The Champion of Championship Nights Last Saturday
by
Walter Johnston
It was a comfortably warm
afternoon and evening at Riverhead as 5 divisions, except the
Chargers, whose point race was decided a week ago, ran what
would be the deciding races of their season. The exception here,
is the Super Pro Trucks, who have one more point race this
coming Saturday to decide their tight points race, and the
Blunderbusts, where Scott Maliszewski wrapped up that title last
week.
This was also September 11th
Memorial night, with a trackside ceremony remembering the lives
of those who died in those terrible attacks 4 years ago. The
Smithtown Fire Department Color Guard presented the colors as
Father Dan Bitsko, Riverhead's track chaplain, said a prayer of
remembrance for all the September 11th victims, as well as those
of Hurricane Katrina. Candles had been passed out to all
in attendance, and in what has always been a moving tribute,
they were lit and held all around the track by fans, competitors
and officials, as a few patriotic songs were played over the PA.
Announcer Bob Finan read a short statement in memory of those
lost in the tragedy.
The Modifieds, whose point
race was one of the tightest, qualified on this night through
time-trials, with Mike Curtis in the Gershow Recycling #2
setting fast time at 11.851. A redraw was held among the top six
for starting positions with point leader Bill Park in the
Smithtown Nissan #20 drawing the pole, and Wayne Anderson, in
the Eastport Feeds #15, drawing the outside pole.
At the drop of the green,
Park got out front, with Anderson tucked in behind, followed by
Dave Roys in the Mike's Place #79. Curtis and Chuck Steuer, in
the Savin Copiers #11x, ran side by side for fourth spot, with
Curtis capturing the position, as Howie Brode, in the Petro Fuel
#96 also got by Steuer to take fifth spot. The top 3 were now
running nose to tail and were soon joined by Curtis. As they
lapped one car, Park and Anderson got a little breathing room,
but Roys, Curtis, Brode and Steuer soon closed that gap back up.
On lap 23, #93 Sal Accardi Jr, passing the lapped #26 car of
Gary MacDonald, locked wheels with MacDonald and crashed into
the turn 1 wall, collecting Rusty Turbush in the #17x. On the
restart, Park maintained his lead, but Roys apparently made
contact with Anderson, sending him spinning off into the
infield. Anderson recovered to rejoin the field, almost a full
lap behind. During that altercation, Curtis got by for second,
bringing Steuer along in third spot. Curtis was now pressuring
Park for the lead waiting to make the move, as Park's car pushed
up out of turns 2 & 4 each lap. After a few laps Curtis finally
found a hole underneath Park and passed him for the lead, this
time with Steuer and Brode following through, and putting Park
back to fourth. Behind Park, Roys and #84 John Fortin were
battling hard for fifth spot, both looking for an opening to
move up. With 5 laps to go, Brode suddenly pulled to a stop in
turn 1 with a left front flat and the caution was out. Now the
front 5 were Curtis, Steuer, Park, Roys and Fortin, and with the
drop of the green, Curtis shot into the lead, as Steuer and Park
trailed behind, while Curtis built a small but insurmountable
lead over the field. As the checkers flew, it was Curtis in
front, with Steuer, Park, Roys and Fortin still right behind.
Bill Park’s third place finish gave him his second career
Modified championship at Riverhead.
