This past Sunday, Enduro-mania returned to Riverhead Raceway with a good turnout and a special dedication to a very special  racer, Racin’ Rich Johnson, who passed away suddenly last month. A bright, sunny, and perfect day for racing took place, with all participants happy to shake off the Winter Blues and get back to good old fashioned Enduro racing, Riverhead style.

    First on the card were the Grand Enduros, a division that Rich Johnson himself helped make happen with the cooperation of Riverhead officials. Rich dedicated his effort to this so that something a little more refined could be done with the basic enduro concept of taking the old forgotten car out of the driveway and stripping it down to race. He wanted to incorporate better safety, a little more mechanical refinement, and some upper echelon racing ideas into a simple, but sophisticated race car for this unique style of racing. Ask anyone who’s done it, and they’ll tell you he accomplished what he set out to do. Grand Enduro cars, like their Saturday night brothers, are painted in racy styles, are safe for the participants, and are growing in popularity and numbers with each passing year. This is the legacy of  Racin’ Rich, a man who helped all without any thought of what they could do for him, except to try and build the best car they could and give him the group that he competed against and loved racing with. He wanted to win, but didn’t care if someone beat him, because then he knew that the division would grow, and he and others would have a healthy field to compete against, yet not have to spend the family fortune to enjoy this fun sport. A good man through and through, he will be missed by many and forgotten by none of the people whose lives he touched and made better just for knowing him.

    In the race itself, it started with a ‘missing man on the pole;’ pace lap to honor Racin’ Rich, as his wife Cindy drove one of Rich’s Grand Enduro cars to pace the field. The 100 lap race started with Billy ‘Bear’ Weigelt #27 taking the point, but he spun coming out of turn 2, giving the lead to Brian Obiedzenski‘s Party Hardy #29, who was quickly passed by Ray Fitzgerald #16 for the lead as Obiedzenski’s car started smoking and he pulled it into the infield. Ralph Zegel’s Napa Auto Parts  #15 now ran 2^nd to Fitzgerald, followed by Charlie Lutz #31 and Brian Brown #32 to round out the top 4. Fitzgerald was setting a torrid pace, lapping the first car on lap 6, and generally just running away from the competition. By lap 12, 4 cars were black flagged out of the race for smoking, and Fitzgerald was running well ahead of the field. One exception was the  Bobby Peace BV Sprinklers #20, who kept Fitzgerald in sight. By lap 35, Pease was right on Fitzgerald’s bumper, but there was no way to get around him through the lapped traffic they were making their way through lap after lap. Pease’s effort must have used up his tires, as Fitzgerald started to stretch his lead even more by the halfway point of the race. Shortly after that, Pease began to close on him again because of lapped cars, but Fitzgerald hung tough and made his way through, maintaining his lead and even stretching it out to as much as 1/3 of a lap at one point. Suddenly, on lap 60, Bobby Pease pulled into the infield with car trouble, putting Caesar Cunaceia up to 2^nd, but he’s a full ¾ lap behind Fitzgerald, who’s  actually gaining on him. Fitzgerald is still looking very strong at this point, and  is gaining on Cunaceia as each lap tick off. By lap 84, Fitzgerald passes Cunaceia to place himself on a lap of his own as he sailed on to victory. In Victory Lane ceremonies, Fitzgerald dedicated the race to the memory of Racin’ Rich, and stated that he fully intended from the beginning to take the lead and not look back, which is exactly what he did in a very convincing victory.

   Next up was the 75 lap Truck Enduro. Gilbert Smith  #6, started on the pole, but quickly faded in the shuffle of the first few laps, as Dan Jones #58 took over the lead, with Rob McCormick right on his bumper by lap 5. By lap 15, competition became so fierce that at times some were running 4 wide through the turns, but they were running clean and no crashes resulted. By lap 20, Jones and Mc McCormick were still running 1-2 on the field and things were beginning to settle in, with no more 4 wide running.  One truck spun in turn 1 up high, and had to wait 5 laps for an opening just to rejoin the race, the field had become so spread out.  McCormick during this time got around Jones for the lead, as Shawn Wanat #02 had worked his way up to 3^rd spot. On lap 49, Benjamin ‘Twinkle Toes’ got bumped and slammed hard, backwards, into the 3^rd turn gate, but no further collisions occurred. On lap 52, Jones dropped out with an overheating problem, and McCormick and Wanat were left to battle it out for the lead as the weaved through traffic. Meanwhile, John Cozza and Bobby Pease’s BV Sprinklers #20 were quickly and quietly catching up to the lead duo.  Pease got by  Cozza for 3^rd spot on lap 68, and on lap 70, McCormick and Wanat got into a real battle for the lead as they split to go around lapped traffic and were nose and nose in opposite lanes fighting for the lead. With the laps winding down, McCormick, Wanat and Pease were running nose to tail heading for the finish, and at the checkers, it was a clean win for McCormick by a truck length over Wanat, but John Cozza and Bobby Pease were side by side in what could only be called by the flagger in Pease’s favor for 3^rd spot in a very exciting finish.

