02/17/2004
MAKING THE GRADE -
BLUNDERBUSTS
by Peter Milano
Well,
we've all made it through another year and even through all
the beating and banging that takes place amongst the
Blunderbust drivers; all seemed to make it out alive. 2003
brought some new faces into the fold while most of the old
faces kept running strong all season long. This year brought
us some very exciting races and on a lot of nights the
Blunderbust class of 2003, held the title of "Race of the
Night." So for an extra treat to the Blunderbust
division, I bring you the top 30 grades.
1)
#23 Eugene Malverty: A+. As in 2002, 2003 brought the Malverty
family another championship trophy to sit on top of the
mantle. In 13 races Malverty had 9 top tens, 6 top fives and
came to victory lane 2 times. Eugene is one of the professor's
favorite drivers to watch race at Riverhead Raceway. Always
seems to move through the pack with ease and waits for his
opportunity and takes it fast! His driving style brings back
an old time flair with his right arm perched on top of his
roll bar that supports the middle of the roll cage and steers
with the left arm, rarely taking hold of the steering wheel
with the right arm. He seems cool and collective through
traffic, keeps his head clear and pinpoints when his next move
will be on the track. With this logic, he came away 2 years in
a row with the championship. A+
2)
#87 Chris Chirico: A. The big old 73' Impala moves for an
older car in this division where smaller size Malibus,
Caprices, and later era Impalas seem to be more fitted for the
size track of Riverhead. "A Whale of a Car", Chris
has been trying for a few years now to sell this car, but as
still sits on the "for sale" block, he continues to
race the wheels off this machine. Chirico had 11 top tens and
4 top fives, but seemed to miss victory lane this past year.
With a win Chirico would have earned the "+." 2004,
Chris is still looking to sell his old ride and has gone on to
say he will run a limited schedule because of family. However,
knowing how dedicated his family is to the racing community,
who’s to say! I hope we see Chris and Tracy at all the
races, but family at home is most important! And I believe we
hear this same statement right before racing season. A
3)
#55 Bobby Gardner: A+. The
Outlaw Motorsports crew has barely missed the championship
platform yet again and we all know in time Bobby will be
getting that check for 1st place for the season. Bobby is
another driver that seems to move through the field with a lot
of ease towards the front as in 13 races he accumulated 10
tops tens, 4 top fives and brought home 2 wins. Will 2004 be
the shining year for Gardner and crew?? He will be a favorite
headed into this season. A+
4)
#10 Tom Slee: A-. The "Slippery" one had a good
year, but just couldn't break over the hump and take down a
win this season. In 2002, Slee took 2 wins home, but
came home 12th in points. This year he showed consistent
finishes within 13 races with 10 top tens and 2 top fives.
This coming season Slee will be moving away from the
Blunderbust division and into the Charger class. A-
5)
#80 Kevin Clarke: A. Kevin showed some muscle this year in an
older car. I'm looking forward to see how much he will improve
in 2004. 6 top tens, 4 top fives and 2 wins. Kevin never made
himself stand out from the other drivers, but gets the job
done well. He kept his nose clean and everyone seemed to show
him the same respect. A
6)
#88 Anthony Aiello: B-. This season Aiello seemed to take a
few steps back to 6th from a 4th place in points in
2002. However it is not a season to be disappointed about, as
the year before he was in the chase for the title until the
end. With no wins this year, it had to damper the spirit a
little, but with 13 races, he did finish with 7 top tens and 2
top fives. Knowing Snakebite Motorsports, next year they will
be knocking on the door for the championship twice as hard!
Always a class act on the track. B-
7)
#34 Bryan Sescila: B. Bryan made people take notice this year,
even though he stepped one position back in points, he seemed
to progress from last year. In 13 races, Sescila came home
with 1 win, 4 top fives and 5 top tens. Where will he end up
next season? He will be driving the former Peter Sparks mount
in the Super Pro Trucks, and will try to carry over the
success to the tailgate brigade. B
8)
#3 Doug Watson: B. Improving on last year's 9th in points,
Doug had a nice season for his crew. Doug took down his first
win in the Blunderbust this year and throughout the year had 7
top tens and 5 top fives. Fans cannot help but not
"cheer" for a black car with the white number 3! B
9)
# 61 Chris Busick: B. What a strong run this year for the #61
team. Busick brought home 1 win, 4 top fives and 8 top tens.
