Well, the long awaited beginning of the 2006 Riverhead Season took to the track last night, and the fans were excited by the good weather and sound of race cars once again . While they were not disappointed, there were the usual opening night surprises and drivers getting used to racing once again. A super job by the officials to get the show in in a timely manner helped as ‘yellow fever’ hit more than once, and a good night of racing satisfied the cravings of the fans in attendance.

    We’ll get started with the Modifieds, who had 21 cars on hand. Sal Accardi Jr’s. #93 Able Auto Salvage sat on the pole, with Rusty Turbush's  #17x S.N. Blydenburgh Custom Interiors car on the outside. At the drop of the green, a first turn tangle involving 5 cars brought an immediate caution, with only Ken Heagy’s Buoy One #33 unable to continue.  On the restart, Accardi pulled ahead of Turbush after one lap, but Chris Young’s brand new Troyer #49 Riverhead Building Supply quickly took over 2^nd spot,  followed by Howie Brode’s General Utilities #96 up into 3^rd, as Turbush fell back to 4^th. A spinning car brought out yellow briefly on lap 4, but racing continued quickly as Young got by Accardi on the restart. That was followed quickly by another yellow as Brode and Wayne Anderson’s #15 Eastport Feeds got their bumpers hooked together. On the next restart, Young dashed away, with Accardi  and Turbush chasing behind, as Bill Park’s #20 Smithtown Nissan and Dan Jivanelli’s #12 YES Network cars watched for an opening to move up. Accardi  took sole possession of 2^nd as Park moved by Jivanelli for 4^th, and Eddie Brunnhoelzl III’s Jamaica Brake & Clutch #8x moved past Jivanelli to take 5^th. Turbush falling back, spun on lap 17 in turn 4, bringing out another caution.

     On the next restart, Young pulled away, battling with now 2^nd place Park, as Accardi and Joe Hartmann’s  Watermill Lumber #05 contended for 3^rd spot. After a brief caution for Anderson’s flat, racing resumed single file with Young being pressured by Park on the outside lap after lap, as Accardi, Hartmann and Jivanelli followed, waging their own battle for 3^rd, 4^th, and 5^th.  Suddenly, JR. Bertuccio’s Gershow Recycling #2 came up on the outside and started passing this trio until Bertuccio had worked his way up to 3^rd. As Young continued to hold off the continued attempts by Park to pa on the outside,  Bertuccio closed what was a an 8 car gap to be on Park’s bumper as the white  flag flew, but all managed to maintain their positions until Young took the victory one lap later.

    In the Late Model feature, Kevin Metzger’s SPONSORS WANTED #23 sat on the pole, with Sean Paterson’s Zoumas Homes #8 outside.  Metzger jumped into the lead, with Paterson battling Greg Kleila’s J&R’s Steakhouse #72 for 2^nd spot, but yellow was out almost immediately for a multi-car tangle in turn 4. On the restart, Metzger was challenged by Kleila right along side, as Paterson and Mike Mortimer’s SPONSORS WANTED #14 watched from behind, also side by side. On lap 4, Kleila took the point as Mortimer moved up into 2^nd.  On lap 6, a debris caution to remove the hood that had flown off Dave Brigati’s WPW Grower’s #1x in turn 3 flew, and Jarrod Hayes Complete Landscaping #08 came to a stop on the backstretch. On the restart, Kleila pulled out front, but a bump from Mortimer caused Kleila to go high in turn 1, and eventually spin into the turn 2 wall, giving Moritmer the lead  as he scrambled through the mayhem that followed as the rest of the field tried to avoid crashing. On the next restart, a multi car spin occurred in turn 1, with 2005 Champ Roger Oxee’s Helman Group #39 going backwards into the wall, suffering severe rear damage and knocking him from the race. After the track was cleaned up and racing continued, single file, with Mortimer being chased by Metzger and Paterson once again. On lap 9, Mike Coll’s I-Trade direct #75 and Chris Mangel’s  SPONSORS WANTED #6 collided off turn 2, and yellow was out yet again. On the next restart, Paterson pressured Metzger for 2^nd again, getting by briefly, but Metzger quickly got the spot back. Brigati was now in 4^th, with ‘rookie’ Dan Turbush’s Ideal Cesspool #98 running a strong 5^th. Mortimer held the lead solidly now, as Metzger, Paterson, Brigati and Turbush waged a fierce battle behind him, and Turbush was able to go high and pass for 4^th spot as the checkers flew for Mortimer's season opening win. In victory lane, Mortimer’s first words were to apologize to Greg Kleila and his team for misjudging Kleila’s speed earlier in the race and causing their tangle. That was a nice touch by a classy driver.

