05/22/2004
GREAT
RACING HEATS UP COLD AND MISTY NIGHT
by Walter
Johnston
It was a night that almost belonged to Mother Nature,
but with a little rescheduling of events,
Riverhead got the whole program in. With the way it
went, some were glad it happened, others were not so happy.
We’ll start with the Modified feature, which was run
as the last event because of misty conditions that made the
track too wet at the originally scheduled starting time for
the event. By putting off the event until last, it gave the
weather a chance to clear up enough for the track to be dry
enough to safely run the race.
To help improve those conditions, a few warm-up laps,
followed by 5 hot laps, were used, and as a result the track
was just about perfect for racing, and racing is what took
place. The #83x SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet of Eddie Brunnhoelzl
III was on the pole, with #5 TS Haulers Dodge of Mike Curtis
on the outside. At the start Eddie Brunnhoelzl III jumped into
the lead, with the #11x Savin Chevrolet of Chuck Steuer
getting by Curtis for second. A quick yellow on lap 4 slowed
the action momentarily, but racing resumed with Wayne Anderson
jumping up to second, with Chuck in 3rd, and Dan
Jivanelli running 4th, while Eddie Brunnhoelzl III
held the lead. Another yellow waved on lap 17, and when the
race went green again, Chuck Steuer moved back into second,
still chasing a strong running Eddie Brunnhoelzl III, who was
having one of his best nights ever. Another yellow waved on
lap 30, followed by a restart, which immediately saw the #05
of Joe Hartmann brush the wall, bringing the yellow out yet
again. A second attempt to restart was successful, and on lap
34, while trying to go under Brunnhoelzl, Steuer made contact
in turns 1 & 2, causing Brunnhoelzl to wheel hop and
Steuer to spin. Steuer pulled away almost immediately, but
track officials called him for rough riding, and sent him to
the rear. Now down to a one lap restart race to the finish,
new leader Wayne Anderson, in the #15 Eastport Feeds Chevrolet
had to contend with J.R. Bertuccio and his #2 Gershow
Recycling Chevrolet, who had worked his way up to 4th
before the caution. This set the stage for a last lap
shoot-out, and a shoot -out it was, with Bertuccio passing
Anderson, going under him off turn 4 and beating him to the
checkered by inches for a spectacular finish. Anderson
finished second, Eddie Brunnhoelzl Jr. in the #8x Jamaica
Brake & Clutch Chevrolet was 3rd, #12 Dunkerley
Office Products Chevrolet of Dan Jivanelli finished 4th
and rounding out the top 5 would be the quiet but potent #84
MortgageOne Chevrolet of John Fortin.
The Late Models had some weather related problems of
their own, but we’ll get to that later. Keith Rotzi started
on the pole with his #21 PEK Construction Chevrolet, with
Shawn Patrick on the outside in the #88 SPONSORS WANTED Dodge.
At the drop of the green, both took off, with Greg Kleila’s
#72 J&R’s Steakhouse Pontiac running 3rd.
Rotzi looked really strong, holding off any challenge
as Patrick and Kleila battled for second, with Kleila
eventually taking it, and Patrick settling into 3rd. He then
chased Rotzi, who was running undoubtedly his best race ever,
until a lap 19 yellow for a tangle in the 4th turn
bunched the field for a restart, just as lapped traffic looked
like it would be a factor. While that had been going on,
others were moving up in the field, with Roger Oxee’s #39
Helman Group Pontiac running 4th, and Jarrod
Hayes’ #08 Paul’s Signs Chevrolet now 5th.
Unfortunately at this point, Mother Nature decided to take
over. The fog and mist had turned to a light drizzle, creating
slippery conditions on the track, more with the outside groove
than anything else. On the first attempt at a restart, Kleila
got by Rotzi for the lead, only to have the caution fly for a
spin in turn 4 by a few cars in the rear of the field. Lining
up again without the aforementioned position changes in
effect, another attempt at a restart saw Kleila get into the
rear of Rotzi’s car, causing him to spin in turn 2, and
bringing out the yellow one more time.
Track officials ruled that Kleila was guilty of rough
riding and sent him to the rear, along with Rotzi, who had
been the cause of the yellow. Now track conditions had
deteriorated to the point where numerous drivers complained to
the officials that it was too wet and dangerous to continue. A
consultation among the officials decided that this was true
and Chief Steward, Bill Denniston wisely called the race
official. Shawn Patrick was declared the winner of the
shortened event, with Roger Oxee, Jarrod Hayes, Sean Patterson
in the #8 Zoumas Homes Pontiac, and 2003 Late Model champion,
Glenn Tyler in the #28 Spring & Summer Activities Pontiac
rounding out the top 5.