With "Cry Me A River" emblazoned on the rear of the
#61, Busick has little to cry about. Look out for this team
next season, as I was impressed on a few different nights with
this crew and driver. B
10)
#00 Tommy Walkowiak: B+. "The Wild Child" Walkowiak
seemed to be on fire on a few occasions, as #00 always seems
to take charge and move his way through the field. Walkowiak
is very determined and strong-headed competitor and has what
it takes to beat and bang with the top of the Blunderbust
class. This year Tommy brought home 2 wins, 5 top fives and 7
top tens. Imagine "The Wild Child" if he was running
15 years ago with this class in a big old caddy, think Bubba
would have had some fun out there! Anyway, Tommy has a strong
car under the Langdon Auto Body chassis and looks to be potent
once again in 2004. B+
11)
#22 Scott Maliszewski: C+. Scott's car looked to be strong on
most occasions, but seemed to get lost in the pack towards the
end of the races. Scott had 4 top tens and 3 top fives. He
improved from last year and I for one am looking to him
improve even more and have a top ten position this time next
year. C+
12)
#99 Russell Broy: C-. The Purple Blunderbust Eating Machine
missed one race this season and gets the "-" besides
his "C." Russell could have moved in points with his
5 top tens and 2 top fives. Russell pushes this car to the
edge and sometimes even over the edge. Broy is a hard driving
driver, but his equipment seems to be getting old. However,
Russell can wheel a Blunderbust without a doubt. C-
13)
#49 Jack Handley: C. Jack seemed to have his mind in other
places this year. He seemed to be looking for another ride,
while trying to sell his BB car. Next year Jack moves past the
Charger division into a Late Model car. Hopefully, he'll get
his bearings right in the beginning of the season. I'd love to
see him running towards the top in LM class. This past year he
took a few steps back from the year before. Only 5 top tens
and 3 top fives, after coming off a strong run the year before
and the car just didn't come together when they needed it too!
C
14)
#53 Dale Arnold: C-. Moving from 23rd in points to 14th is a
big jump for this driver. Dale didn't race the full season and
if rain didn't cancel a few shows, Dale might have been
further in points. 5 top tens and 3 top fives. C-
15)
#77 Jason Carpenter: C-. 2004 will be the telling year in this
driver's abilities in the Blunderbust division. He seemed be
strong from time to time and with seasoning that took place
last year with his crew, I believe he could end up with a
checkered flag, only if his team stays committed to him and
the car! Three top tens and 2 top fives. Hopefully he learned
a lot from last year. Toward the end of the year, I saw a
different style in his driving skills. Keep your cool and stay
away from trouble on the track! C-
16)
#7 Tom Sullivan: C-. What used to be a strong contender has
fallen to the wayside. Unfortunately Tom hasn't been able to
over come engine problems the past two seasons as well. He
managed to get 2 top fives and 5 top tens through the year,
but didn't make all the races. Hopefully he can rebound to his
former self on the racetrack. C-
17)
#60 Mike Coll: D+. Second year racing and a newer motor didn't
help out this young gun. Coll did see a few decent runs but
was out weighted by accidents, including a pretty hard one
that almost took out this former Eugene Malverty championship
car out for good in between turns one and two. Would like to
see this kid get out of the division and move to a charger car
or Late Model and learn how to drive a smaller and more
powerful car, instead of the big boat that he drives on the
track. It is rumored that Coll might just do that by driving
the former Busick Charger mount.