   Next up, 45 full size 8 cyl Enduros took to the track for a 70 lap contest. Robin Schewire grabbed the early lead, and because of the standing start, caught the rear of the field and had to weave through traffic to maintain his lead.  At one point, cars were running down the straightaway 5 wide, but a few laps in, the field spread out . On lap 23, a 6 car tangle in took them all into the 1^st turn wall, causing everyone else to scramble to get by, and the six cars were able to roll down off the track and out of harms way. Ed Brown had assumed the lead from Schewire earlier in the race and by lap 50, was in a position to catch Schewire and pass him once more. With 5 lap s to go, Brown had pulled right up to Schewire’s bumper and with 4 laps to go, passed him, putting the whole field one lap down. Schewire made one last effort to get back on the lead lap at the checkers, but Brown held him off as he took a very convincing win.

   In the 30 lap 6 Cyl race that followed, Walt Stroud took the early lead, but was caught on lap 9 by Pete Mikos, as Ed Fontana ran in 3^rd spot, with Ed LaSpina and Eric Kandler rounding out the top 5. Fontana dropped out at lap 17 with reported transmission trouble,  but Mikos was far ahead at this point and the real race was for 3^rd spot, as Walt Stroud was firmly in the spot, and  Steve Williams made ran 3^rd.  LaSpina and Kandler had a running battle going on for 4^th spot, but LaSpina held on to edge out Kandler as Pete Mikos went under the checkers for the win.

    The 50 lap 4 Cyl race was next on the schedule.  Matt Brown, the pole sitter, held the early lead, as Bob Haeger quickly moved from 5^th to run 2^nd, and Tim Fontana  moved up to 3^rd.  Haeger and Fontana both caught and passed  Brown on lap 10, but Haeger got pinched into the wall on the backstretch, and Fontana took the lead as Brown recovered nicely to hold 2^nd.  Watching all this closely from 4^th was Woot Lawrence, who after passing Brown, was now putting pressure on Fontana and Haeger, passing them both in a 3 wide move through turn 4 to take the lead. Fontana battled back through lap 20, but by lap 22, Lawrence is solidly out in front, while Fontana,  Brown and Haeger battle for 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th. Lawrence has checked out on the whole field by lap 35, and laps the entire field on his way to the 50 lap victory.

   The 2^nd 8 Cyl race is now up, with 25 cars taking the green for 50 laps. At the start, ‘Mad Mike’ Smith, Dominic Ranieri, and Robin Schewire all battle side by side for the lead, with Smith finally getting it. Coming up from the back of the field to watch all this is Walt Stroud Jr. and Ed Brown Jr., the winner of the 1^st 8cyl race, who sat 5^th.  As the laps tick off, Ranieri is eliminated when he spins coming off turn 2 on lap 11, and Smith continues to do battle with Schewire, who is suddenly passed by Stroud Jr. for 2^nd spot.  By half way, Smith is running strong with Stroud Jr. following at a distance, but Brown Jr. is now sitting 3^rd. Stroud Jr. finally catches Smith, and they race side by side for the lead, with Stroud Jr. getting it on lap 40 as Smith slows on the track and drops back. Suddenly, Brown Jr. makes his move on Stroud Jr. and takes the lead on lap 43, holding on to take the win, with Stroud Jr. 2^nd and Anthony Pizzo coming home 3^rd.

   News and Notes: Tommy Walkowiak's #00 team had Racin’ Rich Johnson T-shirts and Decals on sale in the pits all day, with proceeds going to Rich’s children. I’m sure Tommy will have them available each week, so stop by and pick one up to honor the memory of Rich Johnson…Show wrapped up a little after 5, giving all enough time to complete their dinner plans at a reasonable hour…Only 2 entries for the Rollover contest, one of them a car that also ran in the enduro races…only 3 train teams on hand, Stan Wangenstein  being the winner of that contest…12 entrants for Spectator One-on-One drags, won by Brian Bellone, a first time entrant in a Honda Civic…a good sized crowd enjoyed the picture perfect weather, just warm enough and cool enough to be comfortable…That’s it for this weekends dual race reports, back to Saturday night racing next week...until then, live well and be safe.

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