09/27/2003
RIVERHEAD
CLOSES OUT THE SEASON WITH A BANG
by Kim Watson
On Saturday, Riverhead Raceway held its last day of
races of the 2003 season. Drivers and fans gathered for the
long day of rescheduled and scheduled events. Normally the
last Saturday night is just for Enduros but thanks to Mother
Nature, fans also got to see the make up races for the Late
Models and Chargers (both were rained out on Labor Day
weekend). The Super Pro Trucks came also out for the King’s
Cup 46, to finish out their point season. After the NASCAR
Weekly Racing Series divisions finished their races, spectator
drags and train drivers took over the track. Just as the sun
set the real Saturday night, mayhem started when drivers in
the Grand Enduro, Stock 6/8-cylinder Enduros, Rollover
Contest, 4/6-cylinder Truck Enduro, and 4-cylinder Enduro cars
had their final runs for the season.
LATE MODELS
The Late Models were the first of the Saturday night
divisions on the track. Glenn Tyler only needed to start the
race to clinch the point championship, so he must have felt
pretty confident of coming out on top for 2003.
The first few laps were filled with cautions. Dave
Brigati in the #1x Dodge jumped from third to first on the
first few restarts, but by the third, Sean Patterson in the #8
Sea Level Construction Ford was ready and took the lead from
the outside. The #39 The Helman Group Pontiac of RJ Oxee moved
up to third and was working on second when the caution came
out again on lap five. After the restart Oxee took the lead
leaving Patterson and Greg Kleila in the #72 JR’s Steakhouse
Pontiac to battle for second. Joe Paschitti and his #90 Long
Island Glass Pontiac went around in turn 4 bringing out the
caution on the tenth lap. After that, the race’s best green
flag run began as Oxee led the way and Glenn Tyler in the #28
Spring & Summer Activities Pontiac made his way through
the field. Dave Brigati and Kevin Metzger in the #23 SPONSORS
WANTED Ford battled side-by-side for a few laps, both having
come back from the rear of the field to the top ten.
A quick caution fell on lap twenty for debris. For the
last five laps Oxee had a clean run with a two-car lead over
the rest. Glenn Tyler finished his championship-winning season
in second and Greg Kleila finished third.
CHARGERS
Dan Turbush already clinched the championship for the
Charger division, but that didn’t mean the rest of the field
was going to lay back and rest on their laurels. The opening
laps had a lot of cautions as everyone tried to advance their
positions. Cars were driving over each other in turn two and
there was debris in turn 3. By lap four, John Ellwood and his
#15x Truly Blue Pools Pontiac had the lead with the #00 PCHS
Racing Engines Chevrolet of Michael Bologna in second. More
cautions followed as Ellwood held the lead and Steve Ratti in
the #75 moved up to second.
Veteran Jack Orlando in the #99 Glamour Transportation
Oldsmobile took over second after Ratti lost his outside
battle for the lead. There was another brief caution on lap 8.
From there it was a green flag race as Jack Orlando took the
lead from John Ellwood. Jack finished in first,with Steve
Ratti in second, and the 2003 Charger Champion, Dan Turbush
and the #8 Eastern Suffolk Cardiology Pontiac in third.
SUPER PRO TRUCKS
The Super Pro Trucks had to settle their point
championship and it was fitting that it came down to the
King’s Cup 46. The Costa family worked hard promoting the
race and raised lap money to sweeten the pot for the tailgate
brigade. Earlier in the day Lou Maestri in the #1 Schwing
Electric Supply Ford won the pole during time trials with a
13.819 run.
As the trucks lined up for the race Larry Costa’s #46
truck ran some pace laps ahead of the field. When the trucks
went around the track they ran a missing man formation,
keeping the pole open for Larry, a friend and competitor to
them all.
