In contrast to last week, the skies were
mostly sunny for the second weekend of Riverhead's 2008 season.
Fans who braved the chilly temperatures later in the day were
treated to seven divisions of racing action.
Qualifying started with time trials for the
Charger division's 30-lap double-point race. A total of 16
Chargers took time. Chris Turbush set fast time for the day,
turning a lap of 13.287. Time trials were followed by three
Super Pro Truck heat races, two Legends heats and three heats
for the Modifieds.
The day's feature racing began with the
Super Pro Trucks, boasting the largest-ever turnout for the
division with 21 trucks on hand, and 20 taking the green flag.
The front row for the start consisted of the Edible Arrangements
#95 of Erin Dumicich and the Wesemann's Sand & Mason Supply #5
of Frank Dumicich Sr. Dumicich Sr. got ahead, but Erin Dumicich
stayed alongside and took the lead back on lap 1, with Frank
Dumicich Jr. moving into second in the Stephanie McCormick Fund
#42. Caution came out on lap 5 for an incident that started with
the Eddy's Long Island RV Center #30 of Shaun Gouldsbury and the
Berjan Metal Industries #6 of Gil Smith. Dumicich Jr. got the
lead on the restart and Lou Maestri moved into second in the
Gershow Recycling #1 on lap 6. Caution waved again as the SKP
Racing #22 of Keith Rotzi came to a stop in turn 4. Dumicich Jr.
grabbed the lead on the restart, but caution flew again on lap 7
as the Rheem #88 of Roger Turbush hit the wall on the
backstretch and rode past the pit entrance gate in turn 3 before
coming to a stop. It was decided by the officials to make all
subsequent restarts single-file. Dumicich Jr. once again bolted
to the lead on the restart, and began to encounter lapped
traffic on lap 13. He held on to the lead and went on to win the
race, followed by Maestri and the Nelson's Auto Salvage #97 of
Dave Koenig.
The next division out was the Legends, 20
cars strong. The #37 of Silas Hiscock Jr. and the Sherman Racing
#27 of Tom Sherman made up the front row. The two ran
side-by-side until they exited turn 4 to complete the first full
lap and Hiscock Jr. took the top spot. On lap 10, the #3 of Dan
Pace went around but got it into the infield, so no caution was
necessary. The leaders began encountering lapped traffic on lap
11. No cautions were waved in the race until lap 14, when the
Plycon Van Lines/Plycar #18 of James Pape Jr. went around
between turns 1 and 2. Hiscock Jr. had a good start, and held
his lead as the remainder of the race went caution-free. He
visited Victory Lane for the second time in as many weeks.
Sherman came across the line second, followed by the Eveready
Motorsports #94 of Tony Naglieri.
The Blunderbust feature followed, with 19
cars taking the green flag for a 20-lap event. The Lakewood Used
Auto Parts #7 of Tom Sullivan took the lead from the pole
starting spot, while Rob Bader shot to second in the Robert's
Express Fuel Oil #19. On lap 6, Bader passed Sullivan, taking
the lead. Bill Wegmann came to second in the Crackerjack Auto
Supply #79, and Joe Pingitore moved into third in the J & C Auto
Salvage #76. On lap 7, Jessica Larsen spun coming off of turn 2
in the Constant Performance #29, and caution came out. Bader
took the lead on the restart, but was then passed by Pingitore,
with Wegmann taking second. Wegmann took the lead coming across
the line on lap 8. The two battled side-by-side until Wegmann
was finally able to command the position with Pingitore settling
in behind on lap 10. Lapped traffic came into play on lap 13.
Coming out of turn 2, the leaders made contact, and both
Pingitore and Wegmann went up to the wall, with Paul Parisi
inheriting the lead in the Gibson's Auto Center #69x and Ray
Shannon coming to second in the Centereach Transmissions #64. No
caution was thrown, as everyone pulled away. As the laps wound
down, Bader moved himself back into the second position. On the
white-flag lap, however, Bader would make a daring attempt to
recapture the lead and it ended up costing him, as he lost
several positions. Parisi captured his second career victory,
with Scott Maliszewski finishing second in the #22 and Shannon
taking third.
