Plenty of Repeat Winners at Riverhead
by Tracy Chirico
Forecasts called for a possibility of isolated showers
through the day today, but - as his been the case several other
times this season - the track was spared from precipitation that
would halt the racing action. At one point during the afternoon,
a very brief light sprinkle fell, but not enough to stop (or
even delay) the day's events.
With two divisions set to take time trials for extra-distance
double point races, the Blunderbust cars were teched and sent to
the track first. It has been quite some time since the division
time trialed for a double point show, but some viewed it as good
practice for the single point 30 lapper scheduled for September
17. Season veteran Tom Pickerell captured the pole, turning a
lap of 15.081. Tommy Walkowiak was second-fastest, with a lap of
15.145. The pair was followed by part-timer Doug Watson
(15.159), Scott Maliszewski (15.177), and Chris Busick (15.237).
The Late Models also ran time trials, with Scott Kulesa
setting fast time with a lap of 12.584. He was followed by Roger
Oxee (12.671) and Tom Rogers Jr. (12.732). Rounding out the top
five were Jarrod Hayes (12.742) and Chris LaSpisa (12.768).
Modified heat races completed the day's qualifying events.
With 19 Modifieds on hand, all were qualified for the feature
event, and heats were run to determine handicapping for the
race.
The first feature event of the day was the 30-lap double
point Blunderbust race. With the field determined by straight
time trial results, the Pickerell Clam #4 of Tom Pickerell
started on the pole, with the Unique Golf Shop #00 of Tommy
Walkowiak on the outside pole. Pickerell jumped out front on the
start, with Walkowiak second, while the Over the Hill Racing #3
of Doug Watson and the #22 of Scott Maliszewski battled
side-by-side for third. Maliszewski edged out front to take the
position on lap 1. On lap 2, Walkowiak looked to the inside of
Pickerell for the lead, but the Royal Waste Services #15 of
Anthony Battisti spun in turn 1 and the caution flag waved.
Pickerell and Walkowiak restarted on the front row, with
Pickerell again grabbing the lead. On lap 3, Battisti spun in
turn 4, but was able to get the car righted, and no caution was
thrown. There was contact on the backstretch between the
Gibson's Auto Center #69x of Paul Parisi and the Robert's
Express Fuel Oil #19 of Rob Bader Jr., sending the two into the
infield, but both continued and again no caution was needed. On
lap 5, Walkowiak again looked to the inside of Pickerell, and
Walkowiak nosed out front for the lead. On lap 8, the #77 of
Timmy Mulqueen pulled up to the wall in turn 4 with a flat tire,
and the caution came out on lap 9. Walkowiak and Pickerell
restarted on the front row, with Walkowiak on the inside this
time and Pickerell to his outside. Walkowiak grabbed the lead,
and Maliszewski began to test Pickerell for second. Maliszewski
edged out front of Pickerell on lap 11. The heated battle for
second had allowed to put a cushion between himself and the rest
of the field. On lap 13, the J&C Auto Salvage #76 of Joe
Pingitore got turned around on the backstretch and the caution
waved. The Crackerjack Auto Supply #79 of Bill Wegmann was sent
to the rear of the field for his part in the incident. The
restart pitted Walkowiak on the inside against Maliszewski on
the outside. Walkowiak shot out front, while Maliszewski settled
into second and Pickerell and the Service Master Clean #61 of
Chris Busick battled for third. Caution waved again one lap
later, as Mulqueen was against the wall coming out of turn 2.
Walkowiak and Maliszewski again restarted on the front row.
Walkowiak again shot out front and Busick nosed out ahead of
Maliszewski on the inside to take second coming out of turn 2.
Pickerell then tested Maliszewski for third. The two made some
contact, but both were able to correct themselves and continue.
