Season Ending Races Highlight Saturday Night
At Riverhead Raceway
Riverhead Raceway closed out the regular season on Saturday night under
breezy conditions as it determined the final Champions in it’s remaining
divisions. The one regular Saturday Division running was the Super Pro
Trucks, with Danny Grennan capturing the title just by starting the race.
All of Riverhead Raceway’s Enduro classes also raced, with the top point
drivers being determined after a grueling night of racing on the ¼ mile
oval. To complete the season, a car rollover contest and Spectator Drags
rounded out the program, which was completed just after 10 PM.
The Spectator Drags opened the show, which on this night
featured something never seen before in competition: a box truck! Plumber
Steve Morris entered his fully loaded box truck, replete with banners
announcing Nascar’s newest division, box truck racing. Steve didn’t come
anywhere near winning his heat, but the buzz from the crowd as he entered
the track proved his little joke was an amusement for the fans. Don
Carasiti, who’s won more Spectator Drag events this year than anyone,
qualified for the final once more, and raced John Cozza in a two lap finale
that saw Carasiti get the jump off the line, and Cozza gave his all to catch
him, but Carasiti triumphed once more to win the trophy.
The Super Pro Trucks took to the raceway next, with Matt
Odwazny’s Sponsors Wanted #32 on the pole, and Anthony Daleo’s Joseph Daleo
Contracting #31 to his outside. Odwazny took the point from the start, but
Daleo nosed ahead on lap 2, only to have Odwazny pass for the lead again a
lap later, but Lou Maestri’s Gershow Recycling #1 took the lead from Odwazny
before the lap was over and began to pull away from the rest of the field.
Frank Dumicich Sr.’s Weseman’’s Sand & Mason Supply #5 came by Daleo to 2nd,
while Dangerous Dave Koenig’s Nelson’s Auto Salvage tokk over 3rd as both
Odwazny and Daleo faded back. Maestri built a comfortable lead by lap 12,
lapping Daleo and holdng a 5 truck length advantage over Dumicich Sr.
Maestri continued to build his lead, but moving up through the field was
Danny Greenan’s PCHS Race Engines #38, who passed Koenig for 3rd on lap 16,
then got by Dumicich Sr. 1 lap later to takeover 2nd spot, but Maestri held
his 5 truck length lead until the end, winning his first feature of 2007
after a frustrating year of blown tires denied him a victory all season
long. Grennan won the 2007 Super Pro Truck title just by starting the race,
but still ran hard to end up with his 2nd place finish. Tom Kraft, tapped to
drive P.J. Vecchio’s #19 Raceway Auto Sales truck, started the event 19th,
and finished in 8th. Mike Bologna also made an appearance, driving the John
Denniston Gershow Recycling #2x from 17th to a 6th place finish.
Out next were the Grand Enduro’s, running in the Rich Johnson
Memorial race, extended 1 lap to 51 in Honor of the late Godfather of
Enduros, Rich Johnson, whose hard work and dedication was instrumental in
the founding of the Grand Enduro Division. Joe Parcelluzzi’s #28 started on
the pole, with Bobby Pease’s BV Sprinklers #20 on the outside pole. At the
drop of the green, Pease jumped out front as Greg Zaleski’s #12 came to 2nd
spot, but Pease was already pulling away from him. Donny Oliver’s Flanders
Automotive #58 was 3rd, but soon passed Zaleski on lap 4 to takeover 2nd.
Oliver, giving it his all, started gaining on Pease as they encountered
lapped traffic, but by lap 12, Pease was in the clear once more, and pulled
away a bit from Oliver, maintaining a 4 car length margin over him. On lap
16, Ray Fitzgerald, a perennial contender and rival of Pease, pulled into
the infield with mechanical problems. Pease and Oliver continued to go at it
up front, with lapped traffic again helping Oliver close in on Pease, with
Oliver getting along side Pease on the outside on lap 24, but a lapped car
prevented a strong looking Oliver from completing the pass, as all he could
do was fall in behind Pease to pass the lapped car. Oliver stayed right with
Pease, alp after lap, as Zaleski continued to run patiently in 3rd, as on
lap 36, Pease was into the clear once more, and again built a 4 car length
margin for himself over Oliver. Zaleski now began to close in on Oliver in a
bid to take over 2nd with only 10 laps left to go, and Zaleski, after some
hard work, got by Oliver on lap 46 to retake 2nd, but Pease now had a 7 car
length lead. That lead shrank quickly as Zaleski charged after him, closing
on Pease as the laps ran down, and actually getting along side as they took
the Checkered Flag, but a post race inspection found a motor infraction in
Zaleski’s car, and he was DQ’ed, moving Oliver up to 2nd, as Pease hung on
to win this prestigious event for the Grands. Rich’s lovely wife Cindy
presented trophy’s to the top 3 after the race in Rich’s honor. Bobby Pease
also ended up winning the Grand’s Championship for the season.
