07/20/2002

J.R. BERTUCCIO ROMPS TO RIVERHEAD RACEWAY MODIFIED GOLD
By Bob Finan

    J.R. Bertuccio of Centereach continued his 2002 hot streak Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway when he won his 5th NASCAR Modified feature event of the year in a 35-lap contest on Buzz Chew Chrysler-Dodge night. The win was worth $1,460 to Bertuccio who could make a run at the most wins in a single season, an accomplishment held by the late Charlie Jarzombek and Gary Winters both with 10 victories.

    Rookie Kevin Goodale jumped to the early lead on the first lap, but spun on lap two when he got back into the throttle too quick exiting turn four on lap two. That moved John Shortell to the lead, with Lenny Fischer second.  They ran in that order until lap 5 when Fischer ran out of racing room on turn three and hit the wall. Once back to green Shortell remained the leader with Ed Densieski now second, but after one lap hit the wall under the starters stand which set up a double file restart between Shortell and veteran Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr.

    Once green again Brunnhoelzl was able to take over the lead with Shortell now second. In the meantime J.R. Bertuccio, who started the race in the 9th slot, was making his way to the front and on the 11th lap he passed Mike Andrews Jr. for second, after Andrews had taken the spot away from Shortell on lap 9.  Bertuccio now quickly erased a nearly half lap lead that Brunnhoelzl had built up.  On the 19th lap J.R. dipped under Ed exiting turn two taking the lead.  He then drove away to his own half lap lead and lapped all but the top 8 cars in the 20 car field.

    At the checker J.R. Bertuccio again sat in victory lane, leaving his competitors shaking their collective heads trying to figure a way to stop him. "I just have a great team who dedicates themselves to this effort tirelessly" J.R. commented after exiting the Gershow Recycling Chevy. With seven regular season point races left in 2002 he could very well eclipse the 10 win standard set twice by Charlie Jarzombek who did it two years straight in 1976 and 1977 and Gary Winters who turned the trick in 1962.

    Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr. of Levittown was runner-up in the Dormer King Dodge with Mike Andrews Jr. of Quogue grabbing third in the R.G. Hahn & Sons Fuel Oil entry. John Fortin of Holtsville and Wayne Anderson of Yaphank would complete the top five.

    In the 4th leg of the Snap-on Tools Series for the Late Models Peter "Buzzy" Eriksen of Baldwin scored his second win of 2002. Greg Kleila set the standard in time trials with a 12.510, but when the top six redrew Glenn Tyler and Peter Eriksen took the front row. At the drop of the green Tyler, seeking his second straight win, bolted out front with Eriksen in hot pursuit. Peter wasted little time making a bid for the lead as on lap 3 he drove under Tyler in turns three and four and took control of the race.  However Tyler slowed laps later with a flat front tire. That moved Scott Kulesa to second but he never really got close enough to mount an actual bid for the lead in this non-stop main event.

    At the finish it was the Harley Davidson of Nassau County machine of Peter Eriksen crossing the line first, with Scott Kulesa of Calverton runner-up in the Ranco Sand & Stone entry. Kulesa retakes sole possession of the point lead with the second place finish. Third went to Greg Kleila of Lindenhurst in the J. Murphy's Cesspool & Septic Service Pontiac.

    In the 4th round of the Snap-on Tools Series for the Chargers Jack Orlando of Riverhead scored a clean sweep, setting fast time and leading all 20 laps for his third win of the campaign. Orlando toured the track at 13.488 and then in the redraw drew the pole finding "Dynamite" Dan Turbush starting alongside him. At the drop of the green Orlando bolted out front with Turbush in tow, with "Radiant" Ray Minieri joining the party later in the race. Not even some restarts before and after the halfway mark would rattle Jack Orlando as the driver of the Glamour Transportation Oldsmobile had them all covered.  Dan Turbush of Hampton Bays stayed close to the eventual winner all race long but had to be content with second place money in the Monique's Smoke Shop Chevy, while Ray Minieri of Bay Shore was third in the ALP Computer Dynamics Pontiac.

    Kevin Clarke of Rocky Point notched his first win of the Blunderbust season when he won their 20-lap main event. After Scott Sepe set the pace for the first two laps Gary Hartcorn raced past Sepe for the lead on lap 3 and one lap later Kevin Clarke moved to second position. On a 5th lap double file restart Clarke raced toward the first corner and came away with the lead, with Hartcorn running second for the following 11 laps. On the 16th circuit Bobby Gardner moved under Hartcorn for second with three laps remaining in the race. However, after failing to qualify for the feature the week before Kevin Clarke was one determined driver and he drove his Artistic Siding & Contracting car to victory lane. Bobby Gardner of Westbury was runner-up in the HB Chevrolet Cadillac, while Gary Hartcorn of Selden was third in the Green Art Plumbing Supply machine.

    Danny Grennan of Glen Cove scored the win in the 20-lap Super Pro truck feature event utilizing a bold move that found him racing from his 4th starting spot to the lead on the very first lap. When the three trucks that started ahead of Grennan in the contest, Hank Hallock, Mike Albasini and Rich Giordano went three wide in the first and second turn something had to give.  In the middle of the backstretch Giordano went around, slowing both Hallock and Albasini, allowing Danny Grennan to drive through the opening for the lead. The current SPT point leader once out front steered the Gulfway Marine Chevy to its third win of 2002. Mike Albasini of Bayside did a masterful job of recovering from the first lap scramble to collect second in the Major Police & Fire Supply truck. Lou Maestri of Deer Park was third in the Schwing Electric entry.

Sources:  Riverhead Raceway PR/Bob Finan
Posted:  July 25, 2002