While forecasts as
late as Saturday morning pointed to the possibility of rain in
the early evening hours, the showers held off - literally - just
long enough for drivers and fans at Riverhead to enjoy seven
divisions of racing excitement. This was the second consecutive
week that Riverhead played host to all seven divisions in a
single night.
Qualifying for the
evening's events began with time trials for the 50-lap double
point Late Model race. A total of 16 cars took time, with Kevin
Metzger posting the fastest time of the day, turning a lap of
12.666. Next, there were two Legends heats, followed by three
Modified heat races.
The first feature
event was the Super Pro Truck 20-lap race. Erin Dumicich started
on the pole in the Edible Arrangements #95, with the Raceway
Auto Sales #19 of PJ Vecchio on the outside. Dumicich took the
lead over Vecchio on the start, and the AAA Firewood & Mulch #41
of Wayne Meyer slipped into the third spot. Before the first lap
was complete, Meyer took over the second spot. This set the
stage for an intense battle for the third spot between Vecchio,
Dave Koenig in the Nelson's Auto Salvage #97, and the Hollis
Court Collision #66 of Mike "King of Queens" Albasini. Out
front, Meyer pulled up next to Dumicich on lap 5, and Meyer
captured the lead on lap 7. On lap 11, the leaders began to
encounter lapped traffic. On lap 18, Koenig went around, and was
tagged by several other trucks, drawing the first and only
caution of the race. This set the stage for a
green-white-checker finish. Meyer held his position through the
remaining laps, and went on to collect his second career win.
Erin Dumicich finished second, with Frank Dumicich Jr. third in
the Stephanie McCormick Fund #42.
The Legends cars
took to the track next, with Tom Sherman on the pole in the
Sherman Racing #27 and the #8 of John Gloor IV to the outside.
Before the green flag dropped, Gloor's car made a hard left hand
turn in front of Sherman, causing several cars to stack up
behind him. Gloor was sent to the rear of the field, and a
second attempt at a start was made with the Eveready Motorsports
#94 of Tony Naglieri moving into the outside pole position.
Sherman jumped out front on the start, with Naglieri falling
into the second spot. On lap 3, caution would come out for Gloor,
who was stopped in turn 1 with apparent front suspension damage.
Going back to the last completed lap, Sherman and Naglieri once
again made up the front row. Sherman again bolted out front. On
lap 5, the #37 of Silas Hiscock Jr. looked to the inside of
Naglieri for second, but several cars got together and caution
came out. Naglieri and Hiscock Jr. both suffered serious damage
in the incident, which also involved the #7NY of Silas Hiscock
Sr. and the DiCanio Stump Removal #83 of Greg DiCanio. At this
point, it was decided that all remaining restarts would be
single file. Sherman again restarted from the pole, with the #31
of Michael Gervais Jr. and the Nowak Racing #53 of Kevin Nowak
in tow. On lap 6, Gervais passed Sherman for the lead. Caution
flew again on lap 7, as the #45 of Ben Gregor went around in
turn 2. Gervais held on to the lead on the restart, and Gregor
spun again in turn 2, drawing another caution. Gervais continued
to hold his position on the restart, and went on to collect his
first win of the 2008 season. Sherman finished second for the
second consecutive week, while Nowak collected third place
honors.
Next, 19
Blunderbust cars took to the track for their first 30-lap double
point race of the season. The #6 of Scott Sepe was on the pole,
with the Over the Hill Racing #3 of Doug Watson on the outside
of the front row. Watson made quick work of taking the top spot,
with the Crackerjack Auto Supply #79 of Bill Wegmann moving into
second. On lap 1, the Robert's Express Fuel Oil #19 of Rob Bader
spun and caution came out, but not before several cars caught a
piece of him as they went past. On the restart, Watson had the
inside spot, with Wegmann to his outside. Watson grabbed the
lead by a bumper, but Wegmann put on a fierce battle on the
outside. By lap 4, the Unique Golf Shop #00 of Tommy Walkowiak
moved into third. At the front of the field, Watson and Wegmann
continued to run side-by-side, swapping the lead by a matter of
inches several times on each lap. On lap 7, the J & C Auto
Salvage #76 of Joe Pingitore went around coming out of turn 4,
and the caution would come out on lap 9, as it was deemed that
perhaps Pingitore was too close to the racing surface. On the
last completed lap, Watson had been scored as the leader, giving
him the pole position again for the restart. Watson and Wegmann
took off side-by-side again and Walkowiak attempted to go three
wide, but backed out as the trio came into turn 3. On lap 12,
Watson took sole possession of the lead, with Wegmann falling in
behind but soon being overtaken by Walkowiak. Walkowiak moved to
the inside of Watson on lap 16 and grabbed the top spot. The
leaders came up on lapped traffic at lap 18. Caution came out on
lap 24 for fluid on the track, which had apparently come from
the #77 of Timmy Mulqueen. Walkowiak got a good restart, and
went on to collect his second win of the season. Watson came
across the line in second, with Wegmann third.