Further back in the field, there was contact between the
Centereach Transmissions #64 of Ray Shannon and the TS
Motorsports #41 of Terry Stiles that resulted in Shannon going
around and the caution came out once again on lap 16. On the
single-file restart, Walkowiak continued to hold the lead over
Busick and Maliszewski. Battisti spun and was tagged by
Pingitore on lap 18, sending other cars scattering, and the
caution was thrown. On the restart, Walkowiak brought the field
around at a snail's pace. Seeing Busick looking to dart to the
outside, Walkowiak moved his car up the track a bit, and shot
out front when the green flag dropped. Walkowiak began to
encounter lapped traffic on lap 21. By lap 27, Walkowiak led the
field by almost a full straightaway. On the final lap,
Maliszewski looked to make a last-minute pass on Busick for
second, but was unsuccessful. Walkowiak collected his sixth win
of 2008, followed by Busick and Maliszewski.
Next out was the Charger main, with the #42 of Frank Dumicich
Jr. on the pole and the LMR #56 of Jay Henschel on the outside
pole. Dumicich Jr. pulled out front on the start while Henschel
settled into second. The Uncle Guiseppe #30 of Daryn Miller
looked to the outside of Frank Scimeca Jr.'s P&M Door #96 for
third on lap 1. Scimeca Jr. was emitting sparks from the area of
the right front wheel, and began to slide backwards through the
field by lap 4. On lap 7, there was contact between Henschel and
Miller, with Henschel going around between turns 1 and 2, and
the caution came out. The restart pitted Dumicich Jr. on the
inside against Miller on the outside, while the Riverhead
Building Supply #66 of Timmy Solomito and the Chris Mohr
Landscaping #81 of Chris Turbush sat behind them in the second
row. Dumicich Jr. got out front on the restart and Solomito
moved into second. Turbush moved into third on lap 9, as
Solomito pulled up alongside Dumicich Jr. and Solomito assumed
the lead. Turbush took the second spot on lap 11. On lap 14,
Miller moved to the inside of Dumicich Jr. and took over third.
Dumicich Jr. got sideway and went around coming out of turn 4,
bringing the caution out again on lap 17. Solomito led the field
in the single-file restart, followed by Turbush and Miller. The
field came through turns 1 and 2, and Henschel and the Biltor
Welding & Erection #57 of Thore Foss got into the wall on the
backstretch, drawing another caution. Again Solomito led the
field, as Turbush made several unsuccessful attempts over the
final laps to grab the lead. Solomito grabbed his second Charger
win of the season, with Tubush second and Miller third.
The Late Models then took to the track for their 50-lap
double point feature. By virtue of their time trial efforts, the
Ranco Sand & Stone #10 of Scott Kulesa started on the pole, with
the Helman Group #39 of Roger Oxee on the outside. Kulesa got
out front on the start, but the caution came out immediately.
Kulesa again got out front on the second attempt at a start,
with Oxee second and the Federated Auto Parts #4 of Tom Rogers
Jr. third. At lap 10, the field was running single-file around
the track. The caution waved on lap 26, after Kulesa made
contact with the lapped LaSpisa Racing #7 of Chris LaSpisa and
hit the wall. Oxee was on the pole for the restart, followed by
Rogers Jr. and the Northeastern Office Equipment #08 of Jarrod
Hayes. By lap 45, Oxee had roughly a five carlength lead over
Rogers Jr. and Hayes, and the three had distanced themselves
from the rest of the field. Oxee went on to collect his second
victory of 2008, and the 57th of his Late Model career. Rogers
Jr. was second and Hayes was third.
The Modified race was up next, with 18 cars taking the green
for the 35-lap event. Marisa Niederauer was slated to start on
the outside pole, but scratched the car from the event. As a
result, the Brunnhoelzl Motorsports #8x of Eddie Brunnhoelzl III
started on the pole, with the Double Diamond Realty #23 of
Justin Bonsignore on the outside. Brunnhoelzl jumped to the lead
on the start, with Bonsignore second and the S.N. Blydenburgh
Custom Interiors #17x of Rusty Turbush third. The Eastport Feeds
#15 of Wayne Anderson and the Riverhead Building Supply #49 of
Chris Young battled side-by-side for fourth, with Anderson
grabbing the spot. By lap 5, Brunnhoelzl and Bonsignore had
pulled away from the rest of the field. The two were nearly a
straightaway ahead of the third place car of Turbush by lap 10.
