A WARM,
HUMID NIGHT OF FIREWORKS AND RACING
ON "I LOVE AMERICA NIGHT"
Riverhead Raceway celebrated “I Love America Night” last night, with a
spectacular fireworks display by Bay Fireworks, who’ve done a great job
putting on fireworks shows over the last few years, and last night’s was
just as entertaining as the rest of them have been. In addition, fans were
treated to the return of Legends cars, as 9 of them put on a demonstration
of Legend's Car racing for the fans, some of whom are familiar with Legends
from the past, and others who’ve never seen them run before. Hopefully, they
will return again in the near future.
Now for the racing aspect of the evening. The BlunderBusts
started things off with their 20 lap feature event, with Scoot Sepe’s
Sponsors Wanted #6 on the pole, and Rob Bader’s Roberts Express Fuel Oil #5x
to the outside. Sepe grabbed the lead quickly at the drop of the green, as
Mike Rommeny’s C&A Auto Parts #11 came up to pass Bader for 2nd, with Scott
Pedersen, in the Generation Renovation #27 taking 3rd a lap later. But on
lap 4, Sepe spun off into the infield as the action heated up, as Donny
Oliver’s Flanders Automotive #05 took over 3rd, while Chris Busick, in the
LAFilms #61, shot by Oliver to take 2nd, just as a lap later, Artie
Pedersen’s Sherwin-Williams #1 lost his right rear wheel when his axle
broke, and yellow flew. On the double file restart, Busick shot away from
Scoot Pedersen and into the lead, as Rommeney, Oliver and Joe Pingitore, in
the J & C Auto Salvage #76, battled for 3rd spot, with Oliver taking that
spot. Another battle for 4th spot quickly developed, with Ray Shannon, in
the Centereach Transmissions #64, joined the battle for that spot with
Rommeney and Pingitore. On lap 13, Tom Sullivan’s #7 Lakewood Used Auto
Parts went around after contact in turn 4, and spun into the infield with
two flats, and caution flew once more. On the restart, Busick shot away from
Pedersen, opening up a 5 car margin, while Pedersen battled to hold off
Oliver, while Shannon and Pingitore followed closely behind. Shannon took a
shot at getting by Oliver for 3rd, but Oliver held him off, while up front,
Busick continued to motor away, and took the 1st victory since his return to
the Blunderbusts.
Next were the Late Models, starting from handicapping this
night, with Rob Tribuzio’’s Iguana’s Restaurant #66 on the pole, and Scott
Kulesa’s #10 Ranco Sand & Stone to his outside. Tribuzio and Kulesa ran side
by side at the outset, as Kevin Metzger’s Metzger Racing #23 and Shawn
Patrick’s #88 Sponsors Wanted followed closely, but disaster struck as
Metzger, Patrick and Roger Oxee, in the Suffolk Water Connection #39 came
together hard in the back stretch, with Oxee hitting the wall hard and
ending up hanging off the wall near turn 3, bringing out the caution. Oxee’s
car was pretty much destroyed in the incident, and he told me later it would
not be repaired, effectively ending the season for the #39 team. On the
restart, Kulesa and Tribuzio again ran side by side, with Tribuzio taking
the lead off turn 4, with Kulesa right on his bumper, while Greg Kleila’s
#72 J&R’s Steakhouse ran 3rd. On lap 4, Metzger and Mike Bologna, in the
Schlaugies Fuel Oil #00 came together in turn 1 & 2, bringing out the yellow
again. On the restart, Kulesa nosed out in front of Tribuzio a bit, but
Tribuzio battled back, and Tribuzio took the lead once more as Ken Matlach,
in the NY Metro Peterbilt #34, passed Kleila for 3rd, while Dan Turbush’s
Ideal Cesspool #8 ran 5th. On lap 9, Tribuzio spun after a tap from Kulesa,
and yellow flew again. On the single file restart called for by the
officials, Kulesa took of, as Matlach, Kleila Turbush, and Ken Alfano, in
the Sponsors Wanted #35 followed. Kulesa stretched out to a 4 car length
lead, but Matlach started reeling him in as Turbush closed in on him, while
Kleila slipped back, seeming to lose power, while Alfano moved up to 4th.
Turbush was all over Matlach, looking for a spot to pass, as Kulesa pulled
away to a healthy lead, while Alfano ran a steady 4thover Jarrod Hayes #08
Big Brothers Big Sisters of LI, who was 5th. Turbush was able to get
alongside Matlach at one point, but Matlach held him off as Kulesa finally
broke his season long streak of bad luck and rode home to victory for the
1st time this season.
The Figure 8’s took to the track next, with Will Farrell’s
#16 Caccavale Building Corp. on the pole, and Tom Graff in the DeMartino
Enterprises #00 to his outside. Farrell grabbed the lead at the drop of the
green, as Graff followed, with Paul Specht’s #63 Sponsors Wanted in 3rd, and
Kenny Hyde's Maple’s Bar #58 in 4th. Carl Baxter’s Blast-it Sandblasting #74
got by Hyde to take 4th, but Arne Pedersen, making his return to Figure-8
racing in the Maple’s Bar #85, suffered as front suspension failure,
spinning in turn 4, bringing out the yellow. On the restart, Farrell held
the lead over Graff, as Baxter came to 3rd, Specht held 4th, and Mike
Mujsce's Mike Auto Service #13 came to 5th. Farrell and Graff battled hard
for the lead by lap 9, but Baxter got by Graff for 2nd, and Roger Maynor, in
the Barrasso & Sons Mason Supply #28 came to 3rd, passing Graff for that
spot. Maynor worked his way past Baxter to take 2nd, and when Farrell
bobbled a bit, Maynor shot by for the lead. Yellow flew just after that on
lap11, as Hyde came to a stop near the X with a flat. On the restart, Maynor
just took off, while Farrell held onto 2nd, while Baxter and Mujsce ducked
it out for 3rd, but Maynor was just running away with the race, as he built
a commanding lead, while Baxter hounded Farrell for 2nd. Farrell was doing a
great job of fending off Baxter, but disaster struck as Farrell had a tire
blow and shred, dropping him from contention with 2 laps to go, and Baxter
moved up to 2nd, while Mujsce ran 3rd, but Maynor sailed to victory once
more, his 7th of the season.
