A bright sunny day greeted fans and competitors
alike for the Father’s Day races at Riverhead Raceway. A few fans and
competitors arrived late because of an accident on the LIE in Dix Hills, but
all did arrive in time to compete in their respective events. Unlike last
evening’s show, this one featured only sunshine and an occasional breeze,
and a fairly filled grandstand for one of these events.
The Spectator Drags began the show, and included an
unfortunate accident involving a 1965 Impala being badly damaged in a crash
into the backstretch wall. It’s not fun to see these things happen, but it’s
a part of the risk involved in this type of event. In the final race, Don
Carasitti beat Anthony Pizzo.
Next up was the Super Pro Truck race, with Erin
Dumicich’s Teddy Bear Racing #95 on the pole, and P.J. Vecchio’s Raceway
Auto Sales #19 to her outside. Dumicich grabbed the lead at the start, but
Gil Smith’s GBS/ Unique Golf # 6 shot by to take the lead away before the
first lap was complete, while Dangerous Dave Koenig’s Nelson’s Auto Salvage
#97 AND Wayne Meyer’s Van Brunt Plumbing & Heating #41 battled for 3rd spot.
Koenig got the spot,, but Dumicich spun her truck in turn 2, and yellow was
out. On the restart, Smith held the point, as Koenig looked to his outside
to pass, but Frank Dumicich Jr., in the Stephanie McCormick Fund #42 had
gone to the low side to challenge, and Koenig got loose, with Dumicich
coming in contact, spinning Koenig. Yellow was thrown for debris, and Koenig
got his spot back, but Dumicich Jr. was placed at the rear for rough riding.
On the restart, Smith held onto the lead as he continued his impressive run,
as Koenig still looked for a way by, while Frank Dumicich Sr., in the
Wesemann’s Sand & Mason Supply #5 battled with Mike Albasini in the NY Metro
Peterbilt #66 for 3rd, while Danny Grennan’s PCHS Racing Engines #38 ran in
5th. Grennan got by under Albasini to challenge Dumicich Sr for 3rd, but
Anthony Daleo’s #31 Joseph Daleo Contracting truck spun, bringing out a
caution on lap 10. With the green waving once more, Smith lead the single
file restart as Koenig, Dumicich Sr., followed, but Daleo spun once more,
and yellow was out again. One more restart, sand Smith holds his own over
Koenig, Dumicich Sr. and Grennan, but Grennan is looking to pass, and makes
his move on lap 15 to pass Dumicich Sr, taking Koenig’s spot for 2nd and
then going after Smith, passing him too, while Lou Maestri’s #1 Schwing
Electric followed all Grennan’s moves, and Maestri took over 2nd. With 2
laps left, Maestri couldn’t find a way to pass Grennan, but all around the
track trucks were spinning and crashing, as the race ended under
yellow/checkered conditions, and Grennan, who is still looking for a tire
sponsor, won his 3rd race of the season’s 4 events to date.
Now the Enduros were coming, with the Grands running
first. #16 Ray Fitzgerald took the early lead, as Donny Oliver’s Flanders
Automotive #58 came quickly to 2nd, with Mike Retus’ Mi-Ro Sportswear #51
3rd, John Cozza’s Sponsors Wanted #59 4th and Tom Slee’s Constant
Performance #10 5th. On lap 4, Cozza got by to take 3rd, getting by to 2nd a
lap later, but Fitzgerald had about a 12 car length lead, so Cozza had his
work cut out for him. Bobby Pease’s BV Sprinkler’s #20, meanwhile, had
worked his way up to the top 5 by lap 10. Cozza was closing in on
Fitzgerald, and caught him in traffic by lap 15, but Fitzgerald pulled in on
lap 16 just as Cozza was going to pass, and Cozza took over the lead, as
Fitzgerald dropped out with a bad valve. Cozza was now the dominant one,
with 2nd place Pease a full 1/3 lap behind him, but keeping the same pace.
On lap 31, Cozza suddenly pulled in with a flat, and a surprised Bobby Pease
became the leader of the race. Pease then just held on to outlast all the
rest of the field, including Tom Slee, who had been 2nd when Pease got the
lead, but Slee suffered misfortune himself as he lost a rear wheel in the
final laps, dropping from the race.