The 4/6 Cylinder truck race ran next, with Ben Gregor jumping
out to the early lead, as Gregory DiCanio and Woot Lawrence followed. By lap
5, Lwarence was pressuring DiCanio for 2nd spot, but DiCanio held his
position through a tough battle with Lawrence as Gregor just cruised up
front. Finally on lap 13, Lawrence got by DiCanio by going high as DiCanio
was stuck on the low side in lapped traffic. Lawrence caught up to Gregor by
lap 17, and took the lead on lap 20. Lawrence then began to stretch his lead
out over Gregor, as Russ Jansen and Terry Stiles began a battle for 3rd
spot, with Stiles doing all he knew how to get by Jansen. Stiles almost
pulled off the pass at one point, but lapped traffic prevented it, and
Stiles had to fall back in line behind Jansen once more. Up front, Gregor
has closed the gap on Lawrence by lap 41, and is right on his tail by lap
43, reigniting the battle for the lead. Stiles, meanwhile, has drooped out
with a flat tire,ending his night and a bid for a top 3 finish, while Jansen
continues on in 3rd. Up front, Gregor is giving Lawrence a run for his
money, staying 1 to 2 trucks lengths behind, and looking for a way to get
by, but Lawrence skillfully negotiaties the lapped trucks in his way, and
Gregor can only watch as Lawrence sails home for the victory. Jansen, by
virtue of his 3rd place finish, was named the 2007 4/6 Cyl Truck enduro
Champion.
In the rollover contest, with 8 cars entered, it was a battle
between the Savoy brothers, Brian and Jason, for the season ending point
battle in this event. Jason went first among the two, and did a 7 point
roll, but his car was unable to continue due to severe damage. His brother
Brian was able to make 3 passes successfully and amass 17 points, giving him
the season ending championship by 6 points over his brother. Mike “Crispy”
Kipplinger, finished 2nd in the event, scoring 13 points in his 3 attempts
at the ramp, while all the other competitors scored in the single digits,
points wise.
Enduro News and Notes: In the 1st 8 Cyl Enduro,
Anthony Pizzo survived the 75 car mayhem to emerge victorious over Dominic
Ranieri Jr., while Ed Brown was the overall point winner and Champion for
the season…In the 6 Cyl Enduros, 39 cars took the green, but early crashes
whittled the field down quickly, as Shawn Wanat held on to win the event and
the season Championship. Bob Haeger came in 2nd, and Jeff Gregor, who led
most of the event, finished 3rd in the final rundown..In the 75 lap 4 Cyl
Enduros, after many early crashes eliminated many of the competitors, Robert
Endelkofer lead most of the race, but a late race battle for the lead saw
eventual winner Anthony Pizzo and Endelkofer battle side by side until
Endelkofer spun form the lead, and Pizzo go on to take the win. Shawn Wanat,
whose car was not running up to par int his race, nonetheless hung on to
take the 2007 Championship in this division also…in the 2nd 8 Cyl Enduro, 44
cars battled it out, one of the largest fields for them in a second race all
year, and Anthony Pizzo, looking strong in this outing, dropped from the
lead with mechanical troubles halfway through the race. That handed the lead
to Joe Warren, but a battle developed behind him between Dege Russell and
Dominic Ranieri Jr. as both got by Warren near the end, and a recheck of
scoring had to be used to determine that Dege Russell, originally thought to
be 2nd,had in fact, beaten Dominic Ranieri for the victory.
News and Notes: It’s been 5 years since the untimely
passing of Larry Costa, great drive and great friend to racing. We miss him
more than ever, and want to remember him once more for the great competitor
that he was…With the season now over at Riverhead, stay with LongIslandJam
throughout the Fall as we cover some of the biggest events along the east
coast, including the King of The Mountain race from Mountain Speedway, the
Thompson World Series of Racing, Our own NELMA race from Mountain Speedway,
and the North/South Shootout from Concord Motorsports Park in NC. We will
have full reports of interest to you all on your favorite drivers and how
they fare in all these events and more. Until then, live well and be safe.
THE END
Source: Walter
Johnston/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
September 23, 2007
