What started out as a beautiful
afternoon turned into a showery evening at Riverhead Raceway as rain fell 6
laps into the Charger feature. The rain lasted about an hour, but Riverhead
Officials had a close eye on the radar and decided to wait it out so the
racing program could be run. As the rain let up, the track drying process
began, and racing resumed about 90 minutes later as the Chargers took to the
track once more, and after a few laps to completely dry the racing surface,
the rest of the program was run.
The first feature of the night was the Blunderbusts. Matt
Pepitone’s Craig’s Auto Body #17x sat on the pole, with Scoot Sepe’s
Sponsors Wanted #6 to the outside. Sepe jumped off to a good start, but a
spin by Jessica Larsen’s Big Brothers Big Sisters of L.I. brought out the
caution after 1 lap. On the restart, Pepitone was ready and grabbed the
lead, but Wayne Okula’s Artisan Appraisals #67 came charging through to take
the lead 1 lap after that. Okula pulled way out front as Pepitone and Sepe
followed, while Paul Parisi’s Vinyl Answer #69x, Tom Sullivan’s Lakewood
Used Auto Parts #7 and Tommy Walkowiak's Unique Golf Shop #00 followed
battling for 4th spot. Walkowiak won that battle, and passed Sepe for 3rd on
lap 10, then Pepitone for 2nd a lap later, but yellow came out as Ray
Shannon hit the 3rd turn wall on lap 12. On the restart, Okula and Walkowiak
took off, leaving Pepitone and Sullivan behind by lap 14. Walkowiak spent
the rest of the race looking for a way past Okula, and made a lat effort on
the final lap entering turn 3, but Okula chopped him off, pushing Walkowiak
high, and came under the checkers 1st. However, at post race tech
inspection, officials found an unapproved rear end differential in Okula’s
#67, and he was disqualified, giving the win to Walkowiak, the 25th of his
Blunderbust career.
The Chargers rolled out next under threatening skies, as dark
clouds rolled in from the North. Daryn Miller, in the borrowed ‘Bar’ car of
Ron Gibbs, sat on the pole in the Tarr Home Improvements mount, as Frank
Scimeca Jr.’s P&M Door #96 was outside. At the start, Miller jumped out
front, as Shawn Solomito’s Riverhead Building Supply #66 came quickly to
2nd, and Chris McGuire’s Gershow Recycling #89x came to 3rd. On lap 6, the
rain, which started the same time as the race, became too heavy, and
officials put out the caution flag, bringing the race to a temporary halt.
After a lengthy delay of over an hour, the track was dried, and the race
resumed, with Solomito getting the jump on Miller to take the lead as Miller
faded back, while Eric Lutz's Marjam Supply #36 came up to 2nd, and the
‘Cranberry Kid’, Chris Turbush, moved into 3rd spot in his Ideal Cesspool
#81, while Rob Tribuzio’s Sponsors wanted #01 ran 4th and McGuire rounded
out the top 5. On lap 15, Lutz, who’d been looking for an opening, got by
Solomito on the low side to take the lead, as Turbush, Tribuzio and McGuire
al followed, dropping Solomito to 5th. The to 4 then ran nose to tail to the
finish, with Lutz getting his 3rd victory of the season.
The Late Models, who qualified 17 cars through time trials,
were next in the Ideal Cesspool 50 lapper. Doug Wholey, the owner of Ideal
Cesspool, added money of his own to the purse to make winning the race worth
$1000 to the winner, so the competitors had an added incentive to push to
the front early and try to stay there. Ken Alfano sat on the pole after the
redraw, with Dan Turbush’s Ideal Cesspool #8 to his outside. At the drop of
the green, Alfano took off, but spun going into turn 1 on the 2nd lap,
bringing out the 1st caution. On the restart, Turbush, now the leader, took
off, but Jarrod Hayes, in the Big Brothers Big Sisters of L.I. #08, edged
his car ahead of Turbush as the duo battled for the lead, as Scott Kulesa,
in the Ranco Sand & Stone #10, watched from 3rd. Turbush managed to pull
away to take sole possession of the lead, as Kulesa got around Hayes to
takeover 2nd, but caution flew as Rob Tribuzio’s Sponsor’s Wanted #01 and
Kevin Metzger’s Metzger Racing #23 collided in turn 3. On the restart,
Turbush and Kulesa battled briefly, but Kulesa suffered a left front flat as
Hayes retook 2nd spot and caution came out again. On the next restart, it
was another battle as Turbush and Hayes battled side by side, while Ken
Matlach’s NY Metro Peterbilt #34 and Mike Mortimer's Unique Golf #14 ran
side by side for 3rd. 2 laps later Turbush pulled away from Hayes as Matlach
also got by to take 2nd, but he slipped going into turn 2, and Greg Kleila’s
J&R Steakhouse #72 took over 2nd as Roger Oxee’s Suffolk Water Connection
moved up to 3rd,and Kulesa came to 4th. Running single file now, Turbush
leads the single file train of cars by 3 car lengths, as Kleila, Oxee and
Kulesa ran bumper to bumper behind him, as Hayes, running in 5th, now
catches up to the lead pack. On lap 26, caution flew once more for the
spinning #0k of Doug Ogiejko in turn 1, just as the leaders were lapping
him, but all got through without incident. On the restart, Turbush took off,
but Kleila, Oxee, and Hayes stayed right with him, and 2 laps into it, Oxee
makes a move to pass Kleila for 2nd, but gets loose in turn 2, recovering
quickly enough to stay in 3rd. Turbush now had a 5 car advantage over
Kleila, as Oxee worked his way back to Kleila’s bumper, and passed him for
2nd on lap 36, bringing Hayes with him up into 3rd spot. Oxee closed up on
Turbush somewhat, but then both seemed to be running identical speeds as the
laps ticked off, as Turbush held on for the win in the race sponsored by his
car owner, while Oxee and Hayes took 2nd & 3rd. The top 3 finishers were
awarded trophies by Doug Wholey in Victory Lane ceremonies, while Roger Oxee
also collected a bonus $100 from Ideal Cesspool for finishing 2nd, and a
special $200 Oval Speed Unlimited gift certificate was given to the 16th
place starter, Late Model rookie contender Tommy Walkowiak.