On the track next
was the Charger feature, with 15 cars taking the green. The P &
M Door #96 of Frank Scimeca Jr. started on the inside, with the
Mike's Place #23 of Tom Anderson alongside. Scimeca took the
lead on the start, but he spun before a lap was completed.
Caution came out for an incident on the frontstretch that took
out several cars, including the Riverhead Building Supply #66 of
Timmy Solomito and the James Becht Builders #37 of Steve Ratti.
A second attempt was made at a start, with Anderson on the
inside and the Gershow Recycling #89x of Chris McGuire on the
outside. McGuire shot out front on the restart, and Chris
Turbush moved the Spano Floors #81 into the second spot on lap
2. Lapped traffic began to come into play on lap 12. On lap 16,
a lapped car got out of shape in front of McGuire, forcing the
driver to check up, and allowing Turbush to close in on McGuire.
Turbush was unable to get past McGuire, though, and McGuire went
on to take the checkers. Turbush finished second, followed by
the Biltor Welding & Erection #57 of Thore Foss.
The 50-lap double
point Late Model race was next to the track, with 16 cars in the
field that started straight up out of time. The pole position
was occupied by the Metzger Racing #23 of Kevin Metzger, who was
joined on the front row by the Ranco Sand & Stone #10 of Scott
Kulesa. The duo ran side-by-side on the start, with Metzger
pulling out front coming out of turn 2 on the first lap. The
leaders encountered the first lapped car on lap 7. Several
heated battles were taking place behind the leaders, including
one between the #66 of Rob Tribuzio and the #61 of Mike Coll for
the fifth spot. Heavy lapped traffic came into play on lap 19,
as the leaders threaded their way through. On lap 24, the #98 of
Doug Wholey would make contact with the lapped #75 of Sean Case,
with the duo coming into the infield with the nose of Wholey's
car underneath the back of Case's #75. There was no caution and
Wholey returned to the racing surface in fourth, losing only one
spot in the process. The Unique Golf Shop #4 of Tom Rogers Jr.
inherited the third position. On lap 27, caution waved as the
Harley Davidson of Nassau County #68 of Peter "Buzzy" Eriksen
came to a stop against the wall between turns 1 and 2. Metzger
continued to lead the way on the restart, followed by Kulesa.
The Denelex #35 of Ken Alfano went around on lap 34, but Alfano
got himself righted and no caution was thrown. The leaders again
came into lapped traffic on lap 38. On lap 39, Kulesa spun from
the second position coming out of turn 4 and the caution came
out. Metzger again remained out front on the restart, followed
by Rogers. Caution waved again on lap 43 as the #61 of Mike Coll
went around in turn 4. Metzger got another good restart, and
went on to win the event, the 10th win of his career. Rogers
crossed the line second, followed by Wholey.
The next feature
out was the Modifieds, with 21 cars starting the event. The WPW
Growers #98x of Dave Brigati was on the pole, with Dave Sapienza
on the outside in the Flemington Fur Company #36. After
completing hot laps, both the #12 of Jimmy Blewett and the #3 of
Mike Andrews Jr. went to the pits, but both returned for the
start of the race. Brigati took the lead right off the start,
with Sapienza falling into the second position. John Fortin
moved the SGS Stoneworks #84 into third on lap 4, and he took
over the second spot on lap 7. Brigati and Fortin ran in a
two-car breakaway, and began to encounter heavy lapped traffic
on lap 22. The first caution of the race came on lap 23, as the
#26 of Dave Roys Jr. and the AXA Financial #53 of Sean Patterson
both spun. Brigati continued to lead on the restart, as he and
Fortin distanced themselves from the field. Caution flew again
on lap 31 for the Gershow Recycling #2 of JR Bertuccio, which
went sideways in turn 4 with a right rear flat. Brigati got a
good restart, but Fortin was right on his rear bumper. When the
checkered flag flew, Brigati reached it first, followed by
Fortin and the Savin #11x of Chuck Steuer.
A field of 14
Figure 8 cars then took to the track for the final feature of
the night. The Double Zero Racing team made up the front row,
with the DeMartino Enterprises #0x of Tom Ferrara on the inside
and the DeMartino Enterprises #00 of Tom Graff on the outside.
Ferrara took the lead on the start, and the Mike's Auto Service
#13 of Mike Mujsce wasted little time moving into the second
spot. The first caution of the event came on lap 6. Ferrara
again moved out front on the restart, and Mujsce then battled
with the Blast-It Sandblasting #74 of Carl Baxter for second. On
lap 9, Mujsce spun in the "X" but got himself turned back around
and no caution was thrown. The Barrasso & Sons Mason Supply #28
of Roger Maynor took the second spot from Baxter on lap 16.
Caution waved on lap 16, as Graff and the #3 of Ralph Tasso made
contact. Ferrara continued to lead the way on the restart, but
he had Maynor to contend with right behind him. Maynor made a
last-lap charge for the lead, but Ferrara held him off and went
on to collect his second career victory. Maynor crossed the line
second, with Baxter third.
And the Word
Around the Pits...
The Super Pro Truck
field was down a few trucks compared to last week, but still had
a sizeable count. Missing in action was the #28 of Anthony Daleo,
who suffered from motor problems in both of the first two races.
