TED
CHRISTOPHER STEALS SHOW
by J.A.
Ackley
Despite
rain early in the morning, Riverhead Raceway was presented with a
beautiful day of racing featuring the Blunderbusts with a 30-lap Double
Point feature, Chargers, and the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour’s Miller
Lite 150.
Blunderbusts
The first feature of the night would be the
Blunderbusts. Leading the field to the green would be Tony Puckett, Jr.
in the #31 Efficient Machine Shop Chevrolet along side the #76 of Joe
Pingatore. The #31 of Tony Puckett, Jr. would lag on the start
providing a good jump for the #76 of Joe Pingatore. However, quickly
moving up the pack would be the #27 of Scott Pedersen who reached
Pingatore’s rear bumper by lap 6 and by lap 15 Pedersen would overtake
Pingatore. Meanwhile two championship contenders had their Double Point
hopes go up in smoke. The #00 Unique Golf Shop Chevrolet of Tommy
Walkowiak would go up in smoke on lap 13 and soon after the #67 Pine
Barrens Printing Chevrolet of Wayne Okula would follow suit. Tommy
would return later, but unfortunately would suffer a smoking problem
once again.
The first caution flew mid-race with the #69x Vinyl
Answer Chevrolet of Paul Parisi tagging the wall along the front
straightaway just underneath the starter stand and a ton of fluid on the
track. While under caution, another car started bellowing smoke, as the
#46 Cadillac of Sam Blanton became the latest victim of the smoke bug.
When the green flag waved, the #27 Scott Pedersen
took off with the #76 of Joe Pingatore ready to pounce on any mistake
Pedersen would make. Little did Pingatore know that it wouldn’t be a
mistake. On the final lap heading in turn 2, the #27 of Scott Pedersen
loses a rear wheel and spins, paving the way for the likeable #76 Joe
Pingatore to win his career race at Riverhead Raceway.
Following Pingatore to the checkers would be points
leader Scott Maliszewski in the #22 Victory Junction Gang Chevrolet and
rounding out the top three would be the #79 Oldsmobile of Bill Wegmann.
Chargers
The Chargers would be second to bat during
tonight’s features. Frequent flyer mile king, the #44 Mark Gibbs and
#25 King Bear Auto of Brentwood Olds of Charlie Rittenhouse would lead
the field to green. However, right before the start, the #8 Carpet
Express Pontiac of Dan Turbush would head into the pits. The veteran
Turbush would feel something was wrong, but returned right before the
green repaired and ready to go.
The #44 of Mark Gibbs would lead the field at a
snail’s pace and then nailed the gas like an experienced drag racer
taking off with the lead. Quickly attaching himself to the #44 would be
the #99 SPONSORS WANTED Dodge of Kevin Orlando. However the rookie’s
youth and enthusiasm would prove his downfall as he would make contact
with the #44 and spin, winding up in a precarious position in turn 4,
signaling the first caution of the night. Unrelated to the incident
would be a tangle between the #21 Spabco Racing Pontiac of Chris Beutler
and #81 Lepage Millworks Pontiac of Chris Turbush in turn 1. Beutler
would have to head to the pits to repair damage, while the youngest
Turbush would retake his position.
After a brief cleanup, the #44 of Mark Gibbs would
lead the field at a snail’s pace once again with the #89x Wrestling Cage
Productions Pontiac of Chris McGuire alongside. At the green, McGuire
would prove the better drag racer and thus took the lead. Quickly
moving up the pack would be veteran Robin Vollmoeller Sr. in the #2
Solar Salon Tanning Pontiac, whom would quickly overtake the #44 of Mark
Gibbs for second. But before the field could sort out, caution would
fly again for the #81 of Chris Turbush who had a right rear tire go
down, thus causing a spin in turn 2.
The #89x Chris McGuire and #2 Robin Vollmoeller Sr.
would be ready to take the green and then caution would wave for the #81
of Chris Turbush, whom was moving in the pits before the green flew.
The #89x and #2 would try to start their duel once
again, but the caution would yet wave again just mere moments after the
green for debris in turn 4. Third time is the charm, and the two would
get an even start, racing side-by-side. After a few laps, Vollmoeller
finally overtook McGuire and would ride on for the win. At the checkers
a scramble would occur where the #00 PCHS Racing Engines Chevrolet would
wind up in the turn 4 wall and the #61 Continental Marble Chevrolet of
Mike Coll would spin in the turn 4 sand trap.
Nevertheless, Vollmoeller would take the checkers
and the victory, his second of the year, and 29th of his
career in the Charger division. Finishing second would be the #89x of
Chris McGuire and rounding out the top 3 would be the #22x SPONSORS
WANTED Chevrolet of promising young rookie Justin Bonsignore.
NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour – Miller Lite 150
Now the race that everyone was waiting for, 150
laps of 28 modified strong thunder! Eric Beers in the #3 Roby’s Propane
Chevrolet would take the pole, barely missing the track record by
1/1000’s of a second. Upon the conclusion of the redraw, Eric Beers
would find himself starting fifth. Redrawing for pole position would be
none other than two-time Riverhead Raceway Modified Champion, Frank
Vigliarolo, Jr. in the #14 Bear Motorsports Dodge. And on the outside
of the sly veteran would be Riverhead Raceway regular, Jimmy Blewett in
the #12 TS Haulers entry.
On the start, the #14 of Frank Vigliarolo Jr. got a
good lead, using all his Riverhead Raceway experience to ward off the
efforts of Ted Christopher and the #13 Mystique Motorsports Chevrolet.
Within a few laps, Ted Christopher would have company as the #3 Roby’s
Propane Chevrolet of Eric Beers would glue itself to the trail of the
#13 modified. The #14 of Frank Vigliarolo Jr. would dodge a bullet in
the early goings of the race, when the #16 Diversified Metals Chevrolet
of Chris Kopec and #46 Viveiros Insurance Chevrolet of Dick Houlihan
tangled in front of the leaders. However, Vigliarolo’s fine driving
would be interrupted on lap 12 for a stopped #28 Ramar-Hall Chevrolet of
Tyler Haydt, whom suffered a flat tire.
On the restart, #14 Frank Vigliarolo, Jr. would get
a good jump for the lead, but not too much later afterwards a tangle
between a few cars would occur and bring out the second caution. #51
Kevin Konopka, points-leader #15 Zach Sylvester, #0 Nevin George, #69
Tommy Cloce, #49 Chris Young, and #48 Tony Hirschman were all involved
in some capacity.
The #14 Frank Vigliarolo, Jr. and #13 Ted
Christopher would lead the field to green again, with the veteran
Riverhead racer, Vigliarolo taking the front spot. However, the crafty
Ted Christopher was plotting with each lap behind the #14 on a way to
take the lead away from Vigliarolo. On lap 33, Christopher would
finally figure it out. In a move normally seen on bigger tracks, and
rarely seen at the ¼-mile bullring Riverhead Raceway, Christopher would
go hard into turn 3, jump in front of the #14 and say sayonara.
However, before Christopher could breathe a sigh of relief, caution
would wave for the #23 Kleet Lumber Pontiac of expectant father, Gregg
Shivers for he would take the front straightway wall and remain stuck
there.
The #13 Ted Christopher and #14 Frank Vigliarolo,
Jr. would lead the field to green, but the caution would wave once again
when the green flag flew for the #00 Sherm’s Auto Body Dodge of Mike
Stefanik, whom jumped out of line. After a brief re-lineup, the
Christopher-Vigliarolo duel restarted, with side-by-side racing giving
way to the #13 grabbing the lead. Following the duo would be the #3 of
Eric Beers whom himself was under pressure from the #00 of Mike Stefanik.
A few laps later, the #3 of Eric Beers would bump the #14 loose in turn
2 to overtake second position. Afterwards the #14 of Frank Vigliarolo,
Jr. would fade to the back of the pack.
Meanwhile the new duo of Ted Christopher and Eric
Beers would take away from the field and 10 laps later, they were joined
by Riverhead Raceway graduate, Donny Lia and the #18 Huntington Honda
entry. Before the trio could really battle caution would wave for the
#99 Perth Amboy Ford of Jamie Tomaino whom suffered a flat tire.
Green would fly again, but caution would
immediately follow soon after as the #50 Mahle Pistons Ford of Chuck
Hossfeld and #46 of Dick Houlihan would mistakenly gain a lap under
caution by going past a stop sign on pit road.
After a brief re-lineup, #13 Ted Christopher would
resume the lead, followed by the tandem of #3 Eric Beers, #18 Donny Lia,
#4 Jerry Marquis, and #00 Mike Stefanik. A long green run would ensue,
where all five would plan strategies to see if they could make a move.
Any mistake in strategy would inevitably result in not only a loss of
position, but a loss at the chance for the win.
Caution would wave on lap 126 for a tangle in
calamity corners of 1 and 2. Cars involved included the #12 Jimmy
Blewett, #16 Chris Kopec, #23 Gregg Shivers, #0 Nevin George, and #28
Tyler Haydt.
The field would restart with not much change in
position but would be slowed by yet another caution for debris in turn
4.
The restart would present 10 laps for someone to
try something, and the #3 of Eric Beers would try his all to pass the
#13 of Ted Christopher but just couldn’t make it happen. Ted
Christopher would take the checkers for the second time at Riverhead and
this year, and would also take over the points lead. Taking second, in
one of his greatest runs in the NASCAR Whelen Modified tour would be the
#3 of Eric Beers. And rounding out the top three would be Donny Lia and
the #18.