One top five and 3 top tens. Keep your goals high. You
can reach them! D+
18)
#65 Sean Byrne: C. Sean seems to be the one driver on the
verge of breaking out in this division. He has kept his
winning ways with one win in the past three years. It had to
be a disappointing season for this crew. Sean seemed to be
caught up in other people's messes. Advice is to get a newer
mount and maybe moving to the Charger division! Sean can race
and has proven it every year. Would like to him contend for a
championship again, after finishing 5th in points last year. C
19)
#51 Artie Pedersen, Jr.: D+. He seemed to be moving and was
improving to his old driving skills, with 2 wins in the
Blunderbust class and 3 wins in Spectator Drags at Riverhead.
But it all came to brief end as his front clip was destroyed
on the backstretch. He also took a hard lick and had some
wounds that needed to heal. One top five and 2 top
tens. Hopefully this coming season he will continue to improve
with his multi-sponsored racecar. D+
20)
#79 Bill Wegmann: D. Bill doesn't make it to all the races but
still let's his presence known when running in the mid pack.
With a big boat of a racecar, Wegmann brought home 2 top fives
and 5 top tens in 8 races in 2003. Hopefully he can race a
full schedule and show the mid pack guys how it used to be
running big old Impalas and Cadillacs, slipping and sliding
all over the track! D
21)
#69x Paul Parisi: D. Probably one of the only Outlaw
Fabrication’s machine that didn't run to it's full
potential, which mostly was due to the age of the old machine.
One top five and 2 top tens to round out the year in 11 races.
With Chuck Deon Race engine under the hood and a new Outlaw
Fabrication car behind them in 2004, will Parisi turn it up a
notch in the Blunderbust division? D
22)
#90 Ron Langdon: D. How disappointing it was from racing fives
races in 2002 and coming away with a win to this year. In five
races he only has 1 top five and 1 top ten. Langdon machines
are extremely strong in the Blunderbust class. Always look
forward to watching him race when he's on the track. Ron is
one of the best drivers in this class hands down! With a full
season, Ron, would walk away within the top five in points and
maybe even the championship! D
23)
#35 Peter Cataldo: D-. Not much to remember this season from
Cataldo. Was looking for a better season out of him, but he
only came out 7 times and had 1 top five and 1 top ten. D-
24)
#28 Dennis Scott: D-. Dennis the Menace, should have had a
better season but only made it out 3 times for mains. He
didn't make the top ten once all year. D-
25)
#6 Scott Sepe: D+. Who doesn't want to see this man win? Last
year the place was all standing in applause for Sepe when he
won. Scott does most of the work by himself. The “Gray
Primer Ghost” can stay on the bottom, but when he tends to
lean to the top of the track, he falls behind. Sepe has stayed
up front for a few occasions but took only 1 top ten. If Sepe
had a crewman or two to help him out, he'd have a few more top
tens. Sepe, keep it up, your work does not go for nothing!
Everyone at The Head has a soft spot to see the old gray
number 6 in victory lane! D+
26)
#48 Mike Meola, Jr.: D-. Mike moved over from the Figure 8
division and seemed to be handling the car all right on some
nights, but due to incidents on the track he didn't make into
the top 10 in 2003. D-
27)
#20 George Crockett: C. "The Rocket" George Crockett
can say he walked away with a win this season, but came in
27th in points. George can run but doesn't seem consistent,
especially this year. One win, 1 top five and 1 top ten.
Hopefully, this can turn around next year. C
28)
#43 Joe Seeger: D-. Made 2 races. Nothing great!
Hopefully in 2004 he can make it to track more often and make
it into the mains! D-
29)
#68 Shawn Belz: D-. Unfortunately there is nothing memorable
this past year for the young racer. Let’s see if he can work
on the car during the off season and make it to track more
then 4 races before being sent home. D-
30)
#76 Joe Pingatore: D-. Five races, sent home a few times. D-
With
the cold winter the Northeast has been having, I'm dreaming of
sitting at Riverhead Raceway watching the Blunderbust division
putting on a great show for the main on a warm summer's night!
I hope everyone takes their grades and tries to improve and
improve the division with skilled driving and well-tuned
machines!!! Good luck in 2004!
Sources:
LongIslandJam.com PR
Posted: January 27, 2004
