PARK
& WALKOWIAK DOMINATE
by Walter
Johnston
On a warm, clear night, the Eagle Chevrolet Night of racing
was very good. Bill Park, in his brand new #20 Modified, led
flag to flag for the win. In the Chargers, Jeremy McDermott
did the almost the same from the outside pole position,
getting the lead on lap 3. Tommy Walkowiak scored his 5th win
of the season in the Blunderbusts, while Roger Maynor fought
his way to the front in Figure 8's to win his 8th of the
season, and "Slim" Jim Donaldson won a very hard
fought victory in the Taxi Demo Derby.
In the Modified race, Bill Park started on the pole,
with Eddie Brunnhoelzl III’s #83x SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet
outside, but at the drop of the green, it was Park pulling out
to the lead. Brunnhoelzl held on for second, with his father
Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr.’s #8x Jamaica Brake & Clutch
Chevrolet, and John Denniston’s #3 Sunoco Race Fuels Mercury
trailing right behind. Eddie III began to drop back, as did
John Denniston, with the #49 Chevrolet of Chris Young and #10x
Prestigious Properties Chevrolet of Mike Andrews moving up
into the top 4. But Bill Park was running like a rocket, and
quickly built a 7 to 8 car length lead over the rest of the
field by lap 15. Meanwhile, Ed Brunnhoelzl hung on to 2nd,
while Andrews moved up into 3rd, with Young now 4th. On lap
21, the first yellow of the feature flew as #26 Gary
MacDonald, #5 Mike Curtis, #55 Steve Tooker, and #36 Dave
Sapienza came together and spun in turn 1. When the green flew
again, Bill Park jumped into a 5-car length lead, and Ed
Brunnhoelzl held on to 2nd by the same margin over Mike
Andrews. Late in the race, with 3 laps to go, Andrews started
to reel Brunnhoelzl in, but the laps ran out and Bill Park
took the win, but by a much closer margin, due to a last lap
tangle involving #3 John Denniston, #93 Sal Accardi and #12
Dan Jivanelli off turn 4 on the next to the last lap, which
slowed the front runners to within a car length of each other.
Tom Rogers, Jr. and his #6 Riverhead Auto Mall Chevrolet
finished further back in the field, but by virtue of him
starting the race, and the absence of John Fortin, Rogers has
officially clinched the 2004 Modified championship.
In the Figure 8 feature, Kenny Hyde and the #58
Maples Bar & Grill Dodge started on the pole and led right
from the drop of the green. An early yellow flew as 2
cars came together in turn 1. With the green back out, Kenny
Hyde once again held the lead, with his teammate #85 Arne
Pedersen right behind, and they were chased by #13 Mike
Mujsce, with Roger Maynor’s #28 Barrasso & Sons Mason
Supply Ford now up to 4th place. Pedersen’s #85 Maples Bar
& Grill Chevrolet slowed a few laps later with a flat that
brought out the yellow again on lap 8. On the restart, Hyde
held the lead, but as Mujsce’s #13 Pro Tech Automotive Dodge
bobbled momentarily, Maynor shot into 2nd place, with Mujsce
now 3rd and George Sprague’s #10 M&R Daycare Services
Chevrolet in 4th. On lap 16, Maynor got by Hyde for the lead,
with Mujsce and Sprague following him through. Suddenly,
Mujsce, Sprague and Hyde came together as they were crossing
the X, with Sprague and Hyde getting spun of course, as Mujsce
continued on. Roger Maynor, now with a comfortable lead,
sailed away to victory #8 on the season, and Mujsce, who was
running second, was hit and spun as he entered the final turn
of the race. Full results on this one elsewhere on the JAM.
In the Charger race, pole sitter #28 Jay Henschel
got the early lead, but on lap 3, was passed by the #5 Jeremy
McDermott. Henschel was quickly shuffled back as Chris
McGuire’s #89x Wrestling Cage Productions Pontiac moved into
2nd, followed closely by #65 Sean Byrne. McGuire quickly took
2nd, and Byrne faded back as Mike Coll’s #61 Continental
Marble Dodge and Jack Orlando’s #99 Glamour Transportation
Dodge moved up to 3rd and 4th. McGuire worked on slowly
reeling in McDermott, and was helped by a caution on lap 16,
brought out because of a spin off turn 4 by #28 Jay Henschel
and #70 Mike Schlaugies. With green back out McDermott was
able to hold off McGuire for the last 4 laps and take the win.
The Blunderbusts had the most controversial race of
the night. #6 Scott Sepe started on the pole, with #14 Mike
Schwarz on the outside. Sepe’s #6 SPONSORS WANTED Buick
bobbled coming off turn 2 on the initial start, and
Schwarz’s #14 East Coast Welldrilling Chevrolet grabbed the
lead, with #90 Tommy Walkowiak, #76 Joe Pingatore, and #65
Kevin Clarke close behind. On lap 5, Walkowiak’s #90
Langdon’s Automotive Chevrolet passed Schwarz for the lead
and took off. On lap 13, Jason Carpenter and the #77 Blue
Point Auto Body Chevrolet lost a left rear axle coming out of
turn 2, and the yellow was out. When racing resumed, Walkowiak
again assumed a large lead, with the #65 Ford of Kevin Clarke,
now 2nd, his closest pursuer. Further back in the field, Tom
Pickerell and the #4 Pete’s Auto Parts Chevrolet were doing
their best to stay ahead of Eugene Malverty’s #23 All Stock
Auto Parts Chevrolet in their battle for the championship.
That battle ended as Malverty was involved in a skirmish
with #1 Artie Pedersen Jr. and Malverty spun lightly into the
wall at the end of the back stretch near turn 3. In what
appeared to be a retaliatory move, Malverty, who was able to
get his car straightened out, collided with Pedersen as the
checkers waved at the end of the race, and NASCAR officials
penalized Malverty by placing him last for the race. After the
race, results were held up while a protest of the finish was
being decided, but results were finally posted around 10:45
PM.
In the Taxi Cab Demolition Derby, "Slim"
Jim Donaldson held off the crashing and bashing of 7 other
drivers to take the exciting event. These cabs held their own
as the drivers beat on each other relentlessly, with the
winning car of Donaldson having no rear tires left on the car
at the end of the event. Ever the showman, Donaldson at one
point tried to flip the car using the rollover ramp when he
thought the event was over, only to find there was still
one more car to destroy. Had "Slim" Jim been
successful in rolling his taxicab, he would have lost the
event.
An exhibition by the Monster trucks, Bigfoot, driven
by Dave Harkey, Thrasher, driven by Pat Summa, and Mopar
Magic, driven by Jack Brady, thrilled the crowd as they
crushed a few cars in the track's infield. The Monster Trucks
will return as part of Sunday's program. Also on hand was
Wizard, a Monster truck used to give fan rides. Those rides
had to be cut off early, as such a large crowd was on hand
that there was no longer room in the parking lots for the
rides.
