IT'S A VETERAN'S NIGHT AT RIVERHEAD

    A bright, clear afternoon turned into a comfortable evening as a large crowd enjoyed an evening of racing without the heat and humidity of the past weeks, highlighted by some very competitive racing, and some unusual happenings, which delighted all in attendance on Buzz Chew Cadillac/Chevy night, rained out on it’s originally scheduled date, combined with Doug Wholey’s Ideal Cesspool night, where the top 3 in each feature were awarded trophies presented to them by Doug Wholey.

    The Super Pro Trucks began the evening and created the ‘unusual’ part of the evening as the pole sitter and 4th place starter in the event collided going into turn 1 at the beginning of hot laps, and more than they suffered damage. While Pole Sitter Dave Xavier’s Cystinosis Research Network #11x sufferd fender damage, Dave Koenig’s Nelson’s Auto Salvage #97 was unable to continue, and Dan Turbush’s Dantona Industries #8 needed to repair a leak before being able to continue, as did outside pole sitter Mike Albasini, driving Lenny Costa’s borrowed Golden Auto Body #46. This actually moved 8th place starter Lou Maestri’s Schwing Electric #1 up to the outside pole for the start of the race. Once the green flew, Maestri took advantage of his starting position to jump out into the lead, followed by Bobby Gardner’’s AuctionDepot.org #45, Dave Brigati’s Vitory Fleet Maintenance #34, and Dan Grennan PCHS Engines #38. Gardner tried Maestri on the outside on lap 3, but Maestri pulled away, as Brigati and Grennan raced side by side for 3rd. Grennan got the best of Brigati 5 laps later, taking 3rd, as Frank Dumicich Jr’s AutoZone #42 ran 5th. Maestri had Gardner glued to his bumper, as Grennan watched less than a truck length back, as the trio pulled away into a zone of their own. Now encountering lapped traffic, they stayed in a single line, and eventually cleared the lap traffic by lap 16, but Maestri handled every attempt Gardner made to get by, and Grennan could only watch as Maestri held on for the win, with Gardner, Grennan, Brigati and Dumicich Jr rounding out the top 5.

    The Late Models ran next, with Ken Alfano’s Habberstad BMW/Mini #35 on the pole, and Shawn Patrick’s Sponsors Needed #88 to his outside. Right from the start, Alfano and Patrick ran side by side, as did 3rd starter Roger Oxee in the Helman Group #39 and 4th starting Scott Kulesa in the Ranco Sand and Stone #10. Alfano gained the advantage over Patrick on lap 3, as Oxee got alongside Patrick to contend for 2nd, while Jarrod Hayes’ Complete Landscaping #08 got by Kulesa to take 4th. On lap 7, while battling Dennis Krupski’s KRI #12, Kulesa and Krupski collided and spun, bringing out the 1st caution of the race. On the restart, Alfano and Patrick locked together and went high though turn 2, and Oxee seized the opportunity and zipped past them to take the top spot, while Greg Kleila moved by to take 2nd, right on Oxee’s bumper, as Alfano recovered to run 3rd. On lap 11, Jack Orlando’s Staria Auto Body #99 had the hood pins let go, with the hood flying off the car, and yellow was out. The green flew, and Oxee and Kleila took off, but 5 cars came together and stopped up against the wall in turn 1, piling in hard, and yellow came back out immediately. After the lengthy cleanup, necessitated by the track crew carefully separating the cars, green flew once more, Oxee and Kleila raced side by side, as Alfano watched from behind them, with Oxee finally nosing ahead to take the lead. Behind them, Hayes and Patrick were battling side by side for 4th, when Hayes’ car slowed noticeably and dropped back. Upfront, meanwhile, Kleila was glued to Oxee’s bumper, lap after lap, as Oxee used the low line to maintain his advantage over a very strong running Kleila and go on to take not only his first win of 2006, but his 54th career win at Riverhead, giving Oxee 22 consecutive winning season’s at the track. Kleila, Alfano, Patrick and Kulesa rounded out the top 5.

    Next on the program were the Figure 8’s, 17 cars strong, their best showing of the season for this double point, 25 lap race. Rookie sensation Tom Graff’’s Sponsors Wanted #00 sat on the pole, with Kenny Hyde’s Maple’’s Bar #58 sat on the outside. Graff grabbed the lead at the drop of the green, but Hyde fought back, taking the lead going into lap 2, with Tom Kraft’s 4 Seasons Sun Rooms #8 moving up to 2nd. On lap, Kraft took over the lead, as Roger Maynor’s Barrasso & Sons Mason Supply #28 got by for 2nd, but Bill Steen’s J&J Auto Body #23 stalled in turn 4, and yellow was out. With green out once more, Kraft and Maynor battled for the lead, with Kraft taking it, as Maynor dogged him from right behind as Hyde and Carl Baxter’’s Blast-it Sandblasting #74 followed. The fields strung out to a single file at this point, with action at the X picking up as the leaders evaded collisions with the tail end of the field. Maynor fought his way past Kraft for the lead on lap 9, but on lap 11, yellow flew again for cars stalled at the X. Right after the yellow came out, Paul Specht’s Sponsors Wanted #63 was hit hard at the X by Mike Brigandi’s Sign Design #78, and Specht’s car is virtually totaled, though Paul checked out okay. When green flew again, Maynor leapt into the lead, as Kraft, Hyde, Baxter and George Sprague’s Pavco Industries #10 followed, with Sprague getting by Baxter to move into 4th one lap later. By lap 16, Maynor had a bout a 6 car length lead, but traffic at the X was heavy once more, with clouds of dust flying up as various drivers carved whole new routes through the intersection. On lap 18, yellow was out again, for a nerf bar on the track in turn 2, and Sprague leaves during it he caution to change a flat, dropping from 4th spot. With green out again, Maynor once more jumped way out front, as Kraft, Hyde, Baxter and Mike Mujsce’s Pro-Tech Automotive can only watch as they follow. Maynor again builds a 5 car lead, but Kraft is gaining a bit as the laps wound down, with the top 4 breaking away from the rest of the field. On the last lap, Mujsce gets tagged at the X, dropping him from a top 5 finish, as Maynor totally dominates for the victory, followed by Kraft, Hyde, Baxter, and Sprague.

