08/02/2003
DONNY LIA
COMES OF AGE WITH MILLER LITE 200 VICTORY AT RIVERHEAD
Donny
Lia of Merrick came of age this past Saturday night on the
NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series when he won the Miller Lite
200 at Riverhead Raceway. Lia, who leads the FMS Rookie of the
Year standings and was the 2001 Riverhead Rookie of the Year,
earned $5,700 from the $64,175 purse.
After Chuck Steuer of Bohemia set fast
time in his Savin Copiers Chevrolet with a lap of 12.228 the
top ten would re-draw for starting position. Donny Lia drew
the pole and Frank Vigliarolo Jr. the outside pole. Lia raced
to the lead when the green light winked on with Vigliarolo
second. They held these positions for the first 42 laps
of the contest, which was slowed early by numerous caution
flags. A 42nd lap restart found Vigliarolo getting the measure
of Lia as he raced by on the outside for the lead. However the
highly motivated Lia wasted little time in repaying the favor
and on lap 47 Lia, with a textbook move, slid under Vigliarolo
for the lead heading into turn one.
Vigliarolo, who was driving with
pneumonia spent the next 96 laps chasing Lia, sometimes
drawing right onto the leader's back bumper and other times
falling back six car lengths. Throwing his hat into the ring
with 75 laps to go the tested tough veteran Ted Christopher
worked his way by Vigliarolo for second on lap 144. Once to
second however Christopher had a monumental task ahead of him
as Lia had built up nearly a half lap lead while Ted was
trying to grab second from Vigliarolo. Frank would later have
his hands full racing for third with Howie Brode, who at times
seemed to be the fastest car on the track. In the final
30 laps Howie took third from Vigliarolo.
The later stages of the race saw Lia's
biggest challenge become lapped traffic, which he handled
masterfully from his short stint of racing at Riverhead
Raceway. At the finish Donny Lia in the Huntington Honda Chevy
scored his first career NASCAR FMS win in front of family and
friends. Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT. was runner-up in
the Mystique Motorsports Chevy, with Howie Brode of Bay Shore
third in the Petro Fuel Oil Chevy.
Frank Vigliarolo Jr. of Mount Sinai
was fourth in the Empire Water Dodge, while Jamie "The
Jet" Tomaino of Howell, NJ was fifth in the Perth Amboy
Spring Chevy after starting 26th.
Prior to the Miller Lite 200 Saturday
night at Riverhead Raceway Billy Wheeler of Sag Harbor and
Eugene Malverty of Lindenhurst scored their first wins of
2003. Wheeler's win came in the 20-lap Charger feature, while
Malverty won the Victory Fleet Maintenance night Blunderbust
feature.
Billy Wheeler wasted little time in
jumping out front in the Charger main event from his
pole-starting berth. Billy was quickly joined by Steve Ratti
who raced his way to second early in the contest. The top two
would race in that order for the remainder of the race with
Jay Henschel moving to third behind them.
At the checker flag Billy Wheeler
scored his first career Riverhead Raceway victory in the
Chico's Bail Bonds entry. Steve Ratti of Manorville was
runner-up in the Anron Air Conditioning Chevy. Jay Henschel of
Levittown did cross the line third but was later disqualified
for an un-approved manifold. That moved point leader
"Dynamite" Dan Turbush of Riverhead to third in the
B&M Landscaping Chevy.
What's the best way to increase your
points lead? Win a 30-lap double point Blunderbust feature and
that is exactly what Eugene Malverty did in the Victory Fleet
Maintenance night 30. Malverty, steering the Allstock Auto
Parts Buick, raced into the lead by Dale Arnold with a handful
of laps remaining in the tilt. It was an outside pass racing
into the first turn that Eugene used to score his first win of
2003. The defending champion increased his points lead.
Dale Arnold of East Rockaway was runner-up in the
Onlinevinylgraphics.com entry while Chris Busick of Mastic
wound up third in the Transmission Works Cadillac
Sources: Bob
Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR
Posted: August 12, 2003
