04/10/2004

RIVERHEAD FIRST PRACTICE - NEWS & NOTES
By Walter Johnston & Staff

Modifieds:

• Eddie Brunnhoelzl Motorsports featured new paint schemes for the father and son team of Eddie Jr. and Eddie III.  Eddie Jr. for the first time in a long time strayed from his familiar red/yellow to the new white/purple.  This is Eddie Brunnhoelzl III's second year with the colors but the #83x has a new paint scheme using them.
• Howie Brode was on hand Saturday helping Doug Wholey's #96 Modified get dialed in.  After a few rounds of testing the car, Brode handed the car over to Wholey to practice as well.
• Sal Accardi, Jr. made his Modified debut this past weekend.  Helping him dial in the car was the 1999-2000 Modified Champion, Frank Vigliarolo, Jr. who turned some fast times in the red/yellow Aable Auto Salvage machine.
• Floating around the pits were Dave Roys, Jr. (who will be racing as the #7 this year) and "Tiger" Tom Baldwin (another #7 oddly enough, but on the Modified circuit).
• Where was the #2 of J.R. Bertuccio?  Is he gearing up for a run in the Featherlite Modified Series or psyching out his competition by not showing?  Only time will tell.  First FMS race is this upcoming weekend and Bertuccio is entered to race in it.

Late Models:

• Eddie Stein had his brand new #5 on hand.  The car is the former 2000 Championship winning car of Gregg Shivers and with a powerful mount under this racer, Stein may be heading up to the front.
• RJ Oxee was on hand with the familiar red and white Pontiac.  Some things never change.  Hopefully Oxee will change his bad luck woes in 2004 and finally earn his Late Model championship which he has been so close to winning.

Chargers:

• Chris Turbush debuted a newly built car by Boots Built Fabrication which was a beauty on the track.
• Jeremy McDermott also had a beautifully paint #5 on hand to return to action in 2004.
• Tom Slee debuted his black #9 for his first Charger trial.
• Mike Coll also debuted in the Chargers with his race winning #61, formerly of Chris Busick.
• Garret Frabizio was also on hand debuting his #13.
• Another rookie, Matt Odwazny was on hand with his new #42x formerly of Mike Jurkowski who has officially gone ACT Late Model Tour racing.
• Dan Dombal made his Charger debut in the #63 entry.  He also debuted 2 new sponsors, Pep Boys of Baldwin and South Fork Beverage.
• Good to see Robin Vollmoeller back, another contender in the strong contingent of Chargers.
• Denniston has sold his #22x, but to who is the question.
• Ron Hlatky will now drive the #44 Charger.  Jim O'Connor is rumored to be heading down south which freed up the ride.

Figure 8's:

• After a few practice rounds from her husband Kenny, Dorothea took over the #85 Figure 8 and turned some heads as well.  Kenny's #58 will be out soon once the motor is put in.
• The Figure 8's suffered one casualty already, as Ken Darch and the #3 Figure 8 had the motor let go only after 7 laps.  Hopefully Darch can return soon and boost the car count of the Figure 8's.
• A lot of cars still waiting on engines.  #58 Kenny Hyde Sr. will be ready for next week.  #28 Roger Maynor got his engine back Saturday and will be reading for next week.  #49 Artie Schenk is a little behind and is hoping to be ready soon.  #47 Slim Jim Donaldson just got his engine back and will be out there next week.  Once the engine builders are done, expect the Figure 8 ranks to be quite robust.
• #10 George Sprague was so confident of his car that he plans on skipping next practice and being ready for Opening Day.  This is rumored to be Sprague's last year in the Figure 8's but he has a great sponsor which will be backing him this year.  M&R's Home Daycare Services will be backing his fine ride this year so that he can hopefully win the championship after some fine runs in recent years.

Blunderbusts:

• Quite a few Blunderbusts on hand, but most just barely put together with the season coming faster than expected.
• Eugene Malverty's old #23 made its debut under Joe Oliver.  The newly numbered #5 should be quite a potent car for the rookie.
• Bob Haeger was also on hand to make his Blunderbust debut.
• Doug Watson barely made it to the practice after a myriad of problems this past week.  His car wasn't the recognizable black and white Earnhardt schemed car, but Watson will be hard at work on making the car beautiful once again.
• Many are wondering where the top contenders had gone?  Eugene Malverty's 2004 plans are still uncertain (he seems to be keeping it a surprise). Chirico is planning to run NEETS and run a selected Blunderbust schedule.  Slee has moved up to the Charger ranks.  Anthony Aiello will be taking 2004 off.  Bryan Sescila has moved up to the Super Pro Trucks.  Clarke's #80 has been sold.  Gardner will be returning full-time and the only one in the top 5 returning for certain.

Super Pro Trucks:

• Shaun Gouldsbury made his Super Truck debut.  The truck was most recently raced a few years back by Luke Ferland and looks to be pretty stout.  Gouldsbury in the past has crewed for Chris Chirico's championship team.
• John Denniston's #2x will be parked this year as Denniston is looking to concentrate on his Modified efforts.

Enduros:

• Many Enduros were on hand to enjoy the day and take part in practice, something that the Enduros do not receive on a routine basis.  Expect even more Enduros next week to take advantage of the situation.

Sources:  Walter Johnston/LongIslandJam.com Staff
Posted:  April 12, 2004