Competitors and fans were greeted by overcast skies for the
Father's Day racing program, keeping temperatures down while the
racing action heated up. A full day of racing was on the
schedule, with Legends car, One-on-One Spectator Drags, and a
Car Rollover Contest accompanying six Enduro events.
The day began with heat races for the Legends cars, with 22
cars taking the green flag in one of two heat races to determine
18 starting spots. The heat races were won by Michael Gervais
Jr. and Dan Pace.
In order to give the Legends drivers time to prepare for
their feature event, the Grand Enduro was run next. The Carasiti
Magic #39 of Don Carasiti started on the pole, with the #8 of
Fred Nolan on the outside. On lap 1, Nolan came across the line
first, followed by Carasiti and the Flanders Automotive #58 of
Donny "Boom Boom" Oliver. On lap 1, the #16 of Ray Fitzgerald
charged to the lead following a three-wide battle that included
Carasiti and Nolan. Nolan fell into second, while Oliver grabbed
the third spot. Oliver moved into second on lap 2, while the RP
Distinctive Landscapes #5 of Frank Martines moved into third. By
lap 9, the Blue Point Auto Body #28 of Joe Parcelluzzi passed
both Martines and Oliver and took over second. Fitzgerald was
already into heavy lapped traffic by lap 10. By lap 20, the
Flanders Automotive #56 of Robin Vollmoeller Sr. was up to
third. On lap 28, the AAA Firewood & Mulch #41 of Jamie Curtis
spun on the backstretch and was tagged by Parcelluzzi, ending
his day with heavy front end damage. Fitzgerald put the 5th
place BV Sprinklers #20 of Bobby Pease a lap down on lap 37.
Fitzgerald continued to weave his way through lapped traffic,
winning the 50-lap event. Vollmoeller finished second, followed
by the #59 of John Cozza.
Next up were the One-on-One Spectator Drags, which included
veteran Blunderbust driver Tommy "The Wild Child" Walkowiak in a
van. When the single elimination rounds were complete, Baldwin's
Mark Carrao came out on top in a black 1991 Pontiac Firebird.
The Legends took to the track next. By virtue of their
finishing positions in their heat race, the #3 of Dan Pace sat
on the pole, with the Malone Racing #47 of Mike Malone on the
outside pole. Pace took the lead right from the start.
Three-time feature winner Silas Hiscock Jr. in the #37 quickly
made his way through the field, taking over third on lap 2. On
lap 5, Hiscock went to the outside of Malone for second, taking
over the position on lap 6. On lap 7, the Nowak Racing #53 of
Kevin Nowak spun, but got corrected and no caution was thrown.
Meanwhile, Hiscock and Malone were again waging a side-by-side
battle for second. On lap 10, the Automatic Printing & Mailing
Services #88 of John Beatty went around between turns 1 and 2,
drawing the caution, while the DiCanio Stump Removal #83 of Greg
DiCanio spun in a unrelated incident. The restart on lap 10 saw
Pace in first, with Hiscock in second. Pace again shot
out front, but the caution came out again on lap 11 for the #8
of John Gloor IV, which had come to a stop between turns 1 and 2
with suspension problems. The single-file restart allowed Pace
to remain out front. On lap 14, there were side-by-side battles
going on behind Pace and Hiscock for both the third and fifth
positions. Pace went on to take the checkers, followed by
Hiscock and Malone. In post-race tech, however, Pace was
disqualified, with Hiscock Jr. collecting his third win in five
races for the division. Malone was credited with second, while
third went to the Snap-On #15NY of rookie Timmy Solomito.
A total of 26 4/6 cylinder trucks then filed onto the
raceway for their race. Troy Mueller started on the pole in the
#66, with the #77 of Joe Santacroce on the outside pole. Mueller
took the early lead, while the #7 of Rich Onorato shot into
second. Onorato wasted no time getting to the front, as he made
an inside move for the lead on lap 1. By lap 8, the Chapel Auto
Wrecking "Snot Rocket" #0 of Russ Jansen was up to second, with
the Hampton Fleet Service #9 of Tommy Walkowiak in third. On lap
16, Walkowiak took over second after an intense side-by-side
battle with Jansen. On lap 18, Onorato spun, enabling Walkowiak
to grab the lead. At the halfway point of the event, only six
trucks were out of the race. On lap 34, Walkowiak spun, coming
through a mud puddle left in the infield by the previous night's
rain, moving the Peconic Auto Repair #34 of Woot Lawrence into
the top spot. Walkowiak spun for a second time on lap 40,
hindering his attempt to charge back to the front. Lawrence went
on to score the in, followed by the Gregor Racing #45 of Ben
Gregor and the #02 of Shawn Wanat.
