WILD
NIGHT OF TWISTS AND TURNS
by Walter
Johnston
As the summer almost comes to an end,
along with Riverhead Raceway winding down the season for 2004,
some interesting things took place on the last night of racing
for the Modifieds and Late Models. The Modifieds ran a 75-lap
single point race, with the field set by time trials, but
before all was said and done, those time trails looked as
though they meant nothing. The Late Model race was also a bit
strange, as it ran much like the Modifieds, something like a
preview of the event set for the end of the evening, a Demo
Derby for Mini School Buses. The Blunderbusts had a good and
normal race, with a surprise outcome, and the Fig 8 guys put
on a good show for all.
In the Modified feature, after the top 6
in Time Trials redrew for position, Ken Heagy found himself
and the #33 SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet on the pole, with Eddie
Brunnhoelzl III’s #83x SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet on the
outside. They were followed by the #49 of Chris Young, #6 Tom
Rogers Jr., #20 Bill Park, and #15 Wayne Anderson.
At the drop of the green, Ken Heagy grabbed
the lead right away, with Chris Young and Eddie Brunnhoelzl
III battling for 2nd place, which Young got within 2 laps. The
first of many yellows flew on lap 4 as Glenn Tyler’s #28
Spring & Summer Activities Pontiac got a right front flat
and came to a stop in turn 2. On the restart, Heagy held the
lead with Young 2nd, and Bill Park’s #20 entry moved into
3rd place. Just as the top 3 started to break away, #12 Dan
Jivanelli, #3 John Denniston and #11x Chuck Steuer came
together entering turn 1 on lap 7, bringing out another
yellow. When the race resumed, Heagy again held the lead over
Young and Brunnhoelzl III, as #6 Rogers Jr. moved into 4th. On
lap 9, Ken Vogel Jr. and the #77 Black Magic Asphalt Paving
Pontiac made contact with the third turn wall, bringing out
another yellow. While the field was being realigned, leader
Ken Heagy suddenly pulled out of line and went to the pits.
With the green flying again, Chris Young now led Bill Park as
the rest of the field fell into a single line behind them. On
lap 19, the yellow flew once more for the disabled #35
Scibelli Brothers Auto Body Chevrolet of Larry Altholtz on the
backstretch. On the restart, Young jumped into the lead once
more, with Tom Rogers getting by Bill Park for second place,
bringing along Wayne Anderson and dropping Park back to
fourth. On lap 24, Marisa Niederauer spun her #74 SPONSORS
WANTED Dodge in turn 2, bringing out the yellow once again. On
the restart, Bill Park had ignition failure (hit he kill
switch by accident), and the yellow was right back out. This
was followed by a false restart caused by officials deeming
that Tom Rogers had started before Chris Young. On the next
try, before that lap was complete, there was a crash in turn 4
involving several cars, and yellow flew once more. Track
officials then decided that all restarts would be done single
file for the rest of the race.
On the next restart, Yong got a good start and
pulled 2 car lengths away from Rogers Jr., as Wayne Anderson
fought him for second. On Lap 26, yellow was out again, this
time for Mike Curtis, driving the Bertuccio #2, as he suffered
a right front flat and came to a stop in turn 2. On the next
restart, the field remained Young, Rogers Jr., Anderson,
Brunnhoelzl III and Sal Accardi now in the top 5. On lap 31,
#83x Brunnhoelzl III spun off turn 4, bringing out yet another
caution. Racing resumed, only to have Howie Brode’s #96 hit
the back stretch wall on lap later, and the yellow was out
again. That was cleaned up quickly and racing resumed again,
with Rogers Jr. getting around Young in turn 2 with a bit of a
bump. Young retaliated, and he and Rogers crashed going down
the backstretch, collecting #15 Anderson and making #10x Mike
Andrews, Jr. the new leader. But, before Mike could even get
the green, a flat right rear sent him to the pits, making Sal
Accardi Jr. and the #93 Aable Auto Salvage Chevrolet the new
race leader. All of this has taken exactly 1 hour to this
point.
Now they finally got some green flag laps in,
as Accardi Jr. and #8x Ed Brunnhoelzl put some distance
between themselves and the rest of the pack. Bill Park,
running fourth, dropped out with ignition problems, and #85
Lenny Fischer, who was third, started to drop off the pace, as
#05 Joe Hartmann, #11x Chuck Steuer and #2 Mike Curtis moved
into the top 5. By lap 49, Steuer and Curtis had gotten by
Hartmann, and were reeling in the two leaders. On lap 61, #8x
Brunnhoelzl Jr. got around Accardi Jr. for the lead, and
Curtis followed him for second. By lap 65, #2 Curtis was able
to pass #8x Brunnhoelzl Jr. for the lead, and took off.
Curtis, who had pitted earlier and gotten new tires, now built
a tremendous 10 car lead over the rest of the field and held
on through the last 10 laps to take the win in the #2 Gershow
Recycling Chevrolet, with Brunnhoelzl Jr.’s #8x Jamaica
Brake & Clutch Chevrolet hanging on for second and #11x
Savin Chevrolet of Steuer finishing third.
