Before I start my
recap of events from the May 24 racing card, I must first
publicly thank Riverhead Raceway Handicapper Christie Wanat for
her help on Saturday. Without her efforts, this recap would not
have been possible.
Now let’s talk some racing. In front of the largest crowd so far
this season, heat races were run for three divisions. #19 PJ
Vecchio and #2 John Denniston ( by a nose over #95 Erin
Dumicich) earned wins in the Super Pro Truck division while #4
Tom Pickerell and #79 Bill Wegmann bested the Blunderbust field.
Modified heat races were won by #72 Ken Heagy, #17x Rusty
Turbush and #3 Mike Andrews.
The first feature event of the evening was the 20-lap Super Pro
Truck race. #19 PJ Vecchio was on the pole while #65 Mike Power
started on the outside pole. The initial green flag was dropped
lazily by Head Starter “Smokey” Boken as the #19 of Vecchio
jumped a little early. The trucks would then have a complete
restart. #65 Mike Power raced his way into the lead while #2
“JYD” John Denniston worked his way past Vecchio for second. The
next caution was for Frank Dumicich Jr in the #09 (normally
driven by Tom Kraft) as he hit the turn 1 wall a ton on lap 4.He
was a victim of real hard racing between three other trucks and
Frank just had nowhere to go. Hard luck for Frank Jr as he had
problems in his own #42 during heat race action, which relegated
him to #09.The trucks would restart with #65 Power on the pole,
but now #2 John Denniston on his outside. This duo would race
side by side for two laps until #97 “Dangerous” Dave Koenig made
hard contact with the turn 3 wall as he had a right front tire
go down on lap 6.Once again on the restart it was Power and
Denniston racing side by side until the #22 of Keith Rotzi lost
some fluid in turns 1 and 2 bringing caution back out on lap 7
for an extensive clean up. Track officials made the call for
single file restarts the rest of the way. #2 John Denniston
would try everything he could to get by Power over the next few
laps, but now had to deal with #88 Roger Turbush himself.
Turbush was strong and overtook Denniston on lap 15 and set his
sights on #65 Power. A lap 17 a spin involving Denniston and #95
Erin Dumicich brought out the final caution of the race and set
the stage for an all out battle between Power and Turbush to see
who would get their first career victory. #88 Turbush made a
move to the inside of #65 Power on the restart ,but his truck
slipped a bit opening the door for fast approaching #41 Wayne
Meyer. Turbush, although a rookie really drove like a seasoned
veteran by backing out a little to save not only his truck but
also Power and Meyer’s trucks. #41 Meyer continued to pursue
Power but ran out of time as the checkered flag flew and
Riverhead Raceway had another first time career winner added to
the record books as #65 Mike Power took down the win followed by
#41 Meyer,#88 Turbush,#1 Lou Maestri , and #2 John Denniston
rounding out the top 5.
Next up was the 20 lap Blunderbust feature.#4 “Slick Pick” Tom
Pickerell and # 76 Joe Pingitore led the field of 21 Blunderbust
cars to the green flag. This race also had very early caution as
#29 Jessica Larsen, #19 Rob Bader and # 00 Tommy Walkowiak came
together on the back straightway while#69 “Pistol” Paul Parisi
and #7 ”Turbo” Tom Sullivan got locked together in between turns
1 and 2.All cars had to pit except Parisi.#4 Pickerell and #76
Pingitore would once again bring the field to green when on lap
2,#00 Tommy Walkowiak would spin in turn 3 with his second right
rear flat of the evening. The following restart would see #61
Chris Busick make his presence known by moving into the 3rd
position behind Pickerell and Pingitore. Over the next few laps
#61 Busick flexed his muscle and moved past #76 Pingitore for
2nd and then a few laps later challenged #4 Pickerell for the
lead. After a few side by side laps, #61 Busick prevailed and
took over the race lead, while Pickerell held down the second
spot. Busick would build a 3 car length lead over Pickerell
while the best racing was happening for 3rd,4th and 5th between
#76 Pingitore,#79 Bill Wegmann and #22 Scott Maliszewski as the
three drivers would race as hard and clean as possible while
exchanging those positions. When the dust settled, the #61 of
Chris Busick took down the win followed by #4 Pickerell, #79
Wegmann, #22 Maliszewski and #76 Pingitore rounding out the top
5. Interesting note: the “Wild Child” Tommy Walkowiak was a DNF
after suffering rear end problems with a broken trailing arm
that caused his rear end to “walk” around under the #00.
