A Full Moon
presents Interesting Racing Action this Week
by Walter
Johnston
On a warm, humid night, with the full moon shining
through partly cloudy skies, Riverhead Raceway ran a successful 7 event show
despite a mild threat of rain, which never materialized. The night consisted
of an exciting Blunderbust race, Late Models, the increasingly popular
Spectator Drags, Modifieds, Figure 8’s, a thrilling 4/6-cylinder Enduro
truck race and wrapped up with a Mini School Bus Demolition Derby.
The Blunderbust feature was the first event, with
Tom Sullivan in his back-up Lakewood Used Auto Parts #7 on the pole, and Rob
Bader’s Robert’s Express Fuel Oil #5 to his outside. The duo ran side by
side for the first lap, but Sullivan took the lead on lap 2, with Bill
Wegmann’s Crackerjack Auto Supply #79 coming to second, and “Krazy” Eddie
Mistretta’s BAM’s Auto Body #32 coming to third as Bader faded a little. On
lap 4, Bader, Donny Oliver in the Flanders Automotive #05, Rob McCormick’s
Robert’s Express Fuel Oil #19x, and Caesar Cunaccia’s #20 TTB Construction
Co. entry came together on the back stretch, bringing out the first caution
of the event. All drove away except Oliver, who later returned. On the
restart, Sullivan took off, as Mistretta got under Wegmann to takeover
second, as Joe Pingitore’s #76 J&C Auto Salvage Chevrolet battled Artie
Pedersen’s #1 Sherwin-Williams Paints Chevrolet for fourth spot. Scott
Maliszewski, running sixth, passed both Pingitiore and Pedersen to take
fourth away, while up front, Mistretta was looking on the low side of
Sullivan to pass for the lead, but Sullivan held the lead as Maliszewski
caught up to the duo to make it a 3 car battle for the lead. On lap 13,
McCormick spun in turn 3 with a flat, bringing out another yellow, closing
up the field. On the restart, Mistretta flies past Sullivan, but the
officials rule he jumped the start, and a timely yellow for a collision
between Scott Pedersen’s #27 Baysides Bar & Grill Chevrolet and Tim
Gersbeck’s #55 Trafficanti Constracting Cadillac reset the field with
Mistretta in second for the next restart. At the drop of the green,
Mistretta flew by Sullivan once more, but another wreck brought the yellow
out immediately. On the next restart, Maliszewski held off Mistretta, as
Tommy Walkowiak, in the Unique Golf #00 charged in third, with Chris
Busick’s Mike Coll sponsored #61 now up to 4th, but Maliszewski held his
lead through the exciting final laps of the race to take the victory.
Next up was the Safelite Auto Glass 25 for the Late
Models. While Scott Kulesa in the #10 Ranco Sand & Stone Pontiac grabbed
fast time with a 12.873 second lap, it would be Dan Turbush in the Ideal
Cesspool #8 Pontiac on the pole after a redraw from time trials, and his car
owner, Doug Wholey, in his #98 Ideal Cesspool Chevrolet to the outside. At
the drop of the green, Turbush pulled out front, as Scott Kulesa, in the
Ranco Sand & Stone #10 came up quickly to battle Wholey for second, but on
lap 2, Ken Matlach’s #34 NY Metro Peterbilt Dodge and Mike Bologna’s #00
Schlaugies Fuel Oil Chevrolet came together and stalled, bringing out the
first caution. On the restart, Turbush took off once more, with Kulesa right
by his side, but Turbush pulled out front a lap later, with Wholey retaking
second, as Kulesa contended with Greg Kleila’s #72 SPONSORS WANTED Pontiac
for third spot, while Roger Oxee, in The Helman Group #39 Pontiac watched
from fifth. On lap 9, Rob Tribuzio, in the Iguana’s Restaurant & Nightlife
#01 Pontiac came to a stop in turn 1, bringing out the caution. On the next
restart, Turbush nosed out front, while Kleila took second as Wholey faded
back in the outside groove, as Kulesa took third, and Jack Orlando, in the
Staria Automotive #99 Chevrolet, took over fourth spot. Turbush now
stretched his lead, with Kleila hanging with him, as Orlando overtook Kulesa
to take third spot, and #98 Wholey came back up take fourth spot, but spun
in turn 4 on the next lap, recovering to rejoin the field, but Turbush
continued to hold off the challenges of Kleila and Orlando to take his 80th
career victory at Riverhead Raceway.
