A good-sized crowd was on hand to enjoy the beautiful weather
and racing action during Riverhead's annual salute to law
enforcement. Fans were treated to a sizeable display of assorted
police vehicles in the parking lot, as well as on the track
doing parade laps with the various divisions and participating
in an on-track ceremony.
With four regular racing divisions on hand, it was decided
that the Blunderbusts, Chargers, and Modifieds would all run
heat races. While all of the Blunderbusts and Chargers were
qualified for their respective features, the heats were used to
determine which cars would be handicapped for their races, and
what order the remaining cars would run in. Two heats were held
for each of these divisions. These were followed by three
Modified heats and a Modified consi, as 22 cars were on hand and
only 20 would be able to start the feature.
The Blunderbusts were the first feature event of the evening.
The front row consisted of the TS Motorsports #41 of Terry
Stiles on the inside and the Constant Performance #29 of Jessica
Larsen on the outside. Stiles took the lead at the drop of the
green, with Larsen battling on the outside. Ray Shannon took
advantage of this in the Centereach Transmissions #64, as he
moved to the inside of Larsen for second on lap 1. Shannon
quickly moved to the inside of Stiles and the two came across
the line side-by-side, but Shannon grabbed the lead in turns 1
and 2 on lap 2. On lap 5, Larsen appeared to slide in some fluid
in turns 3 and 4, sending the car sideways in front of the
field. The Robert's Express Fuel Oil #19 of Rob Bader, having
nowhere to go, ended up in the driver's side of Larsen's car,
with several other cars scrambling and making minor contact or
spinning. On the restart, Shannon and Stiles sat on the front
row, with the Gibson's Auto Center #69x of Paul Parisi and the
BAM's Auto Body #32 of Eddie Mistretta behind them. Shannon
moved ahead of Stiles coming into turn 1. Parisi came to the
inside of Stiles to take second on lap 6. That same lap, the
Unique Golf #00 of Tommy Walkowiak came to the inside of Stiles
for third. Walkowiak continued his march to the front, passing Parisi for second on lap 7. On the next lap, the Service Master
Clean #61 of Chris Busick came to third. As the race hit the
halfway mark, Walkowiak got on the inside of Shannon, grabbing
the lead on lap 10. Busick followed Walkowiak to take second.
With two laps to go, Parisi had moved back up to the third spot.
By this time, however, Walkowiak and Busick pulled away from the
field, with nearly a full straightaway lead over Parisi.
Busick's car began to smoke heavily on the white flag lap, and
Busick had to settle for second, as Walkowiak collected his
fourth win of the season. Parisi finished third.
The Chargers were the next feature to hit the raceway. On the
pole was the P&M Door #88 of Frank Scimeca Jr., who was driving
his father's car. The Uncle Guiseppe's #30 of Daryn Miller
started on the outside pole. Miller got the lead on the start,
and a good battle for second shaped up behind him between
Scimeca and the #42 of Frank Dumicich Jr. While Dumicich fought
on the outside, however, the James Becht Builders #37 of Steve
Ratti took advantage of the inside line and took third on lap 1,
then quickly grabbing second. Chris McGuire moved into third in
the Gershow Recycling #89x on lap 3, with the Chris Mohr
Landscaping #81 of Chris Turbush following McGuire to take
fourth on lap 4. Miller had built a comfortable lead, but Ratti
moved within striking distance by lap 8. Miller got loose coming
off of turn 2 on lap 10, but Ratti apparently backed out of the
throttle, allowing Miller to straighten out. This enabled
McGuire and Turbush to close the gap between themselves and the
leaders. With the top four cars running in tight quarters, Ratti
made contact with Miller coming off of turn 4 on lap 18 and both
cars veered towards the infield, losing their positions on the
racing surface. This passed the lead to McGuire. McGuire went on
to win the race, followed by Turbush and Ratti. Because of his
incident with Miller, Ratti was credited with finishing one spot
behind Miller, placing him ninth in the final rundown. The Biltor
Welding & Erection #57 of Thore Foss was credited with third.
Next on the track was the ceremony for the New York State
Fraternal Order of Police. The impressive display included 33
assorted law enforcement vehicles which were parked on the track
and then took some parade laps. While in single-file formation,
the line of vehicles circled the entire track, with many using
their lights and sirens to entertain the crowd.