The Charger feature was next on the schedule with the #13
Garrett Fabrizio and #66 Timmy Solomito pacing the field. #13
Fabrizio would take the early lead while #30 Daryn Miller and
#66 Solomito would battle for second. By lap 3, #57 Thore Foss
and #37 Steve Ratti would work by Solomito. Lap 4 was the first
caution as #4 Chris Fabrizio spun in turn 4 with a flat left
rear tire. #13 Fabrizio and #30 Miller would bring the field to
the next restart. #57 Thore Foss would move past the two leaders
and take the lead himself just before the #30 of Miller would
bring out the next caution with a spin after some contact from
another car on the front stretch on lap 5. #57 Foss and #13
Fabrizio would lead the field to the next green flag with the
#37 Steve Ratti in hot pursuit. Lap 6 would see another caution
as #81 Chris Turbush spun in turn two with some help. The next
restart saw #57 Foss face his toughest challenge of the evening
up to that point with #37 Ratti now lined up on the outside.#57
Foss had a great restart and resumed leading the race until a
lap 8 caution for a spin involving #37 Ratti and #13 Fabrizio.
Once again the officials were forced to make a decision that
single file restarts would take place the remainder of the race.
#57 Foss now lead #66 Timmy Solomito ,#42 Frank Dumicich Jr and
#89 Chris McGuire. The next few laps were exciting as now not
only was #89 McGuire on the move to second, #81 Chris Turbush,
who earlier spun had now worked his way back to 4th. On lap 12,
Daryn Miller stopped in turn 1 along the wall with broken
steering which brought out the caution again. The officials
stated that the time limit was approaching and that the next
caution would essentially end the race. Now Foss had to not only
deal with #89 McGuire on his tail, but #81 Turbush, who had now
worked his way to third. On lap 17 McGuire spun in turn 4 after
giving #57 Foss all he could handle in his attempts take over
the race lead. #89 McGuire kept the car moving so there was no
caution. This now moved #81 Chris Turbush to second, but on lap
#18 McGuire spun again in the same spot as the previous lap.
This time the caution waved and the race was over by virtue of
the time limit after just 18 of the scheduled 20 laps were
complete. #57 Thore Foss would grab his first career victory
much to the delight of his entire neighborhood who were there to
support him wearing as much green as you would see at a typical
St Patrick’s Day Parade. Thore was real excited after the race
and wanted to thank his son Thore for convincing him not to
alter the set-up from the previous week. Thore was followed to
the finish by #81 Turbush,#66 Solomito,#37 Ratti recovering from
that lap 8 spin and #42 Frank Dumicich Jr.
Next up on the evening was the25 lap feature for the Late
Models. #68 Peter “Buzzy” Eriksen and #08 “J-Rod” Jarrod Hayes
would start this race from the front row. They raced side by
side for 3 laps until the #00 Mike Bologna and the #80 John
Gloor lV spun in turn 1 to bring out the first caution. The
restart once again saw #68 Eriksen and #08 Hayes dueling side by
side until #61 Mike Coll worked his way by Hayes for second
bringing #39 Roger Oxee with him past Hayes for third on lap
7.The top 3 cars ran nose to tail until lap 15 when #61 Coll
looked to the inside of #68 Eriksen for the lead and by lap 16
completed the pass. #39 Roger Oxee followed Coll past #68
Eriksen and into second. Oxee would try to get past Coll, but
Coll was too strong. At the end it was #61 Mike Coll collecting
his second career Late Model victory followed by #39 Roger Oxee,
#68 Eriksen, #4 Tom Rogers Jr recovering from an earlier spin,
and #08 J-Rod Hayes rounding out the top 5. #4 Rogers,#98 Doug
Wholey and # 23 Kevin Metzger should all be applauded for their
sportsmanship as they each spun during the race and continued
without drawing a caution flag.