In yet another thriller, the
Late Models lined up with Billy Wheeler’s #42 Chevrolet on the
pole, and Doug Wholey’s #98 Ideal Cesspool Pontiac on the
outside pole. Point leader RJ Oxee and the #39 Helman Group
Pontiac started in ninth position. At the drop of the green,
Wheeler jumped into the lead, but Wholey had difficulty steering
his car and came left across the pack into Glenn Tyler’s #28
Spring & Summer Activities Pontiac. The cars behind took evasive
action, with some, including point leader Oxee, going through
the infield to avoid the collision. Tyler was unable to
continue, due to suspension damage, but Wholey rejoined the
still green-flagged race at the rear of the field. Wheeler,
meanwhile, was way out front, with only Sean Patterson and his
#8 Zoumas Homes Pontiac to contend with, as the rest of the pack
was far behind the duo. On lap 8, Patterson spun into the
infield in turn 2, but recovered to come back out and spin again
on the next lap due to a right rear flat tire. Shawn Patrick’s
#88 SPONSORS WANTED Dodge took over second spot, with Mike
Mortimer’s #14 SPONSORS WANTED Pontiac running in third and
Jarrod Hayes #08 SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet running fourth. It
was a very clean race from this point on, with Wheeler running
away with the lead which he held as the checkers flew, winning
his first ever Late Model race. Oxee finished in 10th, but that
was enough to give the veteran campaigner his first ever Late
Model Championship which he celebrated by doing burnouts and
donuts all over the infield. Oxee is the winningest Late Model
driver at Riverhead, but for 25 years a championship had eluded
him, so it was quite understandable that he'd want to celebrate
in this manner.
The Figure 8 race had #29 Will
Farrell and #16 Tom Ferrara on the front row, but right at the
start, Ferrara spun. On lap 2, caution flew after Kenny Hyde’s
#58 Maples Bar & Grill Dodge was reported to have hit the cones
in turn 3. With the cones back in place, and Hyde put to the
rear, green flew once again, followed by an immediate caution
for Roger Maynor’s #28 Barrasso & Son Mason Supply Ford hitting
the turn 3 wall. Finally under green once more, Farrell
maintained the lead, as Tom Kraft’s #8 Northeastern Office
Equipment Chevrolet had moved to second spot, but the yellow
flew once more, as #13 Pro Tech Automotive Chevrolet of Mike
Mujsce Sr. and Michael Brigandi’s #78 Chevrolet locked bumpers
and came to a stop in turn 3. It took a few minutes to separate
the two but on the next restart yellow was out again after Bill
Batsche’s #22 Island Moving Supply Chevrolet hit the turn 1 wall
and officials noticed debris left from that contact on the
track. Officials now called for a single file restart and
Farrell led Kraft throughout the figure 8 course with Kraft
trying to get around Farrell high and low. Roger Maynor looking
to improve his position as much as possible in a desperate
attempt to catch point leader George Sprague was up to fourth,
and had moved to third by the half-way mark. Suddenly, Maynor
came to a halt in turn 3 and needed to be push started, as some
sort of electrical problem plagued his car. This moved everyone
up, putting Sprague and the #10 Pavco Industries Chevrolet up to
third spot behind Kraft. On the restart, Farrell maintained his
lead, but Sprague managed to get around Kraft for second, as
Farrell crossed the line in first. Farrell was later DQ'd in
tech, moving everyone up one position, meaning not only had
Sprague won the race, but also clinched his first ever Figure 8
Championship.
In Blunderbust competition,
Scott Sepe’s #6 SPONSORS WANTED Buick and John Delavergne’s #63
Delavergne Towing entry started on the front row with Sepe
getting out front as a massive pile-up occurred in the first
turn but all pulled away, so no yellow was needed. Wayne Okula
in the #67 Pine Barrens Printing Chevrolet, who'd skillfully
avoided the pile-up was now second but got around Sepe within a
lap for the lead. Sepe now had to contend with Blunderbust champ
Scott Maliszewski and the #22 Victory Junction Gang Chevrolet,
whom also got by Sepe for second and one lap later, yellow was
out for a crash in turn 4 for Rich Giordano’s #71 Custom
Exteriors “Ford Chevrolet.” Artie Pedersen’s #1 Sherwin-Williams
Chevrolet was black flagged for leaking water during the yellow.
On the restart, Okula protected his lead, as Sullivan’s #7
Custom Exteriors Lincoln got by Maliszewski briefly for second,
but Maliszewski came right back to retake the spot. Meanwhile,
Tommy Walkowiak and #00 Unique Golf Shop Chevrolet had worked
his way to fourth along with Doug Watson in the #3 Prime Choice
Collectibles Chevrolet running fifth. Walkowiak got by Sullivan
for third spot on lap 13, and as Maliszewski looked outside to
pass Okula, Walkowiak ducked in low to run along side and
eventually passed Maliszewski for second. Walkowiak now set his
sights on Okula who did all he could do to hold him off but
Okula succeeded in doing so, winning his second ever Blunderbust
feature, after getting his first win in a time shortened race
earlier in the season. The win was especially nice for Okula as
his wife and son were in attendance for this victory.