Notes from around the pits:
- #99 Island Trees Automotive
Blunderbust of Russell Broy took in one practice before calling it a
day as his oil pressure light went on and didn’t want to risk
further internal damage. Broy can’t seem to catch a break. If he
didn’t have bad luck, he wouldn’t have any luck at all.
- #7 Custom Exteriors
Blunderbust driver, Tom Sullivan, is toying with the idea of racing
a Chevrolet product. The past few weeks he has brought out the
former #24 of Kevin McCarthy which is the former ride of Ron
Pickerell. However, some work has to be done on the new #7 before
its maiden ride. We wonder why Sullivan would consider the change,
as he seems pretty fast in the Lincoln. But we did hear the rumors
in the pits that the Lincoln is jealous of Sully’s new ride and we
can only imagine the turmoil in the garage.
- We did confirm that the #53
CustomVinylGraphics.com Blunderbust of Dale Arnold is painted with vinyl
enhancements. This could explain why Arnold may have won last week
and has been doing well in recent weeks as he eliminated the extra
weight of a fully vinyled car (yes folks, last year his car was
completely in vinyl).
- How about that? #76 Joe
Pingatore wins his first Blunderbust victory. It was a pleasure to
see this little guy with big heart take down his first win and few
can argue with that.
- However, on the flip side,
sorry to see the #27 of Scott Pedersen miss his first win by a ½ a
lap. One thing is certain though… Expect Pedersen to visit victory
lane by the end of the year if his luck improves, because he and his
car are definitely fully capable.
- The #00 Unique Golf Shop
Chevrolet of Tommy Walkowiak had a very unique idea. Walkowiak
placed a complaint box on top of his trunk in the pits and some left
some messages. Got to say, it's nice to see a competitor open
to some constructive criticism.
- We hear the #3 Prime Choice
Blunderbust of Doug Watson will be making an appearance at Prime
Choice’s location in Centereach next Sunday. We hear Watson was an
excellent choice as Prime Choice spokesman, as he was caught during
the heat race checking out the souvenir stand in turn 2 and is an
avid collectible collector. Expect more news on Prime Choice
shindig on the Jam early this week.
- Happy Birthday to Erin
Denniston as it was her 18th birthday this past Sunday. She
celebrated at the track and wore a banner noting that she's the
birthday kid. However we at the Jam were wondering where's the
cake? Yes we were kind of hungry after a long day covering the
races and cake did sound good, although Dan would have to opt out
and eat something healthy like a hot dog.
- This rookie Justin
Bonsignore in the #22x Chevrolet seems to know how to quietly move
up the front and expect him slowly to contend.
- We hear the reason for #25
Charlie Rittenhouse and his King Bear of Brentwood Olds’ 12th
place ride is his wife Angel was on vacation without him. However,
Charlie has come a long way, earning his first top 10 last week with
a 7th place finish. Angel should be back this weekend,
so watch Charlie earn his second top 10 next Saturday.
- Nice run for the #57 B&J
Welding & Ironworks Pontiac of Thore Foss. This team has come a
long way from its beginnings and had a strong run last Saturday,
moving up 10 spots.
- The #23 Kleet Lumber
Modified driver, Gregg Shivers is expecting a baby anytime. Well
his wife is, but we at the Jam wondered what would happen if his
wife Bernadette gave birth mid-race. Would his reason out be
“birth.”
- #31 Modified of Tony
Ferrante had a solid run with a 11th finishing spot.
- The #3 Eric Beers talent is
finally being realized and witnessed with a second-place finish last
Satuday. Beers has won all over the Northeast and its only a matter
of time you’ll see him contending for the NASCAR Whelen Modified
Tour championship.
- Besides the #11x of Chuck
Steuer finishing 6th, the Riverhead regulars seemed to
find bad luck or other circumstances to ruin their chances for the
big race. #12 Jimmy Blewett and #49 Chris Young wound up with
falling out due to an accident. #14 Frank Vigliarolo, Jr. gave a
great show up front before fading away and ending with a steering
problem. And the #45 of Wayne Anderson exited early due to
overheating. Riverhead regulars #05 Joe Hartmann, #6 Tom Rogers, Jr., #20 Bill Park,
#72 Dan Jivanelli, and #96 Howie Brode all failed to qualify.
- And the final note, be sure
to stop by the #7 Dodge Super Pro Truck this weekend to donate to
the Victory Junction Gang. Rich Giordano informs us he is the
spot to drop off donations for the very worthy cause.
Source: J.A.
Ackley/LongIslandJam.com
Posted: June 5, 2005