The Modifieds took to the track next, with on-track driver
introductions preceding the race. Rusty Turbush sat on the pole
in the S.N. Blydenburgh Interiors #17x, with Chris Young on the
outside in the Riverhead Building Supply #49. Turbush and Young
ran side-by-side for the first lap, with Turbush eventually
coming out on top, while the Double Diamond Realty #23 of Justin
Bonsignore moved into third behind them. By lap 10, the field
was strung out single-file around the raceway. While the front
of the field remained single-file, further back the SGS
Stoneworks #84 of John Fortin, the Eastport Feeds #15 of Wayne
Anderson, and the #3 of Mike Andrews Jr. were waging a heated
battle for the tenth spot on lap 12. At this time, the top five
cars were running nose-to-tail. Bonsignore and the Savin #11x of
Chuck Steuer were both looking for opportunities to move
forward, but the competition was tight and neither was able to
advance. On lap 23, Fortin ended up in the wall in turn 4. The
Freightliner Trucks #96 of Howie Brode also ended up towards the
outside. As Brode attempted to pull away and rejoin the field,
he made contact with the right rear of Turbush, who had been
leading the event. Turbush's car had to be towed off of the
track, though he returned under the caution but had to restart
from the rear of the field. The top three for the restart were
Young, Bonsignore, and Steuer. Young had a good restart and was
able to keep his competitors behind him and collect his 31st
Modified victory. Bonsignore finished second, with Steuer third.
Next out was the Figure 8 division for the 25-lap double
point Ernie Maynor Memorial presented by Barrasso & Sons Mason
Supplies. The extra laps and points were added to make up for
the rainout of the division's scheduled double-point race last
week. The field was paced by the restored #82 Vega of the late
Ernie Maynor, followed by several police vehicles. For the
feature, the #27 of Scott Pedersen sat on the pole, with the #8
of Tom Kraft on the outside. Prior to hot laps, the #21 of Bob
Dalke, making his first attempt at a start in the 2008 season,
pulled off of the track. Kraft took the lead on the start, with
Pedersen second and the PS Racing #63 of Paul Specht third. On
lap 1, Specht moved into second. Pedersen spun but was able to
get righted, and no caution was thrown. This put Mike Mujsce
third in the Mike's Auto Service #13. On lap 4, the JTL
Motorsports Enterprises, LLC #37 of Jessica Larsen came to a
halt at the entrance to turn 1, and the Barrasso & Sons Mason
Supplies #28 of Roger Maynor made heavy contact into the rear of
Larsen's car. Maynor pitted and returned, while Larsen's car had
to be towed off of the track. Under the caution, Kraft pitted
with a flat tire, which handed the lead to Specht. Mujsce moved
into second, and the #3 of Ralph Tasso was third. Specht had a
good start, and Mujsce spun just after coming through the "X" on
lap 4, bringing out the caution. For the restart, Specht was on
the inside, with Tasso on the outside. Specht took the lead
again, while Tasso was second and the Blast-It Sandblasting #74
of Carl Baxter moved into third. On lap 17, Tasso worked his way
past Specht for the race lead after Specht lost momentum when he
was forced to "check up" at the "X". By lap 20, the top three
cars had broken away from the remainder of the field. Fans were
delighted by some close calls at the "X" that involved cars
including Kraft and the Anthony's Custom Carpets #16 of Will
Farrell. When the checkered flag flew, Tasso was in Victory
Lane. However, Tasso refused to comply with the requests of
officials in post-race tech, and he was disqualified from the
race. This gave Specht his first win in a Figure 8 car since
1993.
Baxter was credited with second, and the Long Island DEUTZ #58
of Kenny Hyde got third.
Following the Figure 8's was the Mini School Bus Figure 8
race. A total of nine vehicles took the the track for the 10-lap
event. The "Cheesebox" of Mike Rommeney got the lead on the
start, with "Slim Jim" Donaldson taking second. Donaldson
grabbed the lead on lap 6, but it was short-lived as Rommeney
took it back. On lap 8, however, Rommeney slid sideways through
the "X" and Donaldson jumped into the lead. This time, Donaldson
didn't look back and he crossed the line as the event winner.
