A
FABULOUS NIGHT OF FIREWORKS AT RIVERHEAD
by Walter
Johnston
The
promise of fireworks brought out a good-sized crowd on
Saturday night, and fireworks is exactly what they got, both
on the track and in the sky. The ones on the track were good,
and contained some surprises for some, and disappointment for
others.
In
the Cromarty Cup 50 double points Modified race, what started
out as a runaway race for the pole sitter, turned into a race
of strange twists and turns for all involved. Things went
smoothly after an initial crash involving Chuck Steuer, which
finished his night early, after he spun as result of contact
with John Denniston in turn 3 and as result Steuer damaged his
front suspension from hitting the wall. After the restart, for
the first 30 laps, Ken Heagy held a comfortable lead and it
seemed that the race was going to be run off quickly. On Lap
30, Wayne Anderson collected the front stretch wall after
contact with Dave Sapienza. During the yellow caution period,
track officials noticed someone was leaking fluid on the
track. An inspection of all the competitors revealed it was,
in fact, the leader, Heagy. After sending him to the pits for
repairs, Mike Curtis took over the lead, but officials noticed
still more fluid being deposited around the track. Further
investigation quickly revealed John Fortin and Ed Brunnhoelzl
Jr., were also leaking, and they were asked to leave. A long
cleanup followed, giving all 3 competitors time to repair the
leaks, but only Brunnhoelzl would be successful in doing so,
as Heagy and Fortin were both turned back at the gate after
officials noticed fluid still dropping from their cars.
On
the restart, JR Bertuccio got a nose up under Curtis coming
off turn 2 on lap 32 and assumed the lead, with Curtis
following him. 4 laps later, Chris Young faded back and was
passed by Tom Rogers in the #6 for 3rd. On lap 44,
the two leaders touched going into turn 3, and spun
simultaneously, as Tom Rogers drove around both for the lead
as the yellow flew once again. While it appeared Bertuccio had
blistered a tire and was loose through the turns, the result
was that track officials determined both Bertuccio and Curtis
were equally at fault and sent both to the rear. The race
restarted, only to have the yellow fly once again on lap 46 as
the #05 of Joe Hartmann spun in turn 4. John Fortin, the
Modified point leader, returned, minus his radiator, to rejoin
the race for the final 4 laps and some valuable points, but
Tom Rogers held on to win the double point race and assume the
Modified point lead. It was the second victory of the season
for Rogers, who by his own admission, never thought this
particular car would win one race, much less two so far.
While 32 cars were scheduled to take time for the Mod
race, a few missed taking time trails because of tech
inspection failure, and a 12-car consi determined the final 6
starters for the race. Fast time was set by the #2 Gershow
Recycling Chevrolet of JR Bertuccio.
In the Charger feature, the fireworks were there right
from the beginning of the race, as a lap one wreck involved at
least 4 cars, and started a trend that would continue
throughout the feature. 5
cars were forced to pit from this one, and only 1 returned
immediately, the #99 Dodge of Jack Orlando, minus his badly
bent hood. Mike Coll in the #61 Dodge got the lead of the race
away from pole sitter Warren Collins in the #08 RLY
Motorsports Marketing Chevrolet on lap 3, just as another
yellow was thrown for a wreck involving the #99, #21 of Chris
Beutler, and #75 of Steve Ratti. Thus far, there are now 4
cars running with a bent or removed hood, and 4 others out of
the race from two wrecks in the first 3 laps. The original
starting order is now totally reshuffled. On the next restart,
#8 Dan Turbush, and #58 Eugene Malverty, in Richie Hubbard’s
charger, collide, causing yet another yellow, and the end of
Malverty’s night. On the next attempt to get past lap 3, Rob
Tribuzio’s #01 Prestigious Motors Chevrolet blows a right
rear, collecting #8 Dan Turbush and #75 Steve Ratti, sending
Ratti off on a wrecker. Track officials decided a single file
restart might help, and finally the racing resumed. Mike Coll
now had to contend with #2 Robin Vollmoeller and #81 Chris
Turbush, as the 3 of them raced together until a lap 9, when
Vollmoeller took the lead. Meanwhile, #36 Eric Lutz and #89x
Chris McGuire were battling for 4th place behind
this trio. Just as Lutz caught and passed Chris Turbush on lap
18, the caution flew again for a 4 car wreck in turn 1. Warren
Collins got the worst of that one, requesting assistance from
the ambulance due to pain in his left shoulder. The final two
laps were run without incident, as Vollmoeller took the
victory, his second of the season.
In Figure 8 action, #47 Slim Jim Donaldson jumped out
to an early lead from his 3rd starting position. On
lap 3, #18 AJ Van Ness, the pole sitter, spun, bringing out
the yellow. On the restart, yellow flies again for debris, as
someone had hit one of the sets of cones in turn 3.
The race resumed, and two laps later another yellow, as
the #85 of Arne Pederson collided with the #99 of Freddie
Kraft. During the yellow, Tom Kraft questioned something with
the officials and apparently didn’t like the answer, and
left the track in a cloud of tire smoke. A single file restart
found the field spread out around the course, but the racing
got hot as 3 cars vied for the lead, #10 George Sprague, #58
Kenny Hyde, and #28 Roger Maynor. Maynor got around Hyde and
he and Sprague put on a replica of last week’s race until
Maynor’s left front tire started going soft, affecting his
handling and allowing #85 Arne Pederson, who’d recovered
nicely from an earlier altercation to jump to 2nd,
and chase Sprague to his second victory in a row, while Maynor
held on for 3rd.
In the Blunderbusts, #81 Adam St.Lawrence , took the
early lead from his pole position, and outlasted everyone to
win his first Blunderbust feature. But this race was the
preview for the fireworks. On lap 5, the #10 of Bob Haeger
spun, bringing out the yellow. While the field was being lined
up for the restart, #00 Tommy Walkowiak, last week’s winner,
slammed the #23 of Eugene Malverty, spinning him and causing
his left rear to go flat. Malverty went to the pits to change
the tire, while Walkowiak was removed from the race and
disqualified for rough riding and placed last in the finish.
The race resumed and another yellow came out on lap 16 for #61
Chris Busick’s crash in turn 4, closing the field up again
for a final 4 lap run to the finish, without further incident.
After a truly beautiful and spectacular fireworks
display, unlike any I’ve seen in quite a while, the Police
Car Demo was held with 10 cars and one Sheriff to keep them
all off the oval and running in the infield. It was a really
good slam-bang affair, enjoyed by all, and won by Mike Rommeney.
Spoke to Dave Roys on his first night back in Mod
competition, driving the 7NY, and he’d like to thank his
sponsor for the night, MED QUIP, for helping him be able to
run the Cromarty Cup 50. Also want to welcome back, after a
long absence, Gary MacDonald in the 26 Modified. Though he
didn’t make the feature, it was nice to see this veteran
competitor out on the track.
Until
next week, it’s good to be back home again.
