Sunday Enduros Return With Plenty of Action
by Ryan McGrellis
Some people will do anything to get
out of work on a Sunday, including strapping themselves into an
Enduro truck. Welcome back to the Enduros, Tracy!
In their first race since June 28th, the
Legends were set to go for a 20-lap feature. The field lined up
with the Eveready Motorsports #94 of Tony Naglieri on the pole
and the Automatic Printing & Mailing Services #88 of John Beatty
to the outside. After two attempts, the green finally dropped
for good and Beatty took the lead. The first caution came out on
lap 4 when four cars got together in turn one. The #8 of John
Gloor IV, the Sherman Racing #27 of Tom Sherman, and the Col
Security and Management # 43 of Joe Sedotto pitted but all
returned to the track, Sherman with no right side fenders.
Beatty shot out the lead on the restart,
until the second caution on lap 7 for a spin by the Crossfire
Telecom #74 of John Visconti that caught up the #7NY of Silas
Hiscock Sr. and Sherman, with the #77 of "Wild" Bill Hoscock
spinning to avoid them. The next restart again was yellow
flagged, and the next green flag only lasted until the Bryan
Johnson Motorsports #92 of Bryan Johnson, Hiscock Sr., and the
#17 of John Rigney got together between turns one and two,
requiring Rigney to be towed from the track. Officials decided
it would be single file restarts from that point on.
On the restart, Beatty shot out again into
the lead, and while the #37 of Silas Hiscock Jr. passed on the
outside of the Bridal Suite of Centereach #55 of Paul Dodorico
for third, the Nowak Racing #53 of Kevin Nowak went spinning in
turn two on lap 8 with no caution required. On lap 9, Hiscock
Jr. and Dodorico passed the Naglieri for second and third,
respectively. On lap 18, the First Class Video Productions #39
of Jim Byrne and Hiscock Sr. tangled in the fourth turn bringing
out yet another caution, but not the last. The last caution was
on the lap 18 restart where Visconti spun on his own and stopped
facing traffic, at which point the race was called on time with
Beatty, Hiscock Jr., and Dodorico maintaining their first,
second, and third place positions.
The Grand Enduros were set to run a 50 lap
feature for their 24 competitors. The field aligned with the
Peconic Sign Co. #12 of Greg Zaleski on the pole and the #49 of
Gene Burbol on the outside. The first of many spins was in turn
two on the first lap when the Flanders Automotive #0 of Kyle
Curtis spun and four cars got together. On lap 16, the #16 of
Ray Fitzgerald passed Zaleski on the outside for the lead.
Shortly after that “Krazy” Ed Mistretta in Jimmy White Jr.’s #17
passed Zaleski for second. On lap 29, the RP Distinctive
Landscapes #5 of Frank Martines lost his right front tire in
turn 4 where it was hit and thrown into the turn 4 fence
startling fans there before dropping between the fence and the
wall. On lap 39, the Mi-Ro Printwear #51 of Mike Retus spun out
of 4th place coming off of turn two after battling Zaleski for
third, while in turn four Zaleski, the Grennan Racing #38 of
Charlie Guardino, the Blue Point Auto Body #32 of Brian Brown,
and Mistretta got together sending Zaleski to the infield with
Mistretta holding on to 2nd place finishing behind Fitzgerald.
The Super Pro Trucks were next out onto the
track for their feature, with the Hallock Racing #9 of Kathleen
Hallock on the pole and the #17 of Anthony Vecchio to the
outside. On lap two the SKP Racing #3 of Peter Rotzi spun in
turn four, and by lap three the Nelson's Auto Salvage #97 of
Dave Koenig was leading the race with the Edible Arrangements
#95 of Erin Dumicich following in second. The Joseph Daleo
Contracting #28 of Anthony Daleo spun on the front stretch after
contact with the Rheem #88 of Roger Turbush, but the next
caution wasn’t until lap 9 when Hallock spun in turn 1, at which
point the Gershow Recycling #1 of Lou Maestri had already passed
Dumicich for 2nd. Lap ten brought another caution after the
Berjen Metal Industries #6 of Gil Smith and the SKP Racing #22
of Keith Rotzi got together between turns one and two, with
Smith spinning to the infield and Rotzi being towed to the pits
while the track crew cleaned his coolant from the track. Smith
returned to the track sans hood with noticeable damage to the
nose. The lap 10 restart had the JYD Enterprises #2x of John
Denniston able to get around Dumicich for third while Hallock
slowed considerably in turn one from a flat tire and was then
pushed through turns one and two by P. Rotzi who was promptly
black flagged for his actions. The lap 11 restart order was the
way the top four would finish with Koenig taking the win with
Maestri, Denniston, and Dumicich close behind.
