05/21/2005

RAIN HALTS MODS - OXEE TOPS LATE MODELS

    Rain interrupted the NASCAR Modified feature this past Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway with 14 laps of a scheduled 35 in the record books.  Defending champion Tom Rogers Jr. was leading Wayne Anderson when the rains came. The remaining 21-laps of the NASCAR Modified feature along with the Figure Eight feature will be run this Saturday afternoon May 28th at 4:00 pm, while the Train Race moves to Sunday afternoon May 29th.
    Taking full advantage of a rare pole starting position Tom Rogers Jr. bolted quickly to the lead with former five-time champion Wayne Anderson applying pressure from the drop of the green. The duo were pulling away from third place Dan Jivanelli when Larry Altholtz and Marissa Neiderauer got together in turn four and drew yellow.  With rain and at least one hour track drying process the decision was made to halt the program.
    Roger Oxee of Peconic is now two for two for the 2005 season as he won the 50-lap Late Model main event. "Mighty" Mike Mortimer set the standard in pre-race time trials with a quick lap of 12.754, but when the top six redrew he picked 6th. Greg Kleila lined-up on the pole and moved into the lead with Scott Kulesa in tow at the start. Peter Eriksen moved quickly to second on lap two as he moved by Kulesa while Oxee came to third. Oxee then moved by Eriksen for second on lap 7 with an inside move off turn four that set the stage for a classic short track battle with leader Kleila. The two tough veterans diced for the lead and on a 18th lap double file restart Oxee would get the measure on the outside of Kleila for the lead.
    Oxee then showed Kleila the way around for the next 13 circuits until Greg made a nice inside pass on Roger for the lead on lap 32. It appeared Kleila was going to be the man to beat when on a 45th lap restart his right front tire went down sending him high into the first turn.  This allowed Roger Oxee to slip by for the lead, with Mike Mortimer coming to second. For the final five laps of the tilt Mortimer glued himself to Oxee's rear spoiler but in the end Roger Oxee in the Helman Group Pontiac would again visit victory lane. Mike Mortimer of Mastic Beach was runner-up in the Unique Golf Pontiac, while Billy Wheeler of Sag Harbor had a solid showing with a third place effort in the Chico's Bail Bonds entry.
    For the 64th time in his illustrious Long Island racing career Robin Vollmoeller of Riverhead scored a feature event triumph as he won the 20-lap Charger feature. Thore Foss took command of the race early and would set the pace for the first 6 laps. Charlie Rittenhouse chased Foss for the first lap while Garret Frabizio chased Thore from lap 2 until the 5th cycle. That's when Robin Vollmoeller started making his move and moved to second on the 6th lap. Rain would slow the race for about 15 minutes and when the race was resumed Robin Vollmoeller rode the outside line on the double file restart to take the lead from Thore Foss. Chris Beutler came to second some three laps later at the halfway mark. Although Beutler was able to keep up with Vollmoeller, once the cagey veteran has the lead it's pretty tough to wrestle it away and that indeed would prove to be the case in this race. At the checker it was Robin Vollmoeller in the Solar Salon Tanning entry with Chris Beutler of Medford in the NDA Kitchens Pontiac finishing second. Early leader Thore Foss of Ronkonkoma came home a solid third in the TXX Transporters Pontiac.
    Scott Maliszewski of Deer Park not only scored the victory in the 30-lap Blunderbust main event, but with double points on the line also took the early season points lead. Scott Pedersen, who has been besieged by bad luck since the first practice day, took the early lead and showed Jason Carpenter the way around before a 6th lap caution waved. Low and behold during that yellow Scott's car stalled and had to be pushed to the pits. This propelled Carpenter to the lead on lap 7 with Dale Arnold in tow. Arnold ran second until
the 10th lap when Scott Maliszewski worked his way by.  He then set his sights on leader Carpenter. Suddenly on lap 11 Carpenter spun off turn two moving Maliszewski out front and Arnold into the second position. For the next 18 laps the tandem would run in that order to the checker flag. In the end it was the Victory Junction Gang #22 of Scott Maliszewski taking the win with Dale Arnold of Baldwin runner-up in the Custom Vinylgraphics.com entry. Bill Wegmann of N. Bellmore had a good points night with a fine third in the Premier Staffing Olds.
    Avenging an opening night DNF, Troy Ferdinando of Huntington went wire to wire to win the Trailer Transport night Super Pro Truck 20 Lap feature.  Mike Albasini would chase leader Ferdinando for the first 4 circuits before sophomore driver Shaun Gouldsbury worked his way by during a double file restart on lap 5.  However on lap 6 Albasini repaid the favor getting by Gouldsbury, but in this seesaw duel Gouldsbury moved back to second on lap 9. All that swapping played right into the hands of leader Ferdinando who was enjoying a comfortable lead - one he'd take all the way to the winner's circle. At the finish it was Troy Ferdinando in the Magic Isle Aquarium and Pet Center Chevy enjoying victory. Shaun Gouldsbury of Commack did cross the line second, but came up 43 pounds light at the scales and was disqualified. This action moved defending champion Lou Maestri of Deer Park to second in the Schwing Electric truck, while Mike Albasini of Flushing had a solid ride for third in the Speedworld FX machine.
    The Figure Eight feature, as well the 12-lap Train Race also fell victim to the rain with the Figure Eight feature rescheduled for May 28th and the Train Race for Sunday, May 29th.

Source:  Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR
Posted:  May 25, 2005