Next out were the 4/6 cylinder trucks. #83 Gregory
DiCanio took the early lead, as #58 Joe Parcelluzzi dropped momentarily to
2nd, but Parcelluzzi fought back and regained the lead on lap 2. Parcelluzzi
was now out front alone, but #4 Terry Stiles was coming fast, passing
Parcelluzzi for the lead on lap 8. Parcelluzzi wasn’t’ done, passing Stiles
to take the lead back, only to lose it once more in the same lap as Stiles
passed him once more. Stiles now pulled away, building a formidable lead,
with only Parcelluzzi anywhere near him. Stiles was stuck for a bit behind
lapped traffic as Parcelluzzi caught up one more time, but once Stiles
cleared the lapped cars, he took off while Parcelluzzi dealt with his
teammate, #38 Don Nelson Jr.’s challenge, while Stiles just motored away.
Parcelluzzi and Nelson battled it out for 2nd, with Parcelluzzi losing out
as he spun into the infield and Nelson moved into 2nd, but Stiles was long
gone, sailing to his 2nd victory of the season.
The 1st 8 cylinder race featured 49 starters, and was
like an oval demo derby in the opening half of the race, as spinning cars
get blasted by others before they can recover, and collisions abound
throughout the oval. After most of the attrition took place, Anthony Pizzo
was listed as the leader of the event. Navigating the track was made more
difficult by having a car stuck right in the middle of the track just off
turn 2, but such is the nature of enduro racing. Pizzo held his lead right
to the end, claiming a well deserved victory.
The rollover contest was next, with 6 entrants. In
one of the more exciting rollover contests in some time, each car completed
at least one complete roll, and with the exception of Joe Marco, whose roof
suffered severe damage in his first and second runs, and he was not allowed,
for safety reasons, to make a 3rd run, all the cars made 3 attempts at
adding to their points. The outcome was Jason Savoy 22 points, Thaddeus
Lattanzio 21 pts., Brian Savoy 16 pts., Nick Herzberg 15 pts, Dennis Scott
14 pts, and Marco 9 pts. Jason Savoy and Thaddeus Lattanzio finished their
runs with double rollovers, much to the delight of the crowd.
The 6 Cylinder race came next, and started with a
battle between Jason Boeklen and Gene Burbol. Burbol pulled out into the
lead, as Bob Haeger came up to 2nd, running a steady pace about 5 car
lengths back. At the halfway mark, Shawn Wanat passed both Burbol and Haeger
to take the lead. Late In the race, while running 2nd, Burbol gets dumped by
another car, moving the steady running Haeger to 2nd, but Wanat was running
smoothly and continued on to victory.
Next out were the 4 cylinder cars, Mariah Lawrence
took the early lead, followed by John Thompson, Jr. and Kyle Wright.
Thompson took the lead from Lawrence at lap 10, but soon dropped from the
lead and pulled off with a flat, as Robin Vollmoeller, Sr. took over the
lead. With crashing and spinning cars all over the place, Vollmoeller wove
his way through the mayhem to maintain his lead. On lap 38, with wrecked
cars sitting precariously in a few different spots on the backstretch, a red
flag was displayed to clear the wrecks and make sure the drivers in them
were not injured. With green displayed once more, Vollmoeller took off once
more, and sailed easily to victory.
The last race of the afternoon, the 2nd 8 Cylinder
enduro, took to the track a little after 5 PM, and basically became a battle
between Anthony Pizzo and Dominic Ranieri, Jr. as the duo traded paint and
the lead right to the finish, as Pizzo edged out Ranieri by less than a car
length after their 50 lap battle on the oval in one of the more exciting
finishes of the afternoon.
News and Notes: I thought I was watching a truck
enduro or truck demo during the last laps of the Super Pro Truck race. The
Super Pro Trucks need to settle down and think of their own safety and the
cost of repairs. Few, if any, of these vehicles finished the race with their
body work intact, and many had major damage….The usual mayhem of endures
seemed to intensify in the 4 cylinder race. To a keen observer, there was a
bit more than just racing going on during the last laps, as at least two
drivers obviously had wrecking each other as a higher priority in their
minds than winning the race, and this in a race that had more crashing than
would be expected in a typical enduro… The rollover contestants as a group
seem to have figured out that NOT going full tilt on the first run will save
the car to make three good runs and saved their best for last, giving their
audience one of the best contests seen in a long time in this event…no more
Sunday shows for a while, but various enduro divisions, along with a
rollover contest and spectator drags, will be featured on Saturday nights
throughout the summer, giving them better exposure with fans… Until next
week’s report, live well and be safe.
Source: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
June 18, 2007