The spectator drags and rollover contests were next, followed
by the Bay Fireworks show. More on that later on, as we bring you the tale
of the Modified race, a highly unusual affair, probably better classified as
a ‘smash to pass, bring out the caution flag’ race. Marissa Niederauer’s
House of Cool #74 sat on the poll, with Ken Heagy’s Buoy One Restaurant to
her outside. Heagy grabbed the lead at the line, but before a lap was
complete, a multi-car pile-up in turn 4 brought out the caution, causing a
complete restart. 3 cars pitted for repairs, but all returned, and on the
next restart, Niederauer jumped out to the lead, as Heagy faltered and
pulled off into the infield with a broken axle, while Justin Bonsignore’s
Double Diamond Realty #23, Dave Sapienza’s Flemington Furs #36 and Dan
Jivanelli’s YES Network #44 all get by Niederauer, with Bonsignore getting
the lead. On lap 4, Niederauer spun going into turn 1, bringing out the
caution. On the restart, Bonsignore held the lead as Sapienza and Jivanelli
followed, while Sal Accardi’s Checkers Burgers & Fries #93 and Chuck
Steuer’s Savin Copiers #11 battled for 4th, but on lap 8, Wayne Anderson’s
Eastport Feeds #15 spun, and caution flew again. On the restart, Bonsignore
pulled away again with Sapienza in tow, but Steuer passed Jivanelli for 3rd,
with Bill Park’s Smithtown Nissan #20 taking 4th a lap later, leaving
Jivanelli and Accardi to battle for 5th. Jivanelli spun from contact, and
yellow flew once more, as Tom Roger’s Jr., in the Big Brothers Big Sister of
LI was put to the rear for rough riding in the Jivanelli incident. On the
restart, Bonsignore, who’d lost his clutch earlier in the race, held the
point once more, with Steuer getting by Sapienza for 2nd, but Niederauer
makes contact with JR Bertuccio, with Bertuccio spinning in turn 2, and
yellow flew again. On the single file restart that followed, Bonsignore took
off, with Steuer, Sapienza and Park right behind, but Rogers spun coming off
turn 4 after a bump from Jivanelli, but Rogers recovered to rejoin the
field. On lap 24, Chris Young’s Riverhead Building Supply #49 spun off turn
2, with yellow out again. At this point, the officials put Rogers, Jivanelli
and Accardi to the rear for rough riding. Accardi, not in full agreement
about that call, decided instead to call it a night and left the track. On
the restart, Bonsignore shot away with Steuer in pursuit, with Sapienza and
Park in tow, but Mike Andrews Jr., subbing for Ken Darch in the Century 21
Stanzoni Realty #03, spun in turn 3, with yellow out once more on lap 26.
Apparently feeling Wayne Anderson had helped him spin, Andrews rameed
Anderson as the cars lined up for the restart, and the track officials
immediately black flagged him and sent him to the pits. So the race restarts
again, and Bonsignore took off once more, with Steuer glued to his bumper,
as they opened up a slight margin on Sapienza and Park, but Jivanelli spins
in turn 4 on lap 29, and yellow is out AGAIN. On the restart, Bonsignore and
Steuer took off once more, but Sean McDonald’s Lake Landscape Supply #16
spun in turn 2, and yellow flew yet again. On the next (and FINAL) restart,
Bonsignore took of once more, leading Steuer, Sapienza, Park and Anderson
the rest of the way to the finish and Bonsignore first victory in a
Modified, an especially sweet accomplishment for the teenaged driver, who
lost the first half of his season to a wrist injury, and who scored a
brilliant 4th place finish in the WMT race a few weeks ago, and capped his
return with this victory tonight. The race, by the way, took almost 1 hour
and 15 minutes to run.
Tommy Walkowiak scored the final victory in tonight’s
Spectator Drags, immediately announcing his ‘retirement’ for Spectator Drag
competition, while Thaddeus Lattanzio put together 3 good rolls to win the
car rollover contest.
News and Notes: As mentioned earlier, Roger Oxee said,
“We’re done, the car is totaled” when asked after the races how he was and
how the car was. He, by the way, thankfully is okay after a very hard hit
into the wall…….Donny Oliver and his associate sponsor, Twin Forks Bikes,
want to remind everyone that the raffle of the free bicycle closes next week
just after the races are over, so get those entries in as soon as possible.
The drawing will be held shortly after that…Running out of time, with most
of the news in the story, so it’s so long for now. Next week, I’ll be in
Martinsville for the WMT/WSMT race, but we will have full coverage of
Saturday night racing from Riverhead, also. Until then, live well and be
safe.
THE END
Source: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
August 26, 2007