The Spectator Drags took to the track next, with
Tommy Walkowiak and Mike Rommeney leading things off with a shopping cart
race. Walkowiak took the early lead around the quarter mile, but Rommeney
passed him going down the back stretch. Rommeney “ran out of gas” going into
turn 3, and Walkowiak passed him with a great second effort to take the
victory by a wide margin, even as Walkowiak collapsed at the finish line in
this promotional event for the Lustgarten Fund, which held a raffle for a
32” LCD TV to raise money for this pancreatic cancer research organization.
The winner of that raffle was determined by a drawing of the tickets sold in
the pits during the evening. Justin Bonsignore, driver of the #28 Double
Diamond Realty Modified was the lucky winner. The raffle netted over $1,000
for the fund, and Jim Wichert would like to express his thanks to all who
participated.
The car portion of the event came down to Mike
Mujsce, Jr., and Don Carasiti, with both of them being surprised by Mike
Richert as he decided they would run the course in two counter-clockwise
laps for the trophy. Carasiti’s Pontiac took the early lead from Mujsce’s
Honda, but Mujsce gave it a valiant try throughout the 2 laps, with Carasiti
taking the victory by a car length at the finish.
Next up was the 35 lap Modified feature, with Gary
McDonald’s Lakeland Landscaping Supply #26 on the pole, and Wayne Anderson’s
Eastport Feeds #15 to the outside. After hot laps, McDonald, who later said
his car wasn’t feeling right to him, elected to start in the rear, moving
Chris Beutler’s ADM Productions #21 up to the pole position. Beutler and
Anderson ran side by side at the drop of the green, with Dave Brigati’s WPW
Growers #3 and Dave Sapienza’s Flemington Fur Company #36 following tightly
behind them. Going into turn 4 on lap 2, Anderson and Sapienza made contact,
with Anderson spinning as Sapienza stopped to avoid him. With the field
realigned, Beutler and Brigati ran side by side for 2 laps until Brigati
gained the advantage, while Beutler now had Chris Young’s #49 Riverhead
Building Supply to contend with. Young quickly took the spot and soon after,
caution flew again as John Fortin’s #84 J. Murphy Cesspool Chevrolet came
together with Dave Sapienza just off turn 4, also involving Bobby Gardner‘s
#45 NY Metro Peterbilt Chevrolet. On the next restart, Brigati took off,
with Young to his outside, but the yellow flew quickly as Chuck Steuer’s #11
Savin Chevrolet, Ken Heagy’s #38 Buoy One Restaurant Chevrolet, John Fortin,
and Marisa Niederauer’s #74 House of Cool Ford came together in the
backstretch just off turn 2. On the next restart, Brigati and Young ran side
by side, but Brigati got the edge and pulled out front, as Bill Park’s #20
Smithtown Nissan Chevrolet came up to take second spot, with Young dropping
back to third, but yellow was thrown once more as John Fortin, Chuck Steuer,
and Kevin Goodale’s #58 Riverhead Building Supply Chevrolet came together
off turn 2. With green out again, Park mashed the gas, and passed Brigati
going into turn 1, taking the lead, but a lap later, yellow flew once more
as Anderson locked bumpers with Dan Jivanelli’s YES Network #44 on lap 10.
With a mandated single file restart, Park took off at the drop of the green
as Brigati and Young followed. Park quickly built a 5-car length lead, as
Brigati and young, now joined by Tom Rogers’ #6 Big Brothers Big Sisters of
LI Chevrolet came up to fourth spot. On lap 21, Young spun in turn 4 after
apparent contact with Rogers, and the caution was out once more. On the
restart, Park took off once more, but yellow flew for the sixth time as
Justin Bonsignore’s #28 Double Diamond Realty Chevrolet spun in turn 2. On
the next restart, Park took off once more, as Brigati and Rogers followed
closely, while JR Bertuccio’s #2 Gershow Recycling Chevrolet ran a close
fourth. Suddenly, Brigati spun in turn 4, but recovered to rejoin the field
as there was no caution, while Rogers closed in on Park, while Bertuccio
followed, as the 3 cars now distanced themselves from fourth place Chris
Beutler. With 2 laps to go, Steuer and Sapienza caught and passed Beutler,
dropping him to sixth spot. Rogers stayed right with Park, looking for a way
to get by, but Park, veteran that he is, held his line, leaving Rogers to
finish a fine second as Park took the victory. Bertuccio, Sapienza, and
Steuer rounded out the top 5 at the finish.