The first stock 8 cylinder event was out next. The #1 of
Dominic Ranieri Jr. shot out to the lead on the start. By lap 2,
the #11 of David Antos had moved into second, with the #3 of
Robin Schewire in third. By lap 3, Ranieri was already
encountering heavy lapped traffic. Ten cars were out of the race
by lap 20. On lap 28, a lapped car would get sideways in front
of Ranieri, bringing his car almost to a complete stop as
Ranieri attempted to push by it. According to the scoreboard,
this put the #20 of Ed Brown Jr. into the lead. On lap 32, the
#12 of Sean Fitzpatrick got sideways on the backstretch and was
tagged by several other cars. Fitzpatrick's car was stopped
lengthwise across the track, blocking a good portion of the
backstretch and making it a challenge for the rest of the field
to scramble high or low to avoid hitting it. On lap 53, Brown
went around, presumably passing the lead to the #16 of Dege
Russell. By lap 60, there were 19 cars in the infield, with 18
cars still running. Russell went on to win the race, with
Ranieri claiming second and Schewire taking third.
The Car Rollover Contest was next, and was won by Joe Marko.
Marko accumulated a total of 18 points in his three attempts at
the ramp, beating out Jason Savoy for the win.
Next was the 6 cylinder race. The #1 of Gene Burbol claimed
the lead at the start, with the #3 of Bob Haeger taking second.
The #7 of Shawn Wanat went to the outside to take over the
second spot on lap 11. Wanat took the lead on the outside on lap
12, as the leaders moved into heavy lapped traffic and Burbol
made contact with a lapped car. Haeger claimed the second spot
once again. At the halfway point, only two cars were out of the
race. On lap 25, Haeger was in the lead, with Wanat running
second. On lap 26, however, Wanat captured the lead again. Wanat
held the lead to win the race, followed by Haeger and the #8 of
Jeffrey Gregor.
The 4 cylinder cars took to the track next. The #1 of Bryan
Gregor grabbed the lead at the drop of the green, but the #6 of
Robert Endlekofer shot into the second spot on the initial lap.
On lap 21, a lapped car went around in turn 2 and narrowly
missed collecting the event leader. On lap 23, however, Gregor
spun on the backstretch, and he would go on to spin a second
time several laps later. At lap 40, there were seven cars in the
infield and two cars sitting stopped against the turn 3 pit
gate. According to the scoreboard, Endlekofer was in the lead at
this time. Endlekofer won the event, with the #3 of Bob Haeger
taking second and the #5 of Anthony Pizzo finishing third.
The final event of the day was the second 8-cylinder race.
The #1 of Daniel Pizzo took the lead at the start. However, the
#2 of Dominic Ranieri Jr. went to the outside and came across
the line first at lap 2. By lap 12, the #20 of Ed Brown Jr.
worked his way into second. On lap 14, Brown moved to the inside
of Ranieri, looking to take the lead. Brown captured the top
spot on the following lap. On lap 21, the #3 of Dege Russell,
looking to move into second, forced Ranieri to go three wide
with a lapped car between the two of them, and Russell came out
in second. By lap 30, Brown was roughly half a track ahead of
Russell. Forty laps into the event, only two cars had retired to
the infield. On lap 43, Brown lapped the third place car of
Ranieri. Brown continued on to claim victory, while Russell
finished second and Ranieri finished third.
And the Word Around the Pits...
Good car counts continued for the Legends division, with 22 cars
on hand. The decision was made to limit the field for the
feature to 18 cars, making for some great heat race action.
Because the Legends draw for position for their heats rather
than using a handicapping system, their feature lineup is based
on finishing spots from the heat races. This made for some
exciting racing in the heats, as four drivers were going to have
to pack it up without running in the feature.
Veteran Mike Malone returned in the gold #47, making his
first start since a heavy crash in the season opener. Malone was
just as fast this race as he had been prior to the early season
incident, coming away with a solid finish.
The Legends now have a week off, and return for a Saturday
night show on June 28th. The division has already run five of
their eight scheduled races, and they are scheduled to be off
for the entire month of July.
Elaine Vollmoeller was again selling 50/50 tickets to raise
money for the Grand Enduro division. This week's winner was
Tammy Norwich.
Miss NEETS Cindy Bott, who was on hand to score for none
other than Richard Petey, had flyers for the scheduled NEETS
race at Grandview. The dirt track racing is set to include a 100
lap race each for big cars and small cars. If more than 30
trucks are on hand, they will also run a 100 lap event. If there
are fewer than 30 trucks, their event will be 50 laps. The
scheduled date in Sunday, July 20. More details are available on
the NEETS web site at
www.neetsracing.com.
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
June 16, 2008