A first place trophy was also presented to Turbush by the
Fraternal Order of Police, the major sponsor of all the races this night.
The modifieds, 21 cars strong, ran next, with Chris Beutler’s
ADM Productions #21 on the pole, and Bobby Gardner’s NY Metro Peterbilt #45
to his outside. With the earlier rain delay backing things up, this feature
got the green at 10:30 PM. Beutler took the lead at the drop of the green,
but Dave Brigati’s Del-J Associates #3 quickly moved to 2nd, as Chris
Young’s Riverhead Building Supply #49 and Chuck Steuer’s Savin #11 followed
in 3rd & 4th. Beutler ran a nice steady pace leading the race, but Brigati
took the high line, and passed Beutler to take the lead on lap 8. Beutler
almost took the lead back as Brigati had a close call with lapped traffic on
lap14, but Brigati managed to hold the lead and avoid trouble as the leaders
cleared the lapped cars and Brigati built a comfortable 8 car length lead
over the strong running Beutler. Beutler had his hands full holding Young
and Steuer at bay, but Steuer saw an opening on lap 22 and took over 2nd,
while Beutler continued to run a strong 3rd, with Young and Wayne Anderson’s
Eastport Feeds #15 running right behind. Brigati was running away with the
race, a non-stop affair, as Steuer couldn’t get the steam to catch him. With
2 laps to go, 6th place JR Bertuccio came together with 5th place Anderson,
with Anderson spinning into the infield, as Brigati sailed across the line
with his 2nd victory of the season, while Steuer finished 2nd,and Chris
Beutler 3rd in a fine run for the young rookie. The race ran without
caution, a good thing for all involved.
Next came the Figure 8 double point, 25 lap feature. After a
stellar effort on the part of the track crew, officials decided it was safe
to run the race on the Figure-8 course rather that the oval, as first
thought. Tom Ferrara’s Del Martino Enterprises #0x sat on the pole, with
Paul Specht’s SPONSORS Wanted #63 to his outside. Ferrara got the jump at
the green, as his teammate, Tom Graff in his Del Martino Enterprises #00
came to 2nd, with Mike Mujsce’s Mike’s Auto Service #13 moved to 3rd, while
Specht held 4th. Ferrara built a small lead as the cars navigated the
slightly damp Figure-8 course. On lap 8, Mujsce suffered a flat entering
turn 1 and came to a stop, bringing out a yellow. On the restart, Graff took
over the lead as Carl ‘The Axe” Baxter moved into 2nd with Slim Jim
Donaldson’s Slims’ Body Piercing #47 3rd, and Roger Maynor’s Barrasso & Sons
Mason Supply #28 4th. Maynor moved up to 3rd on lap 11, but yellow flew for
Mujsce, who suffered his 2nd flat of the night. On the restart, Maynor shot
into the lead, with Graff in 2nd, and Donaldson and Tom Kraft’s Four Seasons
Sunrooms #16 battling for 3rd. Graff got the lead back for a lpa as Maynor
had to avoid John Delavergne’s lapped car at the X, but Maynor soon regained
the lead from Graff on the next lap. On lap 20, yellow flew again as Kraft
and Tim Farrell’s Caccavale Building Group #X9 got locked together in turn
1&2 after Farrell blew a radiator or hose in a big puff of steam. With
green out again. Maynor held his lead over Graff, while Specht hung onto 3rd
spot. Maynor had another close call with Delavergne at the X, but avoided
contact and went on to take the 82nd victory of his Figure-8 Career.
News and Notes: Mod Rookie contender Dennis
Krupski may be done if no tire sponsor can be found for his team‘s efforts.
If you're interested in becoming a sponsor contact the Sky Materials team owner can be reached at
KRUPRACER12@aol.com…many hearty fans waited out the
sometimes heavy rain showers in their cars or under umbrellas to see what
turned out to be a very exciting night of racing…It was NYS Fraternal Order
of Police night, and many departments were represented. The organization
awarded trophies in all divisions, and put on a nice mid-show ceremony in
the infield honoring all their members…Scoot Pedersen has an interesting new
front grill design on his Blunderbust that looks somewhat akin to a shark.
There should be a photo of it somewhere in our photo galleries…It was nice
to see Rusty Turbush up and around after his recent surgery to repair an
aneurism. He will not be driving this season due to post surgical
restrictions, but hopes to return next year to his Modified effort... That’s
it for this week, I have to rush off and cover the Father’s Day Enduros at
Riverhead. A very Happy Father’s Day to all you Dads from all of
us at LongIslandJam.com……until next time, live well, and be safe.
Source: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com PR
Posted:
June 17, 2007