At the drop of the green the #2x Trailer
Transport/Gershow Recycling Chevrolet of John Dennison took
off with the lead. Lou Maestri caught up and it was a
side-by-side battle. Lou got the lead as the trucks fell into
single file. On lap five Dave Koening in the #97 Nelson’s
Auto Salvage Chevrolet spun into the infield. There was an
exciting battle on lap 13 between the #38 of Dan Grennan and
#2x of John Dennison. First through third place built up a
four-truck lead on the rest of the field. Frank Dumicich in
the #5 Teddy Bear Racing Ford got a bit squirrelly on the
backstretch. On lap thirty Brigati and the #98x GMC started
looming a bit closer in Grennan’s mirror, but it was clean
racing as the leaders went through lap traffic. A quick
caution on lap thirty-eight allowed John Dennison to pit and
change his flat tire. It was a green flag run to the end for
winner Lou Maestri. Dan Grennan finished second and Dave
Brigati third.
After the race it was a mad scramble for the
handicappers to decide the points champ. Dan Grennan became
the champion with more 3rd place finishes then
Maestri.
SPECTATOR DRAGS
Once again the Spectator Drags had a high car count
with 13 entries. Among the drivers were first time runners,
and seasoned veterans. The first race was between Mike “the
Animal” Hall and Charlie Kohen. The Animal took the lead
when Kohen smoked his tires at the line. Next up was William
Fiffel in a Volkswagen against Paul Fox in his ‘92 Acura.
The race was a tight one as they ran side-by-side until the VW
pulled ahead. In a Chevy face off Mitchell in an ‘85
‘Vette beat Victor Newman in a Camaro. Ford was represented
next as Andrew beat Ian Arthur in the battle of the Mustangs.
Doug Moran won his first round when John McAdam’s
Lincoln went low. Mike Schlaugies scored a fast win
against Scott Sinnon’s Skylark.
In the second round Mike Hall was off the line first
again to beat Thomas “the Hammer” in a Dodge Ram. William
Fiffel advanced after beating Mitchell’s Vette. In a
side-by-side race to the line Doug Moran won against
Andrew’s Mustang. In final eliminations, Schlaugies advanced
after beating Mike Hall; and William Fiffel advanced over Doug
Moran after some minor contact. The VW was no match for
Schlaugies LeMans, as the veteran was first to the checkered
flag.
TRAIN RACE
Five teams were on hand for the train race. Bob Haeger
& Mike Brown had an early lead until the #2 team of Peter
Bertuccio & Scott Schlein caught up to them and took the
lead over. The train of #55 Dennis Scott and Donald Oliver
stalled out making them the only team to fall out. Things
would get dicey in the X with #18 Haeger & Brown running
high and wide. Bertuccio & Schleine made it look easy as
they lapped the #13 team of Mike Mujsce Sr & Mike Mujsce
Jr. On lap six, #23 train of Kevin Clarke & Stanley
Wangenstein challenged the leaders, but their charge was
slowed by lapped traffic. Bertuccio & Schlein won the race
and the Train championship for the year. It’s the second
title for the North Fork Sanitation & Gershow Recycling
sponsored team, and they plan on coming back next year to
defend it.
GRAND ENDURO
As the sun went down 38 Grand Enduro drivers lined up
for their 75-lap race. Starting positions were pulled in the
pits, scrambling the field up a bit more. At the drop of the
green Vinny De Vita got a jump on the rest and lead the
opening laps. Tony Maltese’s car looked great but fell off
the pace and pulled into the infield. IML Metals Peter
Rabaglia took over the lead as the cars roared around the
track. Jess Martinez went for a spin in turn3. Enduro favorite
Rich Johnson pulled his Constant Performance machine into the
infield with a flat. On lap 16 a car fire by the turn 4 gate
brought out the red flag. The driver was able to escape
uninjured, and track workers quickly put the fire out.
After the restart, NEETS regular Richard Petey was
moving fast. Peter Rabaglia pulled into the infield opening up
the lead. Things got lose for Michael Romano in the
backstretch but he was able to hold on and keep things going.