    Now on to the Chargers. On the initial start, the officials were not happy and threw a yellow soon afterwards. On the next try, Daryn Miller’s SPONSORS WANTED #30 took the lead, but was quickly overtaken by Eric Lutz’s Marjam Building Supply #36. Chris Turbush, in the Ideal Cesspool #81, followed through to take 2^nd spot, but a yellow flew as Warren Collins’ ATC Trucking #08 and Chris Beutler’s Spabco Racing #21 spun together in turn 4. During this yellow, Turbush took his #81 to the pits. With green out once more, Lutz took off with Rob Tribuzio’s Tuckahoe Sales & Service #01 running 2^nd,  but Ralph Beaver’s Cavalier Modular Homes #47 spun in turn 2, and yellow was out again. On the next restart, Lutz and Tribuzio took off together, but Collins spun in turn 1, and the yellow came out again. (Beginning to see a pattern here?) The officials decided to do single file restarts for the remainder of the race at this point. On the next restart, on lap 5, an almost immediate yellow flew for debris. On the next restart, Lutz took off once more, only to have yellow fly again as Tom Anderson and Mike Schwarz came together in turn 4.

  On the next restart, racing finally got going as Lutz opened a slight lead on Tribuzio, who was being followed closely by  Eric Goodale’s Riverhead building Supply #05. The trio wove through traffic as they battled on for position. Behind them, Jimmy Donnelly ‘s SPONSORS NEEDED #27 and Garret Frabizio’s SPONSORS WANTED #13 did battle for 4^th spot, with Frabizio taking the spot, and Donnelly battling back to retake it. With two to go, Joe Oliver’s Oliver Racing #24 spun, bringing out the yellow just as Tribuzio had gotten by Lutz. As the lap was not completed, all went back to their original positions, and on the restart, Lutz managed to hold of Tribuzio for the win. I spoke later on with Bill Denniston, who said a special meeting would be held with the Charger drivers next week to go over what is expected of them as a division, as he was not happy with the way the race came off.

     I’m going to the Super Pro Trucks next, without a doubt, one of the better races of the evening, even  though  only 10 trucks took the green. Mike Albasini’s M&M Motorsports #66 led from the drop of the green, as behind him Frank Dumicich Sr. Wesemann’s Sand & Mason Supply  #5, Frank Dumicich Jr’s Auto Zone # 42, and Lou Maestri’s Schwing Electric Supply #1 battled each other to try and get to Albasini. On lap 4, disaster struck 2005 Champion Maestri as he hit the wall hard going into turn 3 and was done for the night. On the restart, Albasini held the lead, but Dumicich Sr. and Jr. put the pressure on, and Bobby Gardner’s AuctionDepot.org  #45 went outside to get by Dumicich Jr. for 3^rd spot as “rookie” Dan Turbush, in the Ideal Cesspool #8, followed in 5^th. As the front 5 ran in a line, Turbush went outside, passing  both Gardner and Dumicich Jr. to take 3^rd and set his sights on going for the leaders. At one point, all three went side by side into turn 3, with Turbush backing off as they exited turn 4 to avoid  problems, and falling once again to 5^th, as Dumicich Jr. and Gardner moved back up into 3^rd & 4th. Meanwhile, Danny Grennan’s SPONSOR WANTED # 38 and Dave Brigati’s Victory Fleet Maintenance #34 watched this all happening. Suddenly, Grennan tried Turbush’s move on the outside, and  successfully got by to shoot all the way up to take the lead as Gardner pulled off with a flat, and Dumicich Jr, who had the lead momentarily, got passed by Grennan. Grennan and Dumicich Jr. took off from the rest as the battle for 3^rd heated up, with Turbush getting by once again to take 3^rd spot from Albasini at the finish, with Brigati coming home 5^th. The crowd definitely loved this race!

