WHELEN MODIFIED TOUR RACE HEATS UP A
HOT AUGUST NIGHT AT RIVERHEAD

    The Whelen Modified Tour made their annual visit to Riverhead for the Miller Lite 200, the eighth race on the Tour. 41 cars entered for time trail qualifying, and with only 23 starting positions available, plus 5 provisional starting spots, all knew they were in for a tough job to make the race field. With that task facing them, all the drivers used all the available practice time to get their cars fine tuned. Setting fast time would be Ted Christopher in Ed Whelan’s #36, posting a time of 12.027 around the ¼ mile track. Joining the Tour for the evenings event would be the Chargers and Blunderbusts, with the Chargers also qualifying through time trails, and Steve Ratti in the Newsday #37 Charger won the pole position in that qualifying.

    The top ten in time in the Modifieds redrew for starting positions, with the Riverhead Auto mall #01 of Tom Rogers getting the #1 spot, and the Cypher construction #8 Glenn Tyler #2. Fast time trialer Ted Christopher , in the Northeast Auto Parts #36, drew 8th spot. Rogers took the lead at the wave of the green, with Tyler slipping back slightly, as 3rd starting Chuck Hossfeld, in the Hill Enterprises #79, moving up into 2nd, and Chuck Steuer, in the Savin Copier #71, took 3rd. Yellow flew on lap 5 for a tangle in turn 4, the first of many that occurred during the first half of the race. Rogers held onto his lead on the restart, as Steuer got under Hossfeld to take 2nd away. Rogers stretched his lead to 3 car lengths, but a spin by Eric Beers and Joe Hartmann in turn 2 brought out yellow again on lap 18. Rogers and Steuer battled side by side for the next 4 laps after the restart, with Rogers taking sole possession of the lead 4 laps later, as Steuer, Hossfeld, Christopher, and the #86 Northeast Auto Parts of Mike Andrews rounded out the top 5 at that point. On lap 38, the Crossroads RV Center #46 of Dick Houlihan brought out another yellow as he stopped with a flat in turn 2. The next restart never made a complete lap, as Donnie Lia’s Huntington Honda #18 came to a halt with a flat in turn 1, resulting in a 1 lap penalty to Lia for forcing a yellow, the same penalty assessed earlier on Houlihan.
    On the lap 52 restart, Steuer shot past Rogers into the lead, as Christopher moved through into 2nd, but John Denniston’s Trailer Transport #22 slowed entering turn 1, and Lia and Ken Heagy’s Buoy1 Restaturant came together avoiding Denniston, and yellow flew again. On the lap 60 restart, Steuer edged out front, with Christopher hanging in along side, and after 3 laps of this, Christopher took the lead from Steuer, with Hossfeld and Jerry Marquis, in the Mystic Marina #4, following close behind. Rogers, running 5th now, is starting to fall in the clutches of Andrews and Mike Stefanik’s Diversified Metals #16. On lap 68, Tony Ferrante spun, bringing out another yellow. On the restart, Christopher held off Steuer once more, and Steuer slipped a bit, allowing Hossfeld, Marquis and Andrews to get by him. The field now spread out to a single file, but on lap 83, yet another spin by Ferrante brought out another caution, bunching up the field. The next restart saw Anthony Sesely’s A-1 Auto Center #11 and James Civalli’s Liberty Limo #28 come together in turn 4, and yellow came out again.
    The race restarted on lap 96, and Christopher powered out front as Hossfeld, Marquis, Andrews and Stefanik in pursuit. Hoosfeld did all he could to stay on Christophers tail, but Christopher was now in full control of the pace, and kept a safe distance ahead as those behind him, as those 4 tried to figure a way to advance their positions. Christopher has built himself a 5 car length lead over Hossfeld, who has Marquis right on his bumper looking for a way to pass. Stefanik meanwhile is looking for a way by Andrews, getting under him on the inside on lap 141, but Andrews holds him off, until Stefanik goes high on lap 147 and gets around Andrews for 4th. One lap later, yellow was ot once more for debris in turn 2, and the field bunches back up once more. Christopher jumped out front again with the green waving, and Hossfeld has his hand full with Marquis, but Stefanik is putting pressure on Marquis, and Christopher just pulls away to a 4 car lead. On lap 169, Lia Slowed in the backstretch, and yellow flew again. On the restart, Chrsitopher, pacing himself, presumably to save his tires, holds a slight edge over Hossfeld, as the rest of the top 6 run in a tight line behind. Jamie Tomaino, in the Perth Amboy Spring #99 and Matt Hirschman, in the Furnace and Duct #59, come together in turn 4 on lap 180, ans caution is out once more. On the restart, yellow flew instantly as track officials noticed Tomaino’s car leaking fluid. The race restarted on lap 193, with Christopher keeping command over Hossfeld, but on lap 196, Joe Hartmann’s WMS Construction #05 spins off the track and comes back out on turn 2 right in front of the leaders, holding up Christopher, putting Hossfeld right on his rear bumper as the last 3 laps of the race ticked off, but Christopher managed to deal with the situation, and kept Hossfeld behind him to take the victory, worth $7250. Hossfeld, Marquis, Stefanik, and Rob Summers Frasco Fuel #1 rounded out the top 5 finishers.