    Next out was the blindfold Taxi race, with 18 teams of Driver/Navigators entered in this popular new event. In a race marred by alleged cheating by at least two of the teams (black flagged for passengers holding the steering wheel!), the team of Wangenstein/Gaham came home the victors.

    The Modifieds ran the last race of the evening, with 18 cars to take the green, lead by Tracey Christiansen’s Trailer Transport #22, with John Denniston’s Gershow Recycling #02 to the outside. At the drop of the green, Denniston took the lead, with Wayne Anderson’s Eastport Feeds/Insula Dome Skylight #15 coming into 2nd, and Sal Accardi’s Aable Auto Salvage into 3rd, with a very smooth running Accardi getting by Anderson a lap later to take 2nd away. On lap 4, Dave Sapienza’s Sponsors Wanted #36 and Lew Hallock’s LLKS Construction #07 collided, with Sapienza stalled in turn 4 with a flat, bringing out the yellow. On the next restart, Denniston jumped out in front of Accardi, but the run was short lived, as Christiansen spun in the backstretch, collecting Bill Park’s Smithtown Nissan #20, Chris Young’s Riverhead Building Supply #49,and Dan Jivanelli’s YES Network #12, and bringing out another caution. Denniston seemd to jump the next restart, and Anderson got by Accardi to retake 2nd, as Accardi now had Mike Andrews’ NorthEast Race Cars & Parts to battle for 3rd, with Accardi taking command of that spot, as Andrews suddenly has Chuck Steuer’s Savin Copiers #11x to battle with for 5th. Action heated up at this point, as Steuer took over 5th, and Andrews got passed by Ken Heagy’s Buoy One Restaurant #38 for 6th, as Tom Rogers’ Nicolock stones of Distinction #5 was passing all of them to get to Accardi and takeover 3rd spot! On lap 15, Rogers took 2nd from Anderson, and Accardi came back to retake 3rd from Anderson. By lap 18, Rogers passed Denniston for the lead as the excitement continued on the track, until lap 20, when Gary McDonald’s Sponsors Wanted #26 spun, and yellow came out again. Rogers took of like on the restart, but Denniston went high into turn 1, and Accardi got under him to pass going into turn 2, as the two locked wheels, and in a cloud of tire smoke, went high, allowing Steuer to move to 2nd, Heagy to 3rd, and Mike Andrews up to 4th, and Anderson 5th, as Rogers continued to run away with the lead. On lap 31, Christiansen spun again in turn 2, bringing out caution, and setting up a 4 lap sprint to the finish. At the drop of the green for the restart, Rogers just took off, and Steuer could only watch from 2nd as Rogers went on to Victory.

    The 4 cylinder demo was next with 15 cars entered and Mike Mujsce Jr., son of Fig 8 Driver Mike Sr., scored the victory in the crash contest.

News and notes: Rick Swanson filling in for Tom Ferrara in the Fig 8’s as Tom and his wife celebrated the birth of a child…Making his Fig 8 debut, Stephen Stadler in #6 did his best on his first night out…Rick Miller and Kevin Basik would like anyone who is connected to Fire Departments anywhere to know they are welcome to come to Old Timer’s day on August 27th at Riverhead, not only to display their race rigs, but also to participate in the days activities, which will include a car rescue demonstration using a Hurst Tool (Jaws of Life) used to extricate ‘victims’ of car accidents…speaking of Rick and Kevin, don’t forget to support their effort to get their weekly racing show back on Public Access TV…with officials discovering passenger/navigator aiding in use of the steering wheel in the Blind Taxi Cab race, a better method might need to be devised to keep this from happening in future events. While one fan suggested handcuffs, I think that may be a bit extreme, perhaps seating the passenger in the backseat would put them out of reach, and give a whole new meaning to “Back Seat Driver”!…Don’t forget next week’s 50 Lap, Double Point race for the Late Models, along with the Mods, Chargers and Blunderbusts, and also including the Full Size School bus demo derby, something all your school aged kids will enjoy as the new school year gets closer…That’s is for us for now, until next time, live well, and stay safe.