   On to the Blunderbusts. Scott Sepe’s SPONSOR WANTED #6 sat on the pole, with Bill Wegmann’s  #79 on the outside. They took off with the waving of the green, but in the back of the field, Tom Sullivan, Scott Pedersen, P.J. Vecchio and Mike Panico came together in turn 1, and the first caution flew. On the restart, Wegmann grabbed the lead on lap 2, and Sepe spun coming out of turn 2, with Artie Pedersen’s  Sherwin-Williams Paints #1 moving into 2^nd, and Joe Pingatore’s SPONSOR WANTED #76 and Tommy Walkowiak’s Unique Golf Shop #00 following in 3^rd & 4^th. Walkowiak moved by to take 3^rd, as Wayne Okula’s Artesian Appraisals #67 ran 5^th, and was being pressured by  2005 Champion Scott Maliszewski’s #22 and Dale Arnold’s Custom Vinyl Graphics #53. A caution for debris on lap 9 bunched the field,  but when the green flew again, Walkowiak immediately started looking to the outside to get around Wegmann for the lead. Wegmann rode high, and Walkowiak and Artie Pedersen battled for 2^nd.  As Pedersen went high, he started drifting back in the high groove. Meanwhile, Walkowiak, Arnold and Maliszewski moved up, with Walkowiak just a car length behind Wegmann . With 2 laps to go, Arnold got by Walkowiak for 2^nd, and remained there as the checkers flew, with Walkowiak coming across the line in 3^rd.

    Lastly, there were the Figure 8’s.  12 cars started the feature, with Tom Ferrara’s SPONSORS WANTED #16 on the pole, and Michael Brigandi’s SPONSORS WANTED #78 on the outside. On the start, Ferrara jumped out front, as Tom Kraft’s SPONSORS WANTED #8 got along side Brigandi, and the two touched coming out of turn 2, with Brigandi spinning to a stop, bringing out a yellow. With the green back out, Ferrara maintained 1^st, as Kraft Followed, and Roger Maynor’s Barasso & Sons Mason Supply #28 ran 3^rd. Brigandi was blacked flagged for smoking on lap 7, while Maynor had gotten  by Kraft for 2^nd and set his sights on Ferrara as Maynor also tried to hold off Kraft and Mike Mujsce’s Pro-Tech Automotive #13. Going into turn 3 on lap 12, Kraft punted Maynor out of the way, with Maynor spinning in a cloud of smoke, but continuing on at the rear , as Mujsce moved up into 3^rd. 1 lap later, yellow was out as Carl Baxter’s Blast-it Sandblasting #74 came to a stop on the track with a flat. On the restart, Mujsce blasted by Ferrara and into the lead, and a lap later, Kraft got by Ferrara for 2^nd, remaining there until the checkers flew.  And after a post-race DQ, Tom Kraft started the new season right with a win.

     News and notes: A fair sized crowd enjoyed a warm afternoon, but shortly after dark, a cold wind sent everyone looking for jackets to keep warm, typical of early season racing. At least the promised rain showers never materialized…Many drivers expressing gladness over the season finally getting started…‘yellow fever’ all too prevalent on this opening night. Let’s hope everyone has gotten it out of their systems for next week…Many new cars with familiar drivers, as many are now doing ‘crossover’  into other divisions, among them Dan Turbush (LM and SPT), Eric Lutz (Charger & LM), though that LM effort rumored to be part-time for now, as is Roger Maynor in his two efforts (Fig-8 and LM) and Dave Brigati still doing it full time, though now he is a ‘hired gun‘ in SPT while maintaining his own LM effort…Tom Rogers on hand  with his potent #6 Mod up for sale as he pursues racing in New England…Many ‘Rookie of the Year’ candidates to choose from this year in all divisions,  we’ll get to them at a later date…For now, enjoy your only weekly Long Island Track by supporting it all you can, and live well and always be safe.

THE END