Joe Parcelluzzi and the Blue Point Auto Body machine found
some room and had a good clean run. A fast car and great
driving got “Dynamite” Danny Webster into the lead. John
Alway had a fast Auto-B-Haven car early in the race, but had
to slow down for a tire rub. Other fast cars making their way
around the track included Billy Weigelt in the Classified
Racing Works machine and Tommy “the Wild Child” Walkowiak
in the C&A Auto Parts entry.
Danny Webster and the SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet went on
to lap most of the field and went on to get his fourth (out of
seven) Grand Enduro win. Michael Sorrentino from Lindenhurst
took second, with New Jersey’s Richard Petey in third, and
Transmission Works Ed Brill in fourth.
FIRST 6/8-CYLINDER STOCK ENDURO
The first stock 8-cylinder race had a field
of 90 cars. Easily the highest car count for this division all
year. With that many cars on the track we all knew it was
going to be an action packed race. When the green flag dropped
the bedlam started. It was hard to figure out who was in the
lead as the front of the field mingled in with the rear. Turns
1 and 3 became blocked, forcing some to use the infield or
just push their way through the competition. Jason Conklin had
a right front flat on his Spit’s Speed Shop Chevrolet,
forcing him to drop out of the race. When things settled down
for a bit Louis Tiano and his Tiano Creations Fine Jewelry
“Orange Crush” had the lead. Quite a few front-runners
retired early including Dominic Ranieri in the Local Cesspool
car, Walter Stroud Jr, and Eugene Malverty.
Michael Smith and his Pezner Auto Wrecking Chevrolet
took the lead for a bit until Michael Facchiano passed him.
After recovering from brief spin out Philip La Manna got back
out into the thick of things. At the half way point Danny
Webster picked up the lead. Edward Brown Jr. and the
Brownstone Body Works Chevrolet had a clean car at the
beginning of the race but like many others took quite a few
hits. Jeff Otto was able to run a fast line, while Robbie
Malewicz had a tire rub and muffler drag slow him down. By the
end of the race there were 11 cars still running and a pretty
full infield.
Danny Webster held on to the lead to get his second win
of the day. Philip Lamana finished second, Anthony Aiello had
a great run in the Chapel Auto Wreckers Chevrolet, starting 84th
and finished third, and Kenny Powell came in fourth.
CAR ROLLOVER CONTEST
After a short break and some really bad jokes from Bob
Finan, the infield was cleaned up and the rollover ramp was
set up. Nine drivers in an assortment of vehicles were ready
to roll. The field included past winners and quite a few new
comers. Keith Stalk from Teddy Bear Racing scored 3 points on
his first and only try. Pete Ramsey rolled once in his two
attempts to score 5 points. Nick “Taz” Hervert scored 6
points for his roll. Keith Lee scored 7 points from his 3
attempts at he ramp. Dan Ogner made three runs at the ramp and
scored 12 points. Vinny Marshall did the best for the first
time rollers scoring 13 points. In a Riverhead first
“Slim” Jim Donaldson rolled a mini van and scored 15
points for his run. Tommy “the Wild Child” Walkowiak
rocked the ramp and scored on each of his 3 tries for a total
of 22 points. But no one can roll ‘em like Jeff “Green
Hornet” Wolfe. He took the win with 25 points.
4/6-CYLINDER TRUCK ENDURO
About 30 4&6 cylinder trucks lined up for their
40-lap race. At the drop of the green Eddie Stadnicki led the
way with Dan Jones and the Blue Point Auto Body entry hot on
his tail. The pace was fast and frenzied as drivers advanced
their positions, sometimes running 4 and 5 wide. Stan
Wangenstein had some trouble in turn 1, while Doug Watson and
the Over the Hill Racing entry hit the wall at the
start/finish line. Dan Jones got to lead a few laps until Rob
“the Kid” McCormick in the Blue Point Auto Body Chevrolet
took it from him. Curtis Rasmussen and Eddie Colon ran some
great laps. A flat tire ended Dan Jones’ fast run. Things
got loose for James Baggiano and Racin’ Ronnie Albano as
they both looped it on the track.
