Sunny skies and
unseasonably warm temperatures all worked in Mountain Speedway’s
favor for their “Pack the Track” event. Overall, there was
a relatively strong contingent of Long Island cars. The show
progressed rather quickly, with five divisions running. Heat
races started at 2 p.m., and the show was completed at 6:45 p.m.
The Thriller division’s 25-lap event was the first
feature of the day, with 23 cars scheduled to start. One car,
however, never came out for the start. Taking part in the race
would be the #32 Grand Enduro car of Brian Brown, who started
10th; and Caesar Cunaccia in the #20 Blunderbust, who started
13th. The #99 of Mountain’s 2007 Thriller champ Ray Ross Jr.,
who redrew the outside pole starting position, took the lead at
the drop of the green flag. By lap 2, the two Riverhead cars
were involved in a side-by-side battle for the 11th position,
which Cunaccia took on lap 3. On the following lap, the #20 moved
into 10th. Brown would follow, but another car would take 11th
away from the #32. When the caution flew on lap 6, the #20 was
in 10th, while the #32 was in 13th. Another caution came out on
lap 7, and Cunaccia was in 9th, while Brown had moved up to
11th. On lap 8, the #32 went through the infield down the
frontstretch and eventually spun between turns 1 and 2. He
collected the car and rejoined the field, but the caution flag
had already been thrown. At that point, the #20 was in 9th and
the #32 was in 18th. There was another caution on lap 9 for a
spun car, and Cunaccia was in 10th while Brown had moved up to
14th. When the caution flag flew again on lap 12, Cunaccia was
back up to 9th, and Brown was up to 13th. Brown would continue
to move back through the field, taking over 12th on lap 12 and
11th on lap 16. On lap 22, Cunaccia would move into 8th. When
the checkered flag flew, Cunaccia was 8th and Brown was 10th.
Ross Jr. collected the win.
Up next were the Modifieds, starting 17 cars for 40
laps. Among the Long Islanders taking part in the event were
Eddie Brunnhoelzl III in the #1w, starting 6th; David Roys in
the #79, starting 9th; Richie Carman in the #30, starting 10th;
and Steve Tooker in the #55, starting 15th. Johnny Bush started
7th in the #68. The #34 of Rusty Smith took the lead early. On
lap 8, the #1w was in 8th, with the #79 in 9th, the #30 in 12th
and the #55 running 15th. The caution flew on lap 9 for the #79,
which was in turn 4. Roys would take the car to the pits, but
would return in 17th. When the caution flew again on lap 11,
Roys would again take his car to the pits, and would again
return in 17th. The #79 would again return to the pits when the
caution came out on lap 14. Caution would come out again on lap
25 and the #79 would return to the track, only to pull back into
the pits and retire the car for the day. On the restart, the #1w
was in 9th, with the #30 in 11th and the #55 in 13th. The #30
spun in turn 2 on lap 29 and would be unable to collect the car
until after the caution flag was already thrown. He would rejoin
the field in 15th. On lap 31, Carman would move into 14th, and
he was up to 13th by lap 33, with Tooker in 12th. The 40-lap
event would end with Smith in Victory Lane. Brunnhoelzl finished
9th, with Tooker 12th and Carman 13th. Roys was credited with
17th. Johnny Bush finished 7th.
The Late Models would hit the track for their 30-lap
feature next, with 13 cars scheduled to start. At the end of his
heat race, however, there was a large puff of smoke out of Kevin
Metzger’s #23, and he never took to the track for the feature.
Dan Turbush in the #8R redrew the 6th starting spot, and Kyle
Harvell started the feature 8th. Turbush had put on a good
performance in his heat race, winning the event. On the start,
the #19 of Larry Fisher took the lead. He spun, however, on lap
1. The #D11 of Mike Sweeney was put to the rear for his part in
the incident, and the lead went to the #58 of Earl Paules.
Paules would pit under caution, and the #15 of Joe Brown would
become the leader. Turbush was in 2nd, with Harvell in 5th. On
lap 5, Turbush would come to the inside of the #15 to battle for
the lead. The #15 spun in turn 4, and Turbush was put to the
rear. At this point, Harvell was in 3rd, with Turbush in 9th. On
lap 5, Turbush would move into 8th. On lap 6, Harvell slid back
to 5th. On lap 8, Turbush was in 6th, with Harvell in 7th.