The Charger feature got off to a false start, with
about 5 cars mixing it up at the green, and a restart was
necessary. The
#89x Wrestling Cage Productions Pontiac of Chris McGuire
jumped into the initial lead, with the #10 Riverhead Building
Supply Chevrolet of Brad Van Houten second, Steve Ratti in the
#75 NY Sports Physical Therapy Pontiac in third, and Jack
Orlando behind in the #99 Glamour Transportation Oldsmobile. A
lap 7 caution for debris slowed the race briefly, but on the
restart, Ratti ducked into the lead, with Orlando following
him and moving into 2nd. Orlando got by Ratti on
lap 10 for the lead, and the race was halted for another
yellow on lap 12, as 3 cars came together in turn 2. The race
resumed until another yellow on lap 16. After that restart, it
was a clean run to the finish and another win for Jumpin’
Jack Orlando, his second win in a row. The top 3 were all
presented with trophies in Victory lane, courtesy of Doug
Wholey Excavating and Doug’s Ideal Cesspool company, who
sponsored the Charger Feature tonight.
The Blunderbusts ran a 30 lap, double point feature,
and you could tell many drivers wanted to take advantage of
the extra point event to increase their totals. The #5
SPONSORS WANTED Buick of Joe Oliver started on the pole, and
jumped right out into the lead, but spun on lap 2, giving the
lead to the #10 Chevrolet of Bob Haeger. He held onto the lead
until a scary spin along the backstretch by Tom Sullivan and
his #7 Custom Exteriors Lincoln necessitated a red flag after
he was collected by numerous cars. After determining that he
was okay, racing resumed, with the #66 Chevrolet of Mark Wolf
in the lead, followed by Adam St. Lawrence in the #82, and the
#1 Sherwin-Williams Chevrolet of Artie Pedersen Jr. A long
green run followed, until a lap 23 incident involving Eugene
Malverty and Tommy Walkowiak, with Walkowiak spinning in turn
2 and being hit by more than a few cars.
Before racing resumed, the second place car of St.
Lawrence went to the pits with a smoking problem. On the
restart, #61 SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet Chris Busick, who had
moved up steadily throughout the race, got by Wolf for the
lead, and was followed by Malverty for second. At the finish
it was Busick, Malverty in the #23 All Stock Auto Parts
Chevrolet, Wolf, Tom Pickerell in the #4 Pete’s Auto Parts
Chevrolet, and rounding out the top 5 would be Scott
Maliszewski in the #22 Chevrolet.
The
Figure 8 feature, which was run early because of the
previously mentioned wet conditions, went off rather well
after a superior effort by the track crew to get the figure 8
course as dry as possible. A field of 19 cars was on hand, and
they contributed to the track drying as they circulated
through the figure 8 course for a few laps to try out the
surface for safety purposes. After the officials wiped the
mist from their windshields, the #47 Slim’s Body Piercing
Ford of Slim Jim Donaldson jumped into the lead, followed by
#16 Chevrolet of Tom Ferrara, Ken Hyde and his #58 Maples Bar
& Grill Dodge, and the #29 Dodge of Will Farrell. The yellow flew on lap 5, by
which time the #13 Pro Tech Automotive Dodge of Mike Mujsce
had taken the lead. Right behind were the #63 SPONSORS WANTED
Ford of Paul Specht, Will Farrell, and Donaldson, with the #10
M&R’s Home Daycare Chevrolet of George Sprague, Roger
Maynor and his #28 Barrasso & Sons Mason Supply Ford, and
#3Ken Darch close behind. The race ran uninterrupted, with
many close calls at the X. On lap 16, the #13 of Mujsce
unexpectedly blew a cloud of steam and dropped from the race,
which gave the lead to Specht. Moments later, Sprague and
Maynor passed him, and their own battle for the lead came
right down to the wire, literally, with Roger Maynor edging
Sprague on the last lap, to claim his 4th victory
in 5 events this season. Paul Specht finished 3rd
followed by #29 Will Farrell and rounding out the top 5, Bill
Steen in the #23 Euro Tech Auto Body Dodge.
In the Super Pro Trucks, which started their feature in
a misty fog that made for difficult visibility, Frank Dumicich
Jr. in the #42x Teddy Bear Racing Chevrolet took the early
lead, with ‘Dangerous Dave’ Koenig’s #97 Nelson’s Auto
Salvage Chevrolet and Bryan Sescila’s #34 Victory Fleet
Maintenance Dodge right behind. Yellow came out on lap 2 for a
spin in turn 2 involving Frank Dumicich Sr.’s #5 Teddy Bear
Racing Ford and Rich Giordano’s #7 Dodge. On the restart,
Sescila got by Koenig for 2nd, with Lenny Costa and
his #55 SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet now 3rd, and
Koenig 4th. Sescila
passed Dumicich, Jr. for the lead on lap 5 and took off for a
convincing win, his first in only 5 Super Pro Truck events he
has run since moving up this year from the Blunderbust
division. Dumicich Jr held on for 2nd,
while Danny Grennan in the #38 fought his way into 3rd,
Lou Maestri in the #1 Schwing Electric Ford was 4th,
and Dave Brigati in the #98x GMC
rounded out the top 5.
Unfortunately we will have to end our race story on a
sad note, as it was announced that Lenny Fischer’s dad
passed away today after a long illness, and Dan Jivanelli lost
his Dad earlier this week. Our deepest sympathies go out to
both families on their loss.
Sources: Walter Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted: May 23, 2004