Next out was the Figure 8 20-lap feature, with Tom
Kraft’s Four Seasons Sunrooms #8 on the pole, and Dorothea Hyde’s Maple’s
Bar & Grill#85 to the outside. Kraft jumped right into the lead at the
start, with Mike Rommeney’s #11 SPONSORS WANTED entry moving to second, and
Paul Specht’s #63 SPONSORS WANTED entry coming to third. On lap 3, Mike
Mujsce’s #13 Mike’s Auto Service Ford locked bumpers with Carl “The Axe”
Baxter’s Blast-it Sandblasting #74, and yellow came out. At the drop of the
next green, Kraft held his lead, as Tom Ferrara’s #0x DeMartino Enterprises
Chevrolet moved up to second, while Specht held onto third spot, as Tom
Graff’s #00 DeMartino Enterprises Chevrolet moved to fourth, and Roger
Maynor’s Barrasso & Sons Mason Supply #28 took fifth spot. Maynor moved up
to fourth a lap later, and started his march to the front, passing Specht
and then Ferrara in the next 2 laps, and setting his sights on Kraft. A lap
later he caught Kraft, passing him on the outside and quickly building a
7-car length lead over Kraft. Suddenly, on lap 13, Kenny Hyde spun at the
“X,” collecting Mujsce and Graff, and Dorothea Hyde, apparently not seeing
the yellow, piled into the stopped cars, luckily with no one injured, but
the Hyde cars will need extensive work to be repaired. During the yellow,
Roger Maynor suffered a right rear flat, and went to the pits, but quickly
returned to the rear of the field, and Kraft was back in the lead. On the
restart, Kraft took off, with Ferrara and Specht running close behind, when
suddenly, Kraft pulled off with some sort of mechanical troubles, and
Ferrara inherited the lead. Ferrara did a masterful job of holding the lead
once he had it, and went on to score his first ever victory in the Figure
8’s.
The 4/6 Cylinder Truck Enduro was up next, with
Racin’ Ronnie Albano on the pole, and Ben Vecchio to the outside. At the
drop of the green, Vecchio took the lead, but was quickly passed by Kevin
Nowak for the lead. Nowak caught and lapped trucks at the rear of the field
by lap 4. Charging quickly through the field was none other than Terry
Stiles’ #4, who had started 17th and had worked his way to 2nd by lap 9.
Nowak had almost a half lap lead over Stiles, but Stiles quickly closed that
gap to run a truck length away, but traffic prevented Stiles from getting
close enough to challenge for the lead. Suddenly, Nowak spun after contact
with Albano, and Stiles took the lead as Nowak recovered and rejoined the
race, but clearly Terry Stiles was on rails, as he sailed around the track,
through traffic, passing everyone he came to with some very skillful driving
in a truck that handled very well, and was very fast. All Stiles need to do,
and he did, was avoid any trouble with other trucks left racing, and Stiles
breezed home to a dominating win, as the trucks of #5 John Cozza and #20 BV
Sprinklers Chevrolet of Bobby Pease finished second and third, were ¾ of a
lap behind Stiles at the finish.
News and Notes: Terry Stiles told me after the races
that he will be out next week driving a Blunderbust, as he’s purchased the
potent former George Crocket #20. If he sets up a car like he does an Enduro
truck, the Blunderbusts should become a very interesting division…Bruce Noll
is back working for Riverhead Raceway, lining up the cars off turn 2 for
restarts, and helping out with other infield duties…Rob Bader finally seems
to have gotten the feel of the Wayne Okula Blunderbust he purchased a few
weeks back, as Rob totally dominated the first Blunderbust heat, after
appearing on the track with a big sign which read “Bethany, will you marry
me?” I guess her “YES!!!” also provided Rob with added inspiration. Congrats
to the newly engaged couple…Don’t forget next week is the newly formatted
Flash WMT race, which also will feature 30 lap, double point races for both
the Chargers and Blunderbusts…That’s it for this week. We apologize for the
lateness of this story, but rolling thunderstorms prevented a timely report.
Until next week, live week, and be safe everyone.
Source: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
July 29, 2007
