05/30/2004
NICE GUYS
FINISH FIRST ENDURO SUNDAY
by Kim Watson
Memorial Day Weekend brought sunny skies and cool
breezes for the Enduro fans. That easy feeling must have made
it onto the track, because it was one of the cleanest Enduros
seen at Riverhead Raceway. The Spectator Drags, Grands,
4&6-cylinder trucks, 4-cylinder cars, 6-cylinder cars and
second 8-cylinders all ran smoothly; while the Super Pro
Trucks traded paint and the 1st 8 cylinder-race
looked like a smash to pass. But when the checkered flag waved
some of Riverhead’s best “Sunday” drivers were in
victory lane.
SPECTATOR DRAGS
Nine drivers cam out for this months Spectator Drags,
and they brought a variety of vehicles with them. Bryan’s '97
Camaro won over James McCormick’s '03 Mustang. Chris in a '91
Saturn beat an '88 Mustang after an even start. Rich
Lentin’s '81 Cutlass won with an outside run over Jeff
Harback’s '88 Caddy. Mike Schlaugies was out first and left
Ron Howard’s El Camino in the dust. Mike Hall advanced his
Oldsmobile in a race against the '91 Saturn.
Advancing to the final round was Mike Schlaugies in his
Lemans and Bryan in his Camaro. Schlaugies Pontiac was out
first and ran the high groove to victory.
SUPER PRO TRUCKS
Twelve of the Super Pro Trucks were on hand for their
first Sunday show of the year. The Tailgate Brigade will have
two more Sunday shows this season. Troy Ferdinando took
advantage of his pole position and led the opening laps.
Caution came out as Frank Dumicich went for a spin in turn
four, and gave Shaun Gouldsbury a chance to pit. A tight
battle on the restart brought out caution #2 as Hank Hallock
had hit the wall along with a few other trucks.
After the 3rd restart it was a green flag
run to the end. Dave Brigati steered his loose #98x GMC into 3rd.
On lap 5 Lou Maestri took the lead with Danny Grennan on his
tail. Grennan showed patience following Maestri’s line,
gently trying to loosen up the leaders bumper. Last lap
trouble for Victory Fleet Maintenance's Bryan Sescila who was
running 5th when he was spun out in turn four. Mike
Albasini's #66 was black flagged and sent to the rear for
rough riding.
Lou Maestri finished 1st in the #1 Schwing
Electric Ford, while the #38 Chevrolet of Dan Grennan took
home 2nd,and Dave Brigati's #98 came in 3rd.
GRAND ENDURO
This months Grand Enduro had 33 drivers chasing after
Rich Johnson. The Constant Performance driver was off the line
first and quickly built up a three-car lead on the rest of the
field. Richard Petey went for an early spin around turn 4,
while the driver of the #17 had the first of many spins of his
day on the back stretch. Joe Parcelluzzi had a nice run going
as he and John Alway worked through the field to the front.
Blunderbust drivers Kevin McCarthy and Anthony Foerster looked
like they were having a “grand” old time racing side by
side. Radiator trouble ended Bob Pease’s run when he joined
Kevin Clarke in the infield.
By 30 laps into the race Rich Johnson lapped the entire
field including #51, who was in 2nd place. A
three-car pile up in turn 2 collected Matt Senatore, luckily
everyone was able to get back out and turn a few more laps.
John Alway took 2nd place from #51 with an out side
pass on the back stretch; the #51 then used lap traffic to get
his position back. Cars #6 & #44 ran well and were among
the 20 that finished the race.
Rich Johnson sailed his Monte Carlo like it was a
Cadillac to take the win. The Constant Performance driver was
about a fender shy of lapping the field twice. Post race tech
gave 2nd to John Alway, and 3rd to #28.
1st 8 CYLINDER
The first 8 cylinder had 63 cars for it’s 75-lap
race. Casey Kenny led the way for the first few laps. Cars
were racing three wide in one big pack, and you knew trouble
was coming. This race was by far the roughest of the day.
Three cars plowed into turn 1, and as the “wall to wall
brawl” continued around the track turn 3 became blocked.
Anthony Ruberto hit the front stretch wall a ton, and Jimmy
Muller went for a spin in turn 2. Bobby Clark found himself
sideways between turns 3 and 4 and was the recipient of a few
hard hits. Jeff Marin and Stephan Vonatzski were hooked
together in the infield.
By lap 20 Walter Stroud Jr. was in the lead. Wood
Kingdom’s Joe Leek went for a spin in turn 4, but got back
to racing. 35 laps into the race drivers found room to run;
except for Stroud who was boxed in by lap traffic. Dominic
Ranieri pulled into the infield with a flat. Louis Tiano had
some damage, but managed to keep going. Attrition took a lot
of the field out and among the 14 cars left were Pete Mikos
and Ed Primavera who was running the high groove. The cleanest
car left had to belong to MSL Crane’s Tom Lacoste.
Peanuts Bar & Grill/NY Discount Tire gave a cheer
as Walter Stroud Jr. took the win. James Heym was “ready to
run” and took home 2nd for Station Auto Parts.