Also missing were the #30 of Shaun Gouldsbury and the #43 of
Bobby Jones.
Wayne Meyer wanted
to be news this week, and he certainly was. Meyer took down the
second win of his career in the 20-lap Super Pro Truck race.
During his victory lap, Meyer attempted to do a burnout, but the
throttle stuck and he ended up hitting one of the tow trucks in
the infield. It's an uncommon sight when a driver has to walk to
Victory Lane to give their interview, but Meyer was ecstatic to
have won anyway.
Joe Sole once again
flew up from Florida to take part in the Legends feature. After
replacing the motor this week, Sole continued to suffer
mechanical woes, including clutch problems and power steering
issues. He was able to start the feature this week, though,
something he wasn't able to do last week.
Legends driver
Kevin Nowak has been racking up seat time whenever he can. This
past Wednesday, the driver ran at Waterford, collecting a 12th
place finish. He also made a nice "save" after he and "DownTown"
Brian Brown were cut off on the road and his trailer jack-knifed
into the right rear wheel of his truck. In tonight's racing,
Nowak collected his second top three finish at Riverhead this
year. Both of those finishes have come from a starting position
towards the rear of the field, since Nowak is a rookie. He may
very well be a force to contend with next week, once the draw is
no longer adjusted for rookies and the driver could start up
front.
The Legends
division had some discussions that led to a revision in their
system of drawing for starting position. The division does not
use a traditional handicapping system, and their draw system
allowed for the opening night winner Silas Hiscock Jr. to start
on the pole for last week's feature, which he also won. The
group agreed that any driver winning a feature would not be able
to start any higher up than fifth for the remainder of the
season. Hiscock Jr. started the race fifth, as he would have
been on the outside pole.
Blunderbust driver
Tom Sullivan's monkey must have found its way back to his back
this week. Sullivan ended up running Tom Slee's car (which he
has been bringing to the track for a back-up) after having
engine issues with his own #7 early in the day. Sullivan
collected a top ten finish in the back-up car.
For the second
consecutive week, Grand Enduro driver Greg Zaleski was the
"guest driver" of Rob Bader's second Blunderbust car. Zaleski
started 17th and finished 5th in the car, which is still for
sale.
After having
identical first place through third place finishes for the first
two weeks, the finish looked slightly different in the Charger
division this week. Chris Turbush and Chris McGuire swapped the
top two positions. Last week's third place finisher Steve Ratti,
however, was not as fortunate. The first lap incident Ratti was
involved in was serious enough to require a double wrecker.
Rob Tribuzio was
back up from Georgia and made an appearance in his #66 in the
Late Model feature. Tribuzio had the fifth fastest time in
qualifying, but would finish 14th in the race.
The top ten in the
Late Model race included rookies Artie Pedersen Jr. and John
Gloor IV. Pedersen started 15th and finished 8th, while Gloor
started 13th and finished 9th.
There were several
cars in the Modified division making their first trips to
Riverhead for the 2008 season. Jimmy Blewett ran the #12 (so Ken
Heagy's car was renumbered to #72), while Sean Patterson's #53
made its 2008 debut and Joe Hartmann was on hand with the #05.
When the Modified
race was over, the gate was held closed while officials put a
durometer on the competitors' tires. Both during the offseason
and since the season started, drivers in all divisions have been
told that no soaking will be tolerated, and the process that
officials are using to enforce this was explained in detail
right here on LongIslandJam.com (http://www.longislandjam.com/news/2008/newsmain/news042808b.htm).
It was an obvious sign of how seriously the tire situation is
being policed so far in 2008.
Both Stephen
Stadler in the #6 and Will Farrell in the #16 made their first
Figure 8 starts of 2008. Farrell started 14th and finished 7th.
Stadler was not as fortunate, as he started 13th but was the
first car out with what appeared from the grandstands to be an
overheating problem. Stadler is sponsored by the Air National
Guard 106th Rescue, and bears a paint job that looks very
similar to Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s National Guard paint scheme.
In other news, it
has been brought to our attention that Long Island Need for
Speed's Kevin Bacik is supplying video clips and some
information regarding each week's races to News12 on weeks when
he is at Riverhead Raceway. According to Bacik, this will be
included in the sports report each Sunday at 10:20 p.m. Bacik
also informs us that Long Island Need for Speed is
seeking sponsors for the show. For more information, contact
Kevin at kvbac1@aol.com.
Things They Say
in Victory Lane...
"I went to do a
burnout, let off the gas, and it was ON!" -Wayne Meyer
"I felt pretty good about the car today. I just want to thank my
dad for giving me a good car." -Michael Gervais Jr.
"I thought Scott (Maliszewski) was trying to sabotage me because
he gave me the rear and it was nothing but a heartache." -Tommy
Walkowiak
"I wasn't going to be second again." -Chris McGuire
"It's never easy to win here." -Kevin Metzger
"The respect he gave me tonight is what I'll give him the rest
of the season." -Dave Brigati
In order to win, you've got to beat the best, and I couldn't do
it without the guys that help me out." -Tom Ferrara
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
May 17, 2008