Next out was the Charger feature, with 18
cars taking to the track for a 30-lap double-point race.
Chargers started straight-up out of time, with no redraw,
placing Chris Turbush on the pole in the Spano Floors #81.
Turbush battled the Gershow Recycling #89x of Chris McGuire,
which started on the outside pole, but took the lead. The
leaders started coming up on lapped traffic on lap 5. The green
flag waved until lap 20, when the Biltor Welding & Erection #57
of Thore Foss came to a stop on the frontstretch. Turbush stayed
out front on the restart, and the leaders began to encounter
lapped traffic again on lap 26. With two laps remaining in the
event, the Riverhead Building Supply #66 of Timmy Solomito and
the Tarr Home Improvements + #30 of Daryn Miller made contact,
but both continued and no caution was thrown. The top three
finishers in the race were exactly as they had been last week,
with Turbush emerging victorious, McGuire second, and Steve
Ratti third in the James Becht Builders #37.
It was then time for action at the "X", as
12 Figure 8 cars took to the track to battle for the Cromarty
Cup in a 25-lap double-point race. The Blast-It Sandblasting #74
of Carl Baxter started on the pole, with the DeMartino
Enterprises #00 of Tom Graff on the outside. The #27 of Scott
Pedersen got sideways on the start and came to a stop, bringing
out an immediate caution. At the second attempt to start, Baxter
took the lead. Before the first lap was completed, Baxter went
around and the #34 of Arne Pedersen made contact with him. As a
result, Graff inherited the lead, with the Mike's Auto Service
#13 of Mike Mujsce Sr. on the outside. Graff got the jump on the
restart, but caution came out on lap 3, as the Constant
Performance #37 of Jessica Larsen stalled at the "X". Graff
again took the lead on the restart. By lap 6, Roger Maynor had
worked his way to second in the Barrasso & Sons Mason Supply
#28. Maynor passed Graff for the top spot, building a sizeable
lead by lap 11. Maynor crossed the line first for his
third consecutive Cromarty Cup win, which was also his 88th
career victory. Graff finished second, followed by the PS Racing
#63 of Paul Specht.
The Late Models took to the track next with
a 14-car field. Jarrod Hayes started on the pole in the Complete
Landscaping #08, with the #98 of Doug Wholey to the outside. On
the start, the two came across the line side-by-side, but Hayes
nudged out front, bringing the Ranco Sand & Stone #10 of Scott
Kulesa with him to second. On lap 6, Kulesa pulled up alongside
Hayes and the two battled for the lead. As the leaders began to
approach lapped traffic, the Sherwin-Williams Paints #51 of
Artie Pedersen Jr. went around in turn 4, bringing out the
caution. Under caution, Hayes was forced to pit from the lead
with a right front fender that needed attention, handing the
lead to Kulesa. Wholey was moved into second, with the Helman
Group #39 of Roger Oxee coming to third. Hayes' crew made the
necessary repairs in the pits, but Hayes was forced to rejoin
the field in 12th. On lap 8, Buzzy Eriksen brought the
Harley-Davidson of Nassau #68 to third. Eriksen grabbed the
second spot on lap 14, with Oxee charging to third. By this
time, Kulesa was leading by roughly half of a straightaway.
Kulesa passed under the checkers first, with Eriksen second and
Oxee third. It was Kulesa's 11th career victory.
The final event of the night was the 35-lap
Modified feature. Wayne Anderson, after suffering a hard impact
the week before, started on the pole in the Eastport Feeds #15.
Anderson took the lead on the start, with Dave Sapienza coming
to second in the Flemington Fur Company #36. By lap 7, the
leaders began to encounter lapped traffic. Anderson built a
sizeable lead, with a six-car pack trailing him. The first and
only caution of the race came on lap 28, for the #13 of Kevin
Orlando that went around in turn 1. Anderson had a good restart,
and the first three cars to cross the line were Anderson,
Sapienza and the Double Diamond Realty #23 of Justin Bonsignore.