Warren Keane was moving fast as the trucks raced around
in one big pack. While “The Kid” McCormick started lapping
trucks Kelly Baker found a pace of her own. One driver escaped
his stalled truck on the front stretch just a lap or two
before another competitor plowed it. Eric Kandler pulled his
damaged truck into the infield to watch the closing laps.
Rob McCormick led to the checkered flag for his first
win in the truck division. Andy Owen took home second in the
Helm Brothers Mercedes Benz Dodge; Russ Jansen third, and
Racin’ Ronnie Albano took home fourth in the Bonessi Auto
Parts Chevrolet.
4-CYLINDER ENDURO
The 100 lap 4-cylinder race had 90 cars in the field.
Chuck Weinsheimer was ready to go and took the lead. The
leader snaked his way through traffic as the cars started to
spread out around the track. Speed slowly built up as drivers
like Jarred Hayes in his potent Paul Signs/USA Crane Rentals
Ford Festiva found some room to run. Pete Herrich was fast on
the high line as cars ran 3 and 4 wide. By lap 10 stalled cars
started pilling up around the track. Steve Johnson took a few
hard hits while he was stuck in turn3. The parts and sparks
were flying as “Bumper Boy” Edward La Spina was treated
like a pinball. As always the Verwys clan raced each other
hard in their powder puff blue rides.
The red flag came out on lap 28; Mike “Mad Dog”
Smith emerged from his Pezner Auto Wrecking Chevrolet ok.
Track workers got a chance to clean up some of the stalled
cars and debris (including a block of lead = naughty naughty)
and then the field lined back up for the re-start. William
Christine got a jump on the rest after the green flag waved,
but it was Jarred Hayes who got the lead. Peter Verwys, Jr.
was stuck in turn 4. After a few hard hits his teammates
slowed to check on him but he just waived them on. Hayes was
lapping cars by running 3 wide until lap 62 when Chuck
Weinsheimer took it back from him. Chuck built up his lead
when Hayes became stuck in lap traffic. Matt Brown must have
been in the racing zone, he never realized he was dragging his
rear bumper for most of the race. Pat Verwys took the lead for
a bit until once again Weinsheimer took it back. Chris Reale
had some great lap times, and Hayes pulled into the infield
with a flat tire.
With 16 cars left at the end of the race Chuck
Weinsheimer was first across the finish line. Post race tech
found staggered tires on his car so the win went to Pat Verwys
of West Chester, PA in the MitsubishiGraveyard.com Eagle. Ed
Fontana finished second, with Stan’s Towing drivers Stanley
Wangenstein in third, and William Christine in fourth.
SECOND 6/8-CYLINDER ENDURO RACE
The last race of the night and for the season was a
second 6/8-cylinder run. About 50 drivers were on the track
for the 65-lap race. Robert Endlekofer led the way at the
green. A few cars got stuck in the backstretch blocking the
track to the infield. Walter Stroud Jr pulled into the infield
with a flat while Dan Jones fell off the pace. Steve “the
Breeze” Collins raced his best for a fallen crewmember in
his “Truckers Revenge” wagon. By lap 9 the smoke was so
thick it was hard to see, but Donald Oliver still found his
way around to lead a few laps. The slower cars were pushed out
of the way by faster drivers.
Jim White in the Laura White Counseling Services
Chevrolet was running a bit loose but still managed to run
some fast laps. Eugene Malverty took the lead around lap 20
and started lapping cars. Dominic Ranieri and his Local
Cesspool Chevrolet had a fast run until a tire rub took him
out of contention. The red flag came out on lap 53 for a
driver in between turns 1 & 2. The driver was ok, but I
think the wall might need some time to recover. After the
re-start Terry Havens couldn’t get his car going. On lap 61
Malverty pulled into the infield with a flat tire giving Eddie
Russo the lead.
Eddie Russo finished first with Anthony Pizzo in the
STS entry second, Anthony Maltese third and Vincent Abbatiello
in fourth.
Sources: Kim
Watson/LongIslandJam.com
Posted: October 2, 2003
