race.
SPECTATOR DRAGS
The first 2002 event would be the
Spectator drags. This is a one on one elimination competition.
Ten cars and trucks would compete in this event. The 2nd
heat was exciting when the 1984 Mustang of Lewis Danning would
battle the tire smoking 1989 Mustang of Brett Duryea. Although
it started close Brett’s 89 would pull away and take the
heat. The 4th heat was also a close run with a GMC
Jimmy vs. a mid-size Chevy pickup driving by James Fernandez
out of Mastic. The run would be close all the way around but
coming out of turn 4, Fernandez’s Chevy would get away from
him giving the heat to the Jimmy. For the final it would be
Ford vs. Ford with a 1994 Ford Probe, driven by Joshua
Martorelli. And the 1989 Ford Mustang of Brett Duryea bidding
for the opening day win. When the dust settled Brett Duryea
would be your winner. Brett is a past Spectator Drag winner
that resides in East Islip.
TRAIN RACE
The Train Race would showcase 4
teams of 3 cars. The Train Race Debut was last season and was
widely enjoyed. This year there would be a change. The teams
would now run 10 laps on the World Famous Figure Eight course.
Today’s 4 Team consisted of: #00 team of Tim “Hammer”
Smith & Tommy “Wild Child” Walkowiak, the #13 team of
“Mad” Mike Mujsce Sr. & Mike Mujsce Jr., the #18 team
of Mike Brown & Bob Haeger, and the #23 team of Kevin
Clarke & Stanley Wangenstein Jr. . On the start, bad luck
would fall on the #00 team when the lead car (the engine)
would disconnect from the other 2, ending their run before it
started. The #13
Team would take the lead and start navigating the X for the
first time. The X would start to come into play on the 4th
lap. At one point the leader would have to come off turn 2
real wide to slow themselves down to avoid the #18 team that
were in the X. It was evident that the father and son team of
Mike & Mike Mujsce were running smooth and just needed to
stay out of trouble to win, and win they would. The #23 team
of Kevin Clarke and Stan Wangenstein Jr. would take 2nd
with #18 driven by Mike Brown and Bob Haeger Finishing 3rd.
FIRST 8-CYLINDER ENDURO
The “Full Size” 8cyl Enduro
cars took to the track. If you have never seen this, it is an
amazing sight. A total of 100 cars will battle for 100 laps or
1 hour, whichever comes first. At 3 wide, bumper-to-bumper,
this field takes up half the track. Today’s race started
fast and clean by enduro standards. The #85 of John McAdam was
the first to retire from the event. The first jam up would be
coming out of turn 2 with #37 of Matthew Dooley of Copiague
involved. The #43 of “Lil” John Alway and #67 of Jeff
Marin would lock bumpers but only lose 1 lap before
continuing. Nice looking ride, the #4 of Barbara Fischer
retired early. A big jam up on the back stretch would occur on
lap 8 with the #69 of Bryan De Luca really putting his front
end to the test. It would take a few laps for the pile-up to
get restarted, so in the meantime the infield became part of
the track. The beautifully painted #80 Rock and Roll Café
Chevrolet of Ralph Soluri Jr. was running the low line well. A
great recovery by the #75 of Jody Fickeissen on lap 17. The
car on the move was the #6 of Danny Webster’s Sponsors
Wanted Monte Carlo. Danny was running 3rd on lap
25, on lap 30 he would pass #35 Spiro Germananakos for 2nd.
Leading the way was the #9 of Tommy Walkowiak until a Front
Right flat would end his run. Front runners at the halfway
mark were the Webster’s #6 in first, Germanakos #35 2nd,
3rd was the #47 of Ray Fitzgerald, and running 4th
was Dominic Ranieri in the #20. With only 25 cars remaining in
the race the pace fast. The #58 of Paul Olmstead cut a right
rear tire while running 3rd on lap 78. When the
checker flags waved it was “Dynamite” Danny Webster in his
#6 Sponsors Wanted Chevrolet taking down the win. Coming
across the line in 2nd was the #47 Constant
Performance/Holbrook Sunoco Chevrolet of Ray Fitzgerald. Third
was Ed Brill’s #59 out of Farmingville.