The win marked Anderson's 31st NASCAR Modified victory at
Riverhead.
And the Word Around the
Pits...
In the Super Pro Trucks, it seems that
Anthony Daleo can't catch a break. Daleo had motor problems in
his heat race, possibly blowing the motor. It was the second
week in a row that the driver had issues.
For Frank Dumicich Sr.'s birthday, his
teammate children gave him quite the surprise. Erin and
Frank Jr. apparently stole their father's Super Pro Truck out of
his trailer this past Tuesday, and stayed up until roughly 2 am
giving the truck a new look. They returned it to the trailer on
Wednesday, and gave him a shocking gift.
The Legends feature this week saw last
week's winner start on the pole, something that is essentially
unheard of in other divisions. The Legends division does not
handicap their cars, and starting positions are based on a plain
and simple "luck of the draw." The drivers all draw numbers
prior to the heat races to determine their starting spots. One
would guess that Silas Hiscock Jr. must feel pretty lucky.
This week, Joe Sole flew up from Florida to
run in the Legends race. He plans to make the trip for as many
races as he can during the remainder of the season.
Unfortunately for Sole, he was plagued with issues on his car
all day long, and he opted not to start the feature.
Blunderbust driver Joe Pingitore signed a
new sponsor to help in his 2008 effort. Coming aboard with
Pingitore is Tony The Crab King.
With all of the ribbing that Tom Sullivan
takes about his misfortune with all things mechanical, he seemed
to have gotten the monkey off of his back, at least for a week.
Sullivan finished 7th in this week's race. Since he did not have
any problems, Tom Slee was able to step into the #71 Blunderbust,
which is actually Slee's own car, renumbered for Sullivan to use
"just in case."
Rob Bader's second Blunderbust car was
renumbered with a 12 this week, and run by Enduro competitor
Greg Zaleski. This is the second different driver in the car in
as many weeks.
Dan Turbush, after having a kidney removed
just over a week ago, was spotted walking around Riverhead
Raceway this weekend. Dan was given a ride out to Victory Lane
to take part in son Chris' celebration.
Artie Pedersen Jr. returned in the #51 Late
Model, which suffered serious rear end damage during the first
practice day in April. Since he sold his Blunderbust car last
week, Pedersen seemed more than happy to have something to
drive. The former #1 Blunderbust was not in the pits today.
Some people in the pits today were
questioning whether or not Wayne Anderson was driving was a
back-up car, since he had quite a bit of damaged equipment after
he hit the wall last week. According to Wayne in Victory Lane,
he was indeed driving the same car as last week, which his crew
had worked on all week. Wayne is supposed to be featured in an
article in Full Throttle Hot Road Magazine, written by
LongIslandJam.com's own junior reporter, Danielle McCormack.
Details will be posted on LongIslandJam.com.
LongIslandJam.com's photographer, Mike
Mercurio, said goodbye tonight as he prepares to head down to
North Carolina. We all wish Mike the best of luck and much
happiness in any endeavors he pursues.
As a reminder, the Super Pro Truck race
originally scheduled for Sunday, May 25th as part of the
Memorial Day weekend double-header has been moved to Saturday,
May 24th.
Things They Say in
Victory Lane...
"I wanted to race her (Erin) 'till the end
on the outside. It would have been fun." -Frank Dumicich Jr.
"I'm really surprised after being a little rusty, but I'm so
happy." -Silas Hiscock Jr.
"It took me eight years to get my first win. This is the second
one. It's unbelievable. Unbelievable." -Paul Parisi
"We did a lot of work in the winter time and we got this
thing going again. And I got big horsepower in this car too." -Chris
Turbush
"The oval is great, but you've got to have eyes in the back of
your head running the 8." -Roger Maynor
"After that, it was pretty clear sailing. Those are nice nights,
that's for sure." -Scott Kulesa
"I told the guys off the get-go it should be a good car." -Wayne
Anderson
Source:
Tracy Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
May 10, 2008
