2007 Enduro
Season Begins with Great Racing
by Walter
Johnston
The Riverhead
Raceway 2007 Enduro season began today, and the fans who attended were
treated to racing at it’s finest. A decent sized field of cars and trucks
were on hand to entertain the fans who came, and it was so good, all were
glad they made it to this one. In addition, a rollover contest and Spectator
One-on-One drags were also run as part of the program. Bob Finan also
explained about the new points program for all the Enduro divisions, with
100 points awarded to the winner, 95 to 2nd, 90 to 3rd..
on down to 10th at 55 points. All others will receive 50 points
for starting, except in the second 8 Cylinder division race. A big thanks to
Cindy Johnson of Constant Performance, who will award trophies to the
winners at the awards banquet at the end of the season.
The spectator drags
were the first event of the day, with 14 entries to delight the fans. When
it was all over, Scott Merkel in a 2004 Mitsubushi took home the honors,
soundly defeating all of his competition with a car that stuck to the track
like he had glue on the tires.
Next on the program
were the Grands, the top enduro division at Riverhead, and they proved their
worth by putting on a great race, arguably the best race I saw this weekend.
With 25 cars starting the event, Brian Obiedzenski took the early lead, but
Bobby Pease’s BV Sprinklers #20 charged up from his 15th starting
spot to 2nd almost immediately, and John Cozza joined him in the
charge to the front. By lap 9, Pease had taken over the lead, with Cozza and
Ray Fitzgerald running 2nd and 3rd. Fitzgerald got by
Cozza to take over 2nd, and then set up to catch Pease for the
lead. Pease and Fitzgerald are forced to weave in and out of traffic as they
battle for position, with Fitzgerald finally getting the lead on lap 27 off
turn 4. On lap 30, Fitzgerald was momentarily blocked coming off turn 2, and
Pease got the lead back, while Cozza watched closely from his 3rd
spot. Pease battled to hold the lead with Fitzgerald until lap 37, as
Fitzgerald got by Pease once more, with Cozza right behind them both as the
laps wore on. By lap 40, Fitzgerald stretched his lead to 4 car lengths, as
Pease also put a little breathing room between himself and Cozza. 3 laps
later, traffic again played an important role, as Pease caught Fitzgerald,
but couldn’t get by because of the very same traffic, a problem Cozza was
also having to deal with. Fitzgerald got clear of the traffic first, and
stretched out his lead once more, but Pease kept after him, as did Cozza,
and Fitzgerald didn’t really have a commanding lead until lap 72. From
there, he coasted to victory, with Pease coming in 2nd and Cozza
3rd in a race that about caused announcer Bob Finan to lose his
voice while trying to call all the action.
The 4/6 Cylinder
Trucks were next, with 22 entries. This one was a runaway, as Terry Stiles
in his #4 Terry Stiles Motorsports truck worked his way quickly to the
front, and sailed away from the competition. Woot Lawrence led early, but
Stiles was on rails and quickly put all his competition behind him, running
a full ½ lap ahead by the end of the race.
The first 8 Cylinder
race had 42 entries, and mayhem ruled from the start, with quite a few blown
tires and a couple of cars overheating early and pulling off, with 9 cars
out by lap 20, and 15 out by the halfway point. Jess Martines drove really
well, grabbing the lead at lap 45, with Alan Johnson running 2nd,
but Martines drove a smart race, avoiding many possible problems while
weaving his way through the field to take the victory. In the end, Martines
bested Joe Warren and Walt Stroud, Jr. to take a clear victory in this
event.
The Rollover contest
gave the enduro drivers a breather, as Brian Savoy, the first driver to
attempt the rollover, gave a textbook class on how to do a complete roll
with each pass, and still have a car that runs. It turned out that it was
his day, as no one else could equal his fete, and he came away the winner.
The 6 Cylinder race
ran next, with 25 cars going 50 lap distance. Gene Burbol jumped into the
early lead by diving down through the infield off turn 4, which would result
in a penalty later, placing him behind two others. This was one of the most
competitive races of the day, with attrition of only 6 cars out at the end.
Jared Morrison would come from his 18th starting position to take
the victory, with Scoot Brown recovering from early woes to take 2nd,
with Burbol awarded 3rd spot in the final outcome.
35 Cars started the
60 lap 4 cylinder enduro race, with a good, clean start for all involved,
possibly the best of the day. Bob Haeger grabbed the early lead, but Shawn
Wanat, driving like his car was on rails, charged up from his 19th
starting spot by lap 22, and he went on from there to lap the whole field in
a convincing win for the young talent from Riverhead. Haeger manged to hold
onto 2nd and Tim Fontana came home in 3rd.
Last On the race card
was the 2nd 8 cylinder race, with 20 entries. Robin Schewire took
the lead at the start, and dominated the race from start to finish, driving
cleanly around all the other mayhem that took place. Behind him, Gene Burbol,
Walt Stroud, Dominic Ranieri and Frank Martines swapped the 2nd
through 5 positions all throughout the first 40 laps of the 50 lapper, until
Burbol car erupted a plume of water in turn 2, and chaos took over, but all
made nice recoveries., with Bill Weigelt finishing 2nd, and Frank
Martines holding on for 3rd.
News and notes: it was
sad to see how many cars DIDN’T have nets on the driver’s side windows,
since they are not mandatory for regular enduro cars. But this is a personal
safety issue, and for your own protection, there should be one in your car.
I saw much debris flying around on the track today, and it wouldn’t take
much to change your life in a bad way if you don’t have one of these
installed…just my opinion and hope for the future…It gets increasingly
harder to keep track of whose where on the track after about lap 5, as some
cars are so much faster than others, but we try our best to bring you an
accurate story…Enduro racing proves each time that it’s one of the best
types around, as you see the competitors laugh with each other before AND
after the race. It sure would be nice to see THAT spread to other types of
racing…looking forward to the next enduro race…So long for now and think
safety, your future depends on it!
Source: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
May 8, 2007