“The 600 Horsepower, Ground Pounding” Modifieds would be up next
for their 35 lap feature even. #72 Ken Heagy and #17x Rusty
Turbush would make up row one, followed by #3 Mike Andrews and
#49 Chris Young.#72 Heagy would win the drag race to the green
flag and take the race lead. After the first lap was complete
#17x Turbush got loose on the high side in turn 2 spinning and
collecting most of the field. #44 Dan Jivanelli and #53 Sean
Patterson both had to be towed off. The ensuing restart had #72
Heagy now paired with #3 Mike Andrews Jr on the front row. #3
Andrews got a great jump on the outside, but contact between the
#23 Justin Bonsignore and #2 JR Bertuccio brought out a caution
as Bertuccio spun with a left rear flat while Bonsignore needed
to replace a flat right front. Back to the next restart where
once again #3 Andrews gets a great restart. #72 Heagy and #3
Andrews made contact with Heagy’s car sailing over the top of
Andrews #3 and into the first turn wall. All but 5 cars in the
field were involved in this crash with #12 Jimmy Blewett
suffering front and rear damage. We also have unconfirmed
reports of a possible broken wrist for “Showtime”. #6 Tom Rogers
Jr and #84 John Fortin assume the front row after the melee was
cleared with #15 Wayne Anderson and #23 Justin Bonsignore right
behind. The next handful of laps were pretty uneventful as #6
Rogers started to open up a lead on #84 Fortin.Lap 15 saw #36
Dave Sapienza and #49 Chris Young both spin in fluid from #3
Mike Andrews car in turn 4 bringing out another caution. The
officials once again decided that a single file restart was
necessary to complete this race safely.#6 Tom Rogers Jr would
lead #84 Fortin to the green flag while the #15 Anderson,#23
Bonsignore,#44 Jivanelli and #20 Bill Park would dice over the
third through fifth positions. Tom Rogers Jr would eventually
bring the #6 home with his first victory of the year followed by
#84 Fortin, #15 Anderson, #23 Bonsignore and #44 Jivanalli, who
was earlier towed off the track taking down fifth place money.
Full Sized School Buses would then enter the track for a 12 lap
Figure 8 race.#47 Slim Jim Donaldson made his 2008 debut at
Riverhead Raceway along with “Cheese Box” Mike Rommeny , Donnie
Fox, ”JYD”John Denniston and “Timmy” Tim Farrell. These guys
really love to put on a show and that is exactly what they did.
There were so many close calls at the”X” that I lost count.
Great race and the kids in the stands really loved it. When the
checkered flag was waved, “Cheese Box” Mike Rommeny would cross
the line just ahead of “Slim Jim” Donaldson to collect the win.
Rommeny wasn’t finished though as he also won the 4 cylinder
Demolition Derby that followed the bus race.
News and Notes:
* #41 SPT Wayne Meyer suffered a bent center link in practice
that was repaired by Hank hillock and crew just in time for the
night’s festivities. Wayne rewarded the crew with a fine 2nd
place finish.
* #81 Chris Turbush and his crew needed to repair a broken rear
end and even had to replace the entire ring and pinion assembly
during practice. Like Meyer, Turbush rewarded his crew with a
2nd place finish in the feature even after an untimely spin on
lap 8.
* #7 “Turbo” Tom Sullivan didn’t even bring the Ford this week,
running the "Slippery Slee" Chevy instead. Tom was involved in
the lap 1 crash and had to settle for a 13th place finish.
* #6 Pinto of Maynard Troyer was on display and even turned some
laps before pacing the Modified feature.
* #84 John Fortin turned some really fast laps in a new car.
Love the blue numbers.
* Speaking of Blewett, how nice are those new shirts. Hope they
come in 3x.Freddie hook me up!
* #53 Legend Kevin Nowak had a hard crash in practice and
suffered major damage. Nowak and crew had their work cut out for
them to get the car ready for Sunday’s race, but the car was
seen driving around the pits around 11:30PM.Hopefully the
repairs are complete.
* #57 Thore Foss was really excited after his victory and wanted
to thank his wife Kathy and 4 sons, Thore, Eann, Tate and future
Modified Tour racer himself 6 year old Hunter who was last seen
trying Dave Sapienza’s modified on for size. Foss was real happy
to have his entire neighborhood on hand to celebrate his first
career triumph. It’s not often you have a neighbor that supports
you, let alone an entire neighborhood. Heck, all my neighbors
ever did was call the town to complain about racecars at the
house.
* Dave ”Wookie” Walters (formerly known as “Rabbit”) had his new
Russell Savoy Built, DASH Racing 4 cylinder Enduro car on hand
for some practice laps to shake the car down in preparation for
its debut Sunday. Walters starts on the pole and is eagerly
awaiting the green flag.
* #00 Tommy Walkowiak and #22 Scott Maliszewski had interesting
responses when I asked them how they were doing early in the
day. They just looked at each other and said “Shake and Bake” a
la Talladega Nights. Now all we need is a nemesis!
That’s it for now. I never realized how much work this reporting
stuff could be. I thank everyone involved who helped make my
debut successful although Tracy Chirico will return with
Sunday’s report and I told her she has used her allotment of
time off!!
Source: Neal Feola
Jr./LongIslandJam.com PR
Posted:
May 25, 2008