For the final event of the night, six cars took to the track
for a demolition derby. The field included demo veteran Mike
"Gravel" Buksa, defending Riverhead demo champion Mike Rommeney,
Enduro competitor Jimmy "The Kid" White, and Blunderbust
competitor Timmy Mulqueen. In the end, it turned into a battle
between veterans Rommeney and Buksa. Buksa made the final hit of
the event, but Rommeney was able to refire his vehicle while
Buksa was not. It was announced that Buksa passed the win to
Rommeney, since his car did refire. Rommeney got the win. Buksa
received the Judge's Choice second place award, while Mulqueen
received Fans' Choice.
And the Word Around the Pits...
Cars from a number of divisions were on hand to turn some
practice laps today. There were five Legends cars, several Super
Pro Trucks, and a Late Model. All three of these divisions will
be on hand for feature races next week. The Figure 8 and
Blunderbust divisions will be off for the night.
More Modified "back up" cars than normal were run in the
feature tonight. Rob McCormick was back behind the wheel of Dave
Brigati's #01x, and Kevin Orlando was again in the Ambrose owned
#8. Shawn Solomito made his Modified debut in John Fortin's #04,
and Dennis Freese was one of those who did not qualify in Wayne
Anderson's #75.
Good to see Mike "Gravel" Buksa back in demolition derby
competition. Buksa had contacted me during the offseason to let
me know he would be returning and then contacted me again to
inform me that he wouldn't be back, as the car he had was not an
eligible model. Apparently Buksa found a different car to come
out for the event.
Officials continued to send out the message that
unsportsmanlike behavior and defiance of rules will not be
tolerated. Under the "News and Notes" heading on the whiteboard
at the handicapper's shack this week, it was posted that one
fine each was given out in the Blunderbust, Super Pro Truck, and
Modified divisions.
Keep an eye on Newsday.com later this week for coverage of
tonight's demolition derby events. According to Bob Finan, staff
from Newsday.com was on hand tonight to get behind the scenes.
It was also announced by Bob Finan that there will be an article
on Donny Lia in Newsday's sports section this Sunday,
June 22.
Next Saturday, June 28, Barbara and Jim Cromarty will pay
tribute to area firefighters by offering free grandstand
admission to any firefighter who shows up in uniform to see the
races.
A reminder to Enduro competitors that the next event in the
Mountain Madness Enduro Series is next Sunday, June 29th. All
Enduro competitors at Mountain are required to utilize a one-way
scanner capable of receiving the track frequency so that
officials can communicate information to the drivers. Full
details about the race can be obtained on Mountain's web site,
www.mountainspeedway.com.
Kevin Bacik informed me that he is looking for any driver who
is willing to donate an autographed piece of sheetmetal to be
sold in order to raise money to help cover gas costs for those
people taking part in Riverhead's Memory Lane Cars and Stars
event. The function is being held at the track on Sunday, August
24th. For more information, see Kevin in the pits or email him
at kvbac1@aol.com.
In my race report from last Sunday, I made mention of the
50/50 raffle that is being held at each event. I mistakenly
identified it as a raffle to benefit the Grand Enduro division.
The proceeds from the 50/50 raffle will be divided among all of
the Enduro divisions.
LongIslandJam.com had a new photographer on hand for today's
events. Etheard Joseph's photos from tonight's events will be
posted on the front page of the site. It proved to be an
interesting day for Joseph, whose arrival for his first
short-track experience was delayed by car trouble. As a result,
he experienced "trial by fire", as he was put right out on the
infield as soon as he arrived, with no instruction other than
what he got after he was out there from Rich Frost. Next week,
look for Joseph to arrive early and be wandering around the pit
area, snapping some pit shots.
On another photography note, former LongIslandJam.com
photographer Mike Mercurio was on hand at Bowman Gray Stadium
today, taking pictures of the events there. Mercurio's pictures
will be posted on The Chrome Horn.
Things They Say in Victory Lane...
"The car still isn't even to my liking. A couple of people said
to me I better never figure it out." - Tommy Walkowiak
"I didn't have a car to win tonight. We were a little tight in
the middle. I had a third place or fourth place car." - Chris
McGuire
"Bob Finan knows I like to be in Victory Lane." - Chris Young
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
June 21, 2008