The Late Model feature saw Keith
Rotzi’s #21 PEK Construction Chevrolet on the pole and Doug
Wholey’s #98 Ideal Cesspool Pontiac on the outside. At the
drop of the green, Rotzi got the lead, but the yellow flew
immediately for a crash in turn 2 involving 3 cars. On the
restart, Rotzi got the lead again, and held it to pull away
from Wholey a bit. On lap 6, Mike Coll, driving Sean Case's
#75 Gunn Allen Financial Pontiac for the first time, spun in
turn 1, bringing out a yellow. On the restart, Rotzi grabbed
the lead again, but a bump and run by Wholey in turn 2 allowed
not only Wholey, but #01 Rob Tribuzio and #28 Glenn Tyler to
move up to 2nd and 3rd, while Rotzi recovered to stay in
fourth. On lap 8, #08 Jarrod Hayes, #1x Dave Brigati, and #75
Mike Coll came together in turn 3, bringing out another
yellow. On the restart, yellow was out again immediately as
Rotzi and #88 Shawn Patrick came together out of turn 4 and
finally crashed going into turn 1, finishing both for the
evening. On the next restart, Wholey and Tribuzio ran side by
side for 1 lap, and then Wholey got into Tribuzio on the front
stretch, with Tribuzio suffering heavy front-end damage and
Wholey climbing the wall, and almost, the starters stand.
Glenn Tyler’s #28 Spring & Summer Activities Pontiac now
assumed the lead, with #35 Ken Alfano, #10 Scott Kulesa and
#39 RJ Oxee in tow. On the restart, there was again a yellow
immediately for debris in turn 3. On the next restart, the
2003-2004 Late Model Champ took off with Alfano’s #35
Denelex/Restart Chevrolet in pursuit. On lap 11, Alfano spun
off the backstretch, with Kulesa’s #10 Ranco Sand &
Stone Pontiac getting second. By lap 15, Tyler had a
commanding 8 car-length lead over Kulesa, who had his hands
full trying to hold off #39 Oxee and #07 Jack Orlando. On lap
21, Oxee's right front started going down, slowing him and
allowing Orlando’s #07 Staria Automotive Chevrolet to move
into third, with #08 Jarrod Hayes was moving up with him.
Kevin Metzger and his #23 SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet was also
getting a right front flat after spinning #84 Andy Lokkeberg,
and Metzger slowed on the track and pulled in. Tyler, in the
meantime, sailed to victory, capping off his 2004 Championship
season with win.
The Figure 8's ran their 20-lap
race, with Tom Kraft’s #8 454 Automotive Chevrolet Bel Air
on the pole, and "Slim Jim" Donaldson’s #47
Slim’s Body Piercing Ford on the outside. Kraft jumped right
out to the lead at the drop of the green. On lap 7, Louis
Martucci’s #81 lost a wheel in turn 4, bringing out the
caution. Back to green, Kraft still leads with Kenny Hyde’s
#58 Maples Bar & Grill Dodge now hot on his tail, but one
lap later, Slim Jim, trying to avoid a lapped car at the X,
spun in the fourth turn, bringing out another yellow. Once
back to green, Kraft held his lead with Hyde and his teammate,
#85 Arne Pedersen and #63 Paul Specht, running fourth, chasing
right behind. On lap 15, #3 Ken Darch pinned #28 Roger Maynor
into the fourth turn wall, with Darch being black flagged from
the race for rough riding, and Maynor going off on the hook.
When the green came back out, Tommy Kraft kept his commanding
lead over the last 5 laps, and sailed to the win.
The Blunderbusts saw Bob Haeger’s #10
Forge Heating & A/C Chevrolet and Mike Brigandi’s #60
Cadillac on the front row for the race, with Brigandi grabbing
the lead from the start. On lap 3, Jason Carpenter in the #04,
grabbed the lead, with #14 Mike Schwarz second, #5 Joe Oliver
third, and #3 Doug Watson running fourth. With Carpenter in
the lead, on lap 12 Watson got by Oliver for third, and set
his sights on Schwarz. 2 laps later, on lap 14, Watson moved
into 2nd as he got by Schwarz for the position. Watson was now
trying to catch Carpenter, and was closing in as laps ran out.
But now comes the twist. Race Officials ruled Carpenter had
jumped 2 spots under the white line at the beginning of the
race, and place him back two spot, giving the win to Doug
Watson and the #3 Over the Hill Racing Chevrolet. Carpenters
car was later found to be underweight in tech and he lost more
positions with a disqualification. For Watson, it was his
second win of the year, a nice way to finish up the regular
season.
In the midst of all this, a very moving ceremony was held
in honor of those who died in the terrorist attacks of
09/11/01. Father Dan Bitsko performed the religious portion of
the ceremony, followed by Bob Finan with some words about the
heroes of the day, and some patriotic music. Candles, which
were given out at the ticket gates, were then lit in solemn
remembrance of those who perished that day, as a moment of
silence was observed.
Bob “Whiplash” Genovese, who outlasted a
stellar field of fairly well made buses, won the Mini-School
Bus Demolition Derby. The Mini School Buses could definitely
take some hits!!!
Pit notes and news: Fast time in Mod
time trails set by Bill Park at 11.737. Mike Curtis reportedly
driving the #2 after parting ways with TS Haulers team earlier
this week.... Mike Fields and his lovely wife, Lori, were seen
wandering around on an off night for Mountain Speedway.... Dan
Dombal still selling raffle tickets for his #63 Charger car to
benefit Victory Junction camp with 10% of proceeds collected.
Drawing to be held at Riverhead swap meet in November. 28
Modifieds, 25 Late Models, 25 Blunderbusts and 16 Figure 8
cars on hand. Also 11 Mini School Buses entered in the Demo.
Anyone wishing to purchase a turnkey Modified operation, see
Peggy Smith, as her car, trailer, and all radios, etc, are up
for grabs at $15,000.
See you all next week.
