THE BEST NIGHT OF RACING IN A LONG TIME
by
Walter Johnston
Showers during early practice and clouds throughout the afternoon and
evening couldn't deter the show from going on at Riverhead, and what a
show it was. Some of the season's best racing took place tonight,
another Riverhead Family night that included a 4/6-cylinder Truck
Enduro, Car Rollover Contest, and Train Race, in addition to regular
Charger, Late Model, and Modified features.
Starting first, the 4/6-cylinder Truck Enduro had 22 trucks entered
and was the first feature event of the evening. #4 Terry Stiles and #7
Rich Onorato led the field to the green, with Stiles grabbing the lead,
but Onorato fought right back and took the lead. By lap 4, the leaders
had caught the back of the field, and Onorato had to start weaving in
and out of traffic to maintain his lead. Stiles was now battling with
#20 Bobby Pease for second, but they were about 8 truck-lengths in back
of the leader, Onorato. Suddenly, Onorato spun in turn 4, and Stiles got
the lead, but only for a moment as Pease went by and took command, with
Stiles now second, and #5 John Cozza running third. Those two battled it
out as Pease held a comfortable lead, and Cozza took second on lap 25,
and set his sights on Pease. Lapped traffic was now everywhere, and
Pease held Cozza at bay, but Cozza was closing in. By lap 35, Cozza was
able to get along side of Pease, but could not pass him as they battled
side by side. Pease in the #20 BV Sprinklers entry was able to hold on
for the last 5 laps, with the help of a spinning truck in turn 4 on the
final lap, to edge Cozza as they took the checkered flag, followed by
#28 Dan Jones in third, and #4 Terry Stiles, who held on for fourth
place money.
The next event was the Charger 20 lapper, with #21 Chris Beutler and
#44 Mark Gibbs on the front row. At the drop of the green, Beutler got
the lead, as #13 Garret Fabrizio momentarily moved by Gibbs for 2nd, but
Gibbs got back by Fabrizio on lap 2. On lap 5, #2 Robin Vollmoeller and
#73 Brian Doyle got hooked together and spun into the infield near turn
3, just as #89x Chris McGuire came to a stop in turn 2, bringing out a
yellow. McGuire was quickly assisted off the track, but Vollmoeller and
Doyle were hooked together pretty solidly, and the track crew, using 3
tow trucks, took about 10 minutes to get them separated. On the restart,
Beutler jumped into the lead, with Gibbs, #36 Eric Lutz, #10 Brad Van
Houten and #05 Eric Goodale running tightly behind him. On lap 10, #99
Kevin Orlando suffered a right front flat, but was able to pull off and
help avoid another yellow being thrown. The top 5 ran in order for the
next 5 laps, but on lap 16, Gibbs worked his way under Beutler, and Lutz
right behind him. Officials mentioned (on the track frequency) at that
point (lap 17) that Gibbs had gone below the white line to pass, and
would be penalized one position at the finish. Gibbs held the lead
position until the very end, with Lutz, Van Houten, Beutler and Goodale
right behind at the checkered flag, but Eric Lutz in the #36 Marjam
Supply Chevrolet was called out to victory lane after Gibbs was set back
one position to second for the earlier infraction.
Next in the order of events was the Car Rollover Contest, with 6 cars
entered. Vinny Marshall was first up, but only able to roll his car
twice before it became disabled, scoring 4 pts. Thad Zino, AKA Mr. T.,
was next, rolling his car on the first try, and unable to roll it on his
next 2 tries, for 3 pts. Jason Savoy went next, missing the ramp on his
first 2 tries, and rolling over 1 complete time on his third, for 5 pts.
Dennis Scott went next, getting a total of 10 pts for his 3 attempts.
Nick Herzburg, AKA Taz, went next, rolling completely on all 3 tries,
for 15 pts. Last was Slim Jim Donaldson, who was able to do 2 complete
rolls on his first try, and 1 1/2 on each of the others, giving him 24
points and the win.
Late Models rolled out next, with #23 Kevin Metzger and #12 Dennis
Krupski on the front row for their 25 lap feature. Krupski pulled ahead
a bit at the start, finally getting the lead by lap 2. Metzger was now
chased by #88 Shawn Patrick and #99 Jack Orlando for second, and as
Patrick got by a fading Metzger, #14 Mike Mortimer moved into third,
with Patrick now running fourth and #42 Billy Wheeler up to fifth.
Metzger was now holding up the rest of the field, but up front, Krupski
was battling, trying to hold of Mortimer, and as they came upon the
about to be lapped car of #35 Kenny Alfano, Alfano gave them room to
race, and Mortimer grabbed the lead, with Patrick moving up to second,
Wheeler getting third, and #28 Glenn Tyler moved into fourth as Krupski
settled into fifth spot as the checkered flag fell on this very exciting
green to checkered race.
Now came the Modified feature, with #07 Lew Hallock and #36 Dave
Sapienza on the front row. Hallock got a slight lead at the drop of the
green, but #8x Eddie Brunnhoelzl III bumped him and his car wiggled,
giving the lead to Sapienza, with #93 Sal Accardi, Jr up to second, and
#12 Dan Jivanelli third. Accardi got under Sapienza coming off turn 2,
and took the lead 1 lap later, with Jivanelli following him through for
second, while Sapienza worked to hold off #05 Joe Hartmann and #96 Howie
Brode. Accardi and Jivanelli got away from the rest of the field as the
laps ticked off, but on lap 15, #74 Marisa Niederauer tagged #33 Ken
Heagy high going into turn 1 and two, resulting in Heagy crashing and
bringing out the yellow. With the field now closed back up, Accardi took
a slight lead at the start, but out of turn 3, Jivanelli shot past him
in a great power move, and took the lead, with #5 Jimmy Blewett moving
by for second, as Hartmann, #10x Mike Andrews and #11x Chuck Steuer also
get by Accardi, who was hung out on the high side. Andrews then got
under and past Hartmann, along with a hard charging Steuer, as Hartmann
got dropped to fifth. On lap 25, #20 Bill Park spun in turn 2, after
contact with #74 Niederauer, bringing out a caution. On the restart,
Jivanelli gets a big lead over second place Blewett, as the battle for
third continues with Andrews and Steuer behind them. Suddenly, with
about 2 laps to go, Jivanelli pulls into the infield, with a broken
rocker arm, ceding the lead to #5 Blewett. Blewett and Andrews run nose
to tail, as Steuer looks for a way to pass either or both, and Blewett
holds off Andrews as Steuer gets along side momentarily trying to pass
for second, but Andrews recovers and holds on for second as the checkers
fly for Jimmy Blewett's second victory of the season in one of the most
exciting Modified races this season at Riverhead Raceway.
In the train race, the team of Shawn Wanat and Mike Coll lapped the
field running on the figure 8 course. 6 teams started the trace, but
attrition was high, as only 3 completed the entire race.
Pit notes and news: LongIslandJam.com and Long Island Motorsports
working on putting together a bus trip with Hampton Jitney to Walt
DeMorris Memorial race at Mountain Speedway in October. It's not known
yet if it's for both days, but with the amount of drivers from Riverhead
Raceway intending to enter, it should be a great deal no matter which.
Watch for details in the future at either site... Complete racing
program finished at a very early 9:25 PM tonight... Early drizzle wet
the track during practice time, but ended so quickly the track dried
without help from cars or pit crew... Get well wishes to Mayor of
Vinnyville's wife, Tammy, who underwent emergency appendectomy
tonight... Until next week, keep the faith, and keep your dictionary or
spell checker handy when posting on the forum. Good night for now...
Source: Walter Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
July 17, 2005