Last to be reported on is
the Super Pro Trucks. Two rookies, Shawn Gouldsbury in #30
Eddy’s RV Trailer Sales Chevrolet and Jason Agugliaro in the #44
WPW Growers Ford started up front with Agugliaro grabbing the
lead right at the start. Mike Albasini’s #66 M&M Motorsports
Chevrolet pulled in on the first lap with mechanical ills and
Gouldsbury spun into the infield at the start/finish line giving
second to Troy Ferdinando’s #9 Troystar Motorsports Chevrolet
with Frank Dumicich, Jr.’s #42 SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet third,
his father Frank Dumicich, Sr. in the #5 Teddy Bear Racing Ford
fourth, and Lou Maestri’s #1 Schwing Electrical Supply Ford
fifth. By lap 5, Ferdinando was developing a flat from a slow
leak in his left front, as Dumicich, Jr. moved to second spot,
and rookie Dan Turbush in the #10 For Sale Chevrolet moved up
into third spot. Turbush got under Dumicich, Jr. to take second,
as Dave Brigati’s #98x WPW Growers GMC moved up to third spot,
with Dumicich, Jr. fourth and Bryan Sescila’s #34 Victory Fleet
Maintenance Dodge fifth. Turbush closed the large lead Agugliaro
had built early on but the laps ran out as Agugliaro went on to
win his first race in the division, with Turbush second, and
Brigati (Agugliaro's truck owner) third. The trucks take to the
track one more time next week to decide the championship, with
Lou Maestri, the current leader, being challenged by Brigati and
Bobby Gardner’s #45 AuctionDepot.org Dodge for the title.
A ceremony was also held to
award the fans choices for Most Popular Driver, as voted on from
ballots distributed in the weekly track program, with the
trophies being given out by sponsor Program Dynamics of
Flemington, NJ. This season's winners were: #2x John Denniston –
Super Pro Trucks, #67 Wayne Okula – Blunderbusts, #2 Robin
Vollmoeller Sr. – Chargers, #98 Doug Wholey – Late Models, #10
George Sprague – Figure 8's, and #83x Eddie Brunnhoelzl III –
Modifieds. Congratulations to all the winners of this award.
News and Notes: It's nice to be
back from Martinsville, though I enjoyed the experience... Roger
Oxee was more nervous than an expectant father before the race,
but very relaxed after winning the Late Model championship. I
guess it was all that great food and drink that were everywhere
around the #39 team's hauler that helped with that. It may take
weeks to get the smile off RJ's face... Wayne Okula also is
quite pleased with his Blunderbust victory as he said, "I not
only won, I beat two of the best." I couldn't agree more... It
was gratifying to see how cleanly all the championships were
decided tonight, racing on the track, not wrecking on the track;
a big applause to all that made that possible... Good food to be
found everywhere in the pits after the races, as season ending
celebrations were going on all over the pits. Chuck Steuer's
team even had a live Rock band to entertain all within hearing
distance, which was a pretty wide area... Ken Heagy's team had
their satellite TV set-up running for those who wanted to see
the remaining laps of the Cup race at Richmond. True short track
racing occurred the few times I glanced at it. Nice touch by
Heagy's group... Don't forget the Triple 50's next week for the
Blunderbusts, Chargers and Late Models, in addition to the
championship deciding Super Pro Truck race, along with the
National Championship Demolition Derby, and one more look for
the kids at full-sized School Buses getting wrecked in their own
demo. Got to be sweet for them to watch just after school
starts, probably most wish it was their own bus out there...
Don't forget those donations to “Racing for a Cause,” they still
need your help. The donation jar is still available at the tire
truck, drop in what you can afford...Until then, live well and
be safe...
Source: Only LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
September 11, 2005