The spectator Drags had numerous exciting
racing among the 14 competitors, with John Cozza defeating the
legend Mike Schlaugies in the two lap contact- filled finale.
The 4/6 cylinder Truck Enduro was next with
20 trucks set to go 40 laps with the Rapid Repair Service #38 of
Don Nelson Jr. on the pole and the #7 of Rich Onorato to the
outside, with Long Island Jam’s own Tracy Chirico starting third
in the DiCanio's Stump Removal #83. By lap 5 the #02 of Shawn
Wanat took first but by lap 11 the Hampton Fleet Service #9 of
Tommy Walkowiak was up to second. Walkowiak moved into first
place on lap 17 and never looked back, finishing ahead of the
Peconic Auto Reapir #34 of Woot Lawrence and Wanat.
The 8 cylinder Enduro was scheduled next
going 75 laps with 45 entries. In a race filled with four wide
racing and many spinning cars, including the first place car of
Dave Allen on lap 73 of the 75 lap event. Allen managed to hold
on for a fourth place finish behind Dege Russell, Dominic
Ranieri Jr., and Robin Schewire, with 22 cars not able to finish
the race.
The 6 cylinder Enduros were up next with 18
cars ready to go 40 laps. Shawn Wanat and Bob Haeger elected to
start at the rear of the field to “Give the field a chance.” By
lap 3, Scott Brown took the lead from Gene Burbol, and on lap 5
Greg Berkowitz hit the turn two wall hard and stayed there after
contact with Joe MacDougall. While parked on the wall he was
later tapped lightly by Donald Laskey when he had no place to
go. By lap 21 Wanat had moved into 2nd place and by lap 36 he
was trying to pass Brown on the inside for first. Wanat again
got on the inside of Brown in turn two on lap 37 and was finally
able to pass on the last turn of the last lap for the win. Five
cars were parked on the infield by the end of the race.
The 4 cylinder 37 car, 75 lap Enduro was up
next, with one car nicely painted up as
Lightning McQueen of the “Cars” movie. At the drop of the
green, Shawn Wanat grabbed the early lead. On lap 28 Billy Smith
hit the turn 2 wall hard but was able to continue. On lap 32,
Anthony Pizzo and Bryan Patti got together on the backstretch
wall with Pizzo going to the infield and Patti parked
temporarily at the turn 4 wall with a left front flat. Patti
managed to limp onto the infield where he was immediately
approached by Pizzo, and we thought we overheard him inviting
Patti to a barbeque after the race. By lap 50 Robert Endlekofer
grabbed the lead. Endlekofer went on to win the race, followed
by Dennis Nelson and Bob Haeger. This race apparently debuted
the new “homing tire” for this event. James Burns lost a wheel
on lap 19, pulled into the infield, and the tire later followed
and hit the driver’s side of the car. Then on lap 66 Mariah
Lawrence lost a wheel in turn one, parked against the turn two
wall where his tire rolled into the driver’s side of her car.
Sixteen other cars were not able to finish the event.
The final race of the night was the second
8 cylinder Enduro. It was a 50 lap race for a 20 car field,
including #17 Jimmy “The Kid” White’s return to racing by
leading the race for a few laps before mechanical failure forced
him into the infield. Dege Russell got under White on lap 7 with
Michael Wahl able to pass them both for the lead. With 8 cars on
the infield by the end of the race, Wahl stayed out in front
ahead of Dominic Ranieri Jr. and Robin Schewire.
Source: Ryan
McGrellis/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
August 10, 2008