Phillip Lamanna of Smithtown came in 3rd.
4&6 CYLINDER TRUCKS
Twenty-two trucks came out for the 40-lap 4&6
cylinder truck race. They were lined up by twos for their
rolling start. Dege Russell was first off the line when Terry
Stiles spun his tires, but Stiles was quick to recover and
took the lead. Rob “the Kid” McCormick and Tom Doherty
went for a spin in turn 2. Pete Ford hit the back stretch
wall, but was able to continue racing. By this point John
Cozza patiently began working through the pack to take 2nd
place. Ed “the Scorpion” Colon was running great in this
clean race. There were spins in turn 4 for James Kelly and
Donald Elliston. Richard Onorato must of had a scary moment
when his truck spun out in front of the field. Wayne Van
Driessche and Scott Graham had great runs going. Race winner
Terry Stiles did some donuts in the infield to celebrate his
win; but the party was cut short by tech who DQ’d the truck.
John Cozza took home the win for the Island Auto Parts
entry. Dege Russell came in 2nd and Racin' Ronnie
Albano finished 3rd for Bonessi Auto Parts.
4-CYLINDERS
This months 4 cylinder Enduro had 55 cars for it’s
75-lap race. Leonard J MarzoccoIII led the opening laps with
Pat Verwys hot on his tail. Ed Fontana went for a wild ride
and Fred Nolan went around on the backstretch. The pace was
slow at the start of the race as Rob Durand pulled into the
infield. Pat Verwys took the lead and made it look easy. The 4
cylinders were running three wide with plenty of room. Chris
“Krazy” Siwek had a nice run going, and Mike Mujsce Jr.
made a great save in turn 1.
Kenny Ferrer and Timothy Stewart found themselves
collected in a turn1 accident. Anthony Colamussi pulled into
the infield after 31 laps, retiring his “Ghost Rider” for
the day and filling Gershow’s pile with another car. He was
joined by Billy “Bear” Weigelt who made fast work of
getting to the infield unschathed. Leonard Marzocco wasn’t
so lucky and was hit by about 5 cars on his trip to the middle
of the track. Haeger Home Improvements driver Bob Haeger had a
nice run going despite some damage. You couldn’t miss Thomas
Pilock’s radiator trouble when he pulled in for the day. Lap
55 saw Tim Fontana moving up to 2nd place. Melinda
Vecchio used the outside line to her advantage and had some
clean fast laps. PJ Vecchio didn’t run quite as well and
went for a hard spin in turn 4. Among the 18 cars left, Mad
Mike Smith was moving well but smoking.
Pat Verwys of Westchester PA finished 1st.
In 2nd it was Tim Fontana for Fontana’s Bakery,
and keeping it in the family Dan Fontana of Wading River came
in 3rd.
6- CYLINDER CARS
This time around there were seven 6-cylinder cars, and
they finally got their own race with a rolling start. Joseph
Forgione was out in the lead first with Stanley Wangenstein
Jr. on the outside. A little bump and run between the leaders
brought 3rd place John Vaughan Sr. into the mix.
Eugene Malverty ran in 4th place ready to take
advantage of any openings. When Wangenstein took the lead the
battle for 2nd began between Forgione and Vaughan.
Steven Elicati and George Cuccia had a spirited battle of
their own for 5th place. Ed “Bumper Boy”
Laspina tooled around for a few laps at the rear until his car
stalled. The track crew had a few laughs as they gave Ed a few
more laps on the back of the wrecker.
At the end of the 20-lap race Stanley Wangenstein came
in 1st for Stan’s Towing. Joseph Forgione of Glen
Cove took 2nd, and John Vaughan Sr. from Bayport
finished 3rd.
2nd 8 CYLINDER
The 2nd 8 cylinder and final race of the day
had about 30 drivers for its 40-lap run. Walter Stroud Jr led
the opening laps, and then car #27/57 took it over for a bit.
The field ran together as the hard hits were being traded on
the backstretch. Tom Sullivan’s Custom Exteriors #54 began
filling the track with smoke. Pete Mikos raced hard to take
the lead, but a flat tire after a turn 2 incident ended his
run. Stroud resumed the lead and Tommy Walkowiak was running
“Wild” on the outside for 2nd. Dominic Ranieri
snuck into the lead when Stroud slowed down for lap traffic.
By lap 30 Ranieri’s lead was challenged by the “Wild
Child”. Tommy tried all he could to make a pass, but all of
his pushing seemed to help rather then hurt Ranieri’s loose
car.
Dominic Ranieri finished 1st for Local
Cesspool. C&A Auto Parts Tommy Walkowiak came in 2nd,
and Walter Stroud Jr. took home 3rd for Peanuts Bar
& Grill/ NY Discount Tire. Stanley Wangenstein came in 4th
with his winning 6-cylinder car.
Just a quick reminder that the 4&6 cylinder trucks
can now have permanent numbers. Give the track a call at (631)
842-RACE to get one and then email us at the Jam at JAckley@longislandjam.com
so we know who you are. Other wise you’ll be known as car ##
only.
Sources: Kim
Watson/LongIslandJam.com
Posted: June 8, 2004