4-CYLINDER ENDURO
Next the 4-cylinder Enduro cars
would take to the track for their race. A total of 67 cars,
would battle for 75 laps or 45 min, whatever came first. The
first casualty would be the #20 of Brian Mohrman who was hit
hard and would lose several laps. Just like the 8-cylinder
race, the back-stretch would have a wreck that would almost
completely block the track. The #4 of Mike Mujsce Jr. would
take the early lead. Ten laps in rubber bumpers would litter
the track in this tough exciting race. There was plenty of
side by side action, bumping and banging, and the field at
times was going up to 5 wide. On lap 15 the un-sponsored #21
of Anthony “Racer X” Vrankovic would take the lead. The
field wouldn’t make it easy for the leader to get around.
With 40 laps in the books 30 cars remained. Still with a
strong lead was #21, Dale Hofmann from Medford in the #38 was
2nd, running 3rd was the #29 of William
Weigelt, and Bob Haeger in the #27 Francesca’s Pizza of
Hampton Bays Acura was running 4th. Weigelt’s #29
was sporting some damage but was trying to hold on. Meanwhile
“Racer X” in the #21 Dodge Neon was showing the way by
making short order of lap traffic. On lap 56 the #30 of Tim
Smith was blacked flagged for a dragging bumper which he
promptly removed and continued the race. A few laps later the
#15 of Eric Lehr would also receive the lack flag for a
dragging bumper. With a little help from retired drivers in
the infield Eric too would continue. Lap 70 saw Bob Haeger
take over 2nd. Bob would pass the leader with 2
laps to go but that was just to get back on the lead lap. Your
winner would be Anthony Vrankovic from Long Island City in the
#21 Dodge Neon. Following
Vrankovic to the line would be Bob Haeger in the Francesca's
Pizza of Hampton Bays Acura.
4/6-CYLINDER TRUCK
ENDURO
The fast paced truck division
took to the track next. 25 Trucks would battle for 40 laps.
Right from the start you can see a major difference when the
trucks lined up on the track. The trucks would line up in
order on the front stretch. Just like a Saturday night feature
the trucks would enjoy a rolling start coming out of turn 4.
At the start 3 trucks would break away. The #1 Stan’s Towing
Mitsubishi of Kevin Clarke would have the lead. In 2nd
was the #8 of Stanley Wangenstein Jr, and in 3rd
was the #3 of John Cozza. On lap 7 going into turn 3,
Wangenstein Jr. would take the lead from Clarke and start to
put quite a distance on the field. Lap 13 saw the #3 of Cozza
take 2nd. One lap later Clarke would fall into the
clutches of Eddie Colon in the #9, eventually surrendering the
position. The #9 would later spin off of turn 2 losing several
positions. On lap 34 the #19 of Paul Nouger would go around
almost collecting the leader. In a wild last lap Stanley
Wangenstein Jr. would record the win. John
Cozza was 2nd, with Andy “Daddy Cool” Owen in
his #5 Helms Brothers Mercedes Benz Dodge would take 3rd.
SECOND 8-CYLINDER
ENDURO
The final race of the day would
be the “full size” 8cyl cars. With many cars from the
first race getting the opportunity to make a late entry into
this race the field would build to 44 cars. The length would
be 50 laps or a ½ hour. The first casualty hat would be
quickly followed by many others was the #48 Machine. The #7 of
Mike Jording was way off the pace with apparent problems. The
#60 would hit a bumper left behind by a competitor. The #51
had a hard hit. Tattooing the wall was the #20 of Bryan Fass.
The leader at the halfway mark was Dominic Ranieri’s #3
Local Cesspool Chevrolet with the lead. In 2nd was
the un-sponsored #4 of Walter Stroud Jr., and in 3rd
was the #1 of Rick “Monster” Page all the way from
Tolland, CT. On lap 40 the #16 Chapel Auto Wreakers Chevrolet
of Anthony Aiello would take over 3rd. On lap 43
the #43 would pass Stroud for 2nd. With the laps
winding down no one would be able catch your leader and winner
Dominic Ranieri, Recording 2nd was the #43 and
taking down a third place finish was Eugene Malverty in the
#25 out of Lindenhurst.
Sources: Doug
Watson/LongIslandJam.com
Posted: May 10, 2002