    The Blunderbust 30 lap feature, for double points, saw Paul Parisi’s James Becht Builder’s #69 on the pole, with Matt Pepitones’s Professional Carpet Systems #17 to the outside. Parisi blasted into the lead at the start, with Don Doherty’s Sponsors Wanted #65 coming to 2nd, and William Schwarz’s Trademaster Plumbing & Heating #15 3rd. Parisi built a 5 car length lead, as behind them, Schwarz and Tom Gersbeck both got around Doherty, who dropped back to 5th as Scott Maliszeski’s Sponsors Wanted #22 took over 4th spot. On lap 14, disaster struck Parisi, as he was black flagged for overheating and dumping water on the track, which brought out a caution, and gave the lead to Schwarz, with Gersbeck, Maliszeski, Tommy Walkowiak’’s Unique Golf #00 and Wayne Okula’s Artisan Appraisers #67 rounding out the top 5. Schwarz took off at the drop of the green, with Gersbeck right behind, but Maliszewski passed Gersbeck 1 lap later to takeover 2nd, with Walkowiak and Okula also getting by, as Gerbeck faded back to 6th, as Bill Wegmann’s passed him to takeover 5th. Maliszewski was looking high and low to pass Schwarz, as Walkowiak pressured both of them for position, and Maliszewski finally got by Schwarz by going high to take the lead, with Walkowiak doing the same a lap later for 2nd spot, while Schwarz now had Okula by his side battling for 3rd. On lap 29, Schwarz’s car went up in cloud of steam, as Okula took 3rd, but Schwarz held on to coast in 4th spot, as Dale Arnold’s Custom Vinyl Graphics #53 came across the line in 5th spot, just inching out Neal Feola Jr‘s Hammerhead Promotions in 6th, in one of the most exciting finishes in this division in quite some time.

    The Charger double point 30 lapper saw fast timer Steve Ratti’s James Becht Builders #37 on the pole, with Jon Ellwood’s Lolly’s Hut #17x to the outside. Right at the start, trouble befell Daryn Miller’s Miller Motorsports #30 as he and Thore Foss’s B&J Welding #57 came together off turn 4, and Miller’s right front erupted in a ball of fire. The quick thinking of Miller to head off the track and into the dirt in turn 2 helped to quickly extinguish the fire with the help of the hard working track crew. On the restart, Ratti and Ellwood ran side by side, with Ellwood getting the edge on the outside to take the lead, but Ratti fought back, and 3 laps later took over the lead from Ellwood. A similar battle was shaping up for 3rd spot, as Eric Goodale’s Riverhead Building Supply #05 battled with Brian Doyle’s #73 National Pest control machine for 3rd. Goodale took the spot 3 laps later, as Doyle now fought with Chris Turbush’s Ideal Cesspool #81 for 4th. On lap 9, Henry Cataldo’s Irish Coffee Pub #44 spun in turn 4, bringing out yellow. When the green flew again, Ratti and Ellwood took off side by side, but Ellwood developed a problem and slowed going down the backstretch, and Ellwood pulled into the infield off turn 4. Ratti now had Goodale to contend with, as Turbush and Rob Tribuzio’s Tuckahoe Sales #01 ran behind them. On lap 13, Mike Schwarz’s B. Sexton Site Development #14 came to a stop, and yellow flew again. On the restart, Ratti and Goodale took of together, but Dave Brigati’’s WBAB #1x came to a stop after a collision in turn 4, and yellow was out again. With the green out again, Ratti took the edge over Goodale, and Turbush moved up along side, and the two touched off turn 4, with Turbush spinning and the caution flew again. The single file lap 15 restart saw Ratti take command, as Goodale and Tribuzio followed closely, with Doyle and Sean Byrne’s sponsors wanted #65 rounding out the top 5, as the top 5 ran in a pack ahead of 6th place Chris Beutler’s Spabco Racing #21. Ratti continued to pace the race, but Byrne moved past Doyle to take 4th spot with 4 lap s to go, and Charlie Rittenhouse’s #25 King Bear, Brentwood and Garret Frabrizio’s #13 T.R. Whitney Masonry came together hard entering turn 1, and yellow flew again. On the final restart of the race, Ratti maintained his lead over Goodale, and kept ahead for the final 3 laps to take the victory over Goodale, Tirbuzio, Byrne and Doyle.

    News and Notes: Turn 1 Cowboys, in conjunction with radio station WBAB, Babylon, gave away passes to a private Budweiser sponsored party at Mulcahy’s of Wantagh on Thursday night to the winners of their “dress like a cowboy” contest. The party’s featured guest is Dale Earnhardt Jr., and it promises to be a fine affair. Good wishes go out to the winners, and a big thanks to WBAB and Bob of Marzmotorsports for their help with the contest…a very warm afternoon turned pleasantly milder after dark, and a good crowd was on hand for the event…13 Modified competitors went home after qualifying whittled the starting field to 28 cars…Sunday sees endures, rollover, and spectator drags on Riverhead’s event list…Next Saturday night, Riverhead host Mods, Late Models, Chargers and Double point Figure-8 race, along with a blind taxicab race and a 4 cyl demo derby…until then, please be safe and live well.