Turbush moved into 5th on lap 10, and took over the 4th spot at
the start/finish line. Caution came out on lap 13, and Turbush
was in 4th with Harvell in 7th. At this point, Sweeney was
leading in the #D11. On the restart, Turbush would move into
3rd, and Paules would take the lead. The race was won by Paules.
Turbush finished 3rd, and Harvell was officially awarded 7th
place after one finisher failed to make it through post-race
tech.
The 25-lap Street Stock feature was next on the
schedule. In the field were the #19x of Jimmy White, Jr.,
starting 7th; and the #13 of C.J. Lehmann (son of former Charger
driver Scott Lehmann), starting 8th. Caution came out on lap 1,
with the #22 of Brad Barbush leading. The #13 was running 6th,
with the #19x in 9th. The #19x spun in turn 3 on lap 5, bringing
out the caution. He would rejoin the field 18th. The next
caution came on lap 14, and would find the #19x up to 15th,
while the #13 was still sitting in 6th. Another caution came out
on lap 15, and the #19x was in 13th. The caution flag was thrown
for debris on lap 18. The #461 of Rich Demarco, the #49 of Bill
Hunara and the #77 of Kristy Marone Arthofer were involved in a
serious crash on the frontstretch on lap 19, and the red flag
was thrown. Thankfully, all of the drivers were okay, and the
#77 – after being removed on a double hook – was even able to
return to the track. The #19x went to the pits, while the #13
was in 7th. The #22 of Barbush also took his car to the pits,
giving the lead to the #44c of Chip Wanamaker and moving Lehmann
into 6th. Lehmann would take over the 5th spot on lap 19. When
the checkered flag flew, Wanamaker won and Lehmann came home
5th. White was credited with 20th.
The final race of the night was the 20-lap 4-cylinder
Thriller feature. The field included the #19x of Jimmy White,
Jr., who started 3rd; the #19DD of Brian Brown, who started
11th; and the #88 Bill Verwys, Sr., who started 12th. The #42 of
Daniel Freundt took the lead on lap 1. The #88 had moved up to
10th by lap 5, while the #19x got shuffled back through the
field. On lap 10, the #88 passed the #19x, but the #19x took the
spot back. The #88 would pass the #19x again on lap 11. At that
point, the #38 of Scooter Graver was leading. The only caution
of the race came out on lap 17, when two cars spun in turn 1.
The #88 was in 6th, with the #19x in 8th and the #199DD in 12th.
They would finish the race in that order.
News and Notes: It was nice to see several Riverhead
drivers (and former drivers) in the pits at Mountain today
helping out their fellow Long Island drivers. Chris Turbush was
hard at work helping his father, while Gary Caldwell and Russell
Savoy were both serving as crew members for Richie Carman. Wayne
Okula was on hand helping out Steve Tooker. Enduro driver Kyle
Curtis lent help to Brian Brown.
Dan Turbush’s Late Model heat race was an interesting
one. One spectator in the pits brought it to my attention at one
point that the top three cars in the event were all 2007 Late
Model champions – from Riverhead, Mountain, and Mahoning Valley.
Turbush won the race.
I was informed that there may be a two-car father and
son Charger team seeking sponsorship to run at Riverhead as
early as the 2008 season. Scott Lehmann’s house in Pennsylvania
is currently for sale, and he hopes to relocate the family back
to Long Island. Lehmann’s son C.J., who will be 16 in a matter
of weeks, finished in the top 10 in Mountain Speedway Street
Stock points in 2007 and recorded his second straight 5th place
finish in today’s race.
I owe an apology to Brian Brown for not keeping track
of where he was during the 4-cylinder Thriller feature. I had
started the day hoping to write a comprehensive play-by-play (W.J.
style), but quickly realized that I was going to have a hard
time trying to take pictures and take notes – particularly since
I wasn’t familiar with many of the cars and names. I figured I’d
report updates on where various Long Island-related drivers were
during caution periods, while noting position changes whenever
possible for those drivers. It wasn’t until the line-up was
announced for the 4-cylinder race that I heard Brian Brown’s
name, and then I simply couldn’t figure out what car he was in!
Sorry Brian!
Thanks to Mike Odwazny, Mountain Speedway and all of the drivers
and crews for their hospitality today. I was impressed with how
quickly and smoothly all of the events were run. Nice job
everyone!
Source: Tracy Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
October 7, 2007