On lap 13, Turbush and Anderson spun into the infield, and the
first caution of the race came out. Brunnhoelzl was on the
inside for the restart, with Bonsignore on his outside. The two
made contact and Bonsignore made contact with the wall along the
entire front straightaway, with both cars coming to a stop in
turn 1, bringing out another caution. This put the WPW Growers
#98x of Dave Brigati on the pole for the restart, with the Savin
#11x of Chuck Steuer on the outside pole. The two came across
the line side-by-side, with Brigati nosing out front. Young
skidded up to the turn 4 wall on lap 14, and the caution flag
waved again. Brigati and Steuer again restarted on the front row
and Brigati shot out front. Steuer was second, with the #6 of
Tom Rogers Jr. third. However, the caution waved again before a
lap was completed because of debris on the track. Brigati jumped
to the lead again and Steuer settled into second, while Rogers
Jr. and the Russell H. Nill Roofing & Copper #44 of Dan
Jivanelli ran side-by-side for third. Jivanelli took over the
third spot on lap 16. That same lap, the caution came out again
as the Atlas Asphalt #24 of Tony Anello was in the wall in turn
1 in an incident that also ultimately involved the Gershow
Recycling #2 of Roger Oxee, the #03 of Dennis Scott, and others.
Brigati led the field to the green for the restart, but the
green-flag run was short-lived as the caution waved again on lap
18 for an incident on the backstretch involving Oxee and several
other cars. Once again, Brigati was out front on the restart. On
lap 24, Steuer passed Brigati for the lead. On lap 27, there was
another caution for an incident in turn 2 involving Young,
Anderson, and Turbush. Steuer continued to hold the top spot on
the restart, and collected his second win in as many weeks, as
the remaining laps were caution-free. Brigati finished second,
with Jivanelli third.
Next out was the 4/6 cylinder truck enduro, which will be
reported on separately by Ryan McGrellis, as yours truly was in
the race, making it a little difficult to document what the rest
of the field was doing (particularly as I was spinning in the
infield).
Up next was a non-point, 50 lap race for the 4/6 cylinder
truck enduro. Twenty-one trucks were on hand for the added
Saturday night event. The #7 truck of Rich Onorato was on the
pole with the #20 of Joe Larsen on the outside. At the drop of
the green, Onorato shot out to the lead but it didn’t last long,
after the #5 of John Cozza got around the #0 of Russ Jansen for
second, he then passed Onorato for the lead. Following Cozza was
the #9 truck of Tommy “The Wild Child” Walkowiak as he got
around Onorato for 2nd. The #02 of Shawn Wanat got on the inside
of Onorato on lap 23 to grab the 3rd position. On lap 36, the
“Wild Child” passed on the inside to take the lead, as Cozza
went high around lapped traffic. On that same lap, the third
place truck of Wanat went spinning into turn four. After first
making contact down the backstretch with the #83 of Tracy
Chirico, Walkowiak spun the #9 and slammed the driver’s side of
his truck hard into the turn three wall after trading paint with
Larsen. The red flag was thrown, stopping the race on lap 41 as
medical personal tended to Walkowiak in the infield where he
rolled after the hit. After a few minutes Walkowiak walked off,
then on, then back off the track on his own. The race then
resumed and Cozza was untouchable as he would take the win,
followed by Onorato, and even after a late race spin, Wanat hung
on for a 3rd place finish.
The final event of the evening was the 4 cylinder demolition
derby, which marked the return of Jimmy "The Kid" White to demo
action. In his first time back, White made it to the final two
cars, and it ended up to be a battle with defending demo champ
Mike Rommeney. When all of the dust had settled and the smoke
had cleared, Rommeney was declared the winner. White received
the Judges' Choice award. The Fans' Choice award went to Timmy
Mulqueen.
And the Word Around the Pits...
Late Model driver Roger Oxee, after winning the Late Model
feature, strapped into the #2 Modified. Roger started 15th in
the race, and finished 13th after getting the car somewhat
airborne in an incident on the backstretch.
Blunderbust driver Doug Watson seemed to be fighting
mechanical issues all day. The car came off the track after
practice on a tow truck, and his crew was seen working under the
back of the car. Watson turned a good lap during time trials,
clocking in at third fastest. As the feature wore on, Watson
started to slide backwards through the field, and he pulled the
car in the infield prior to the completion of the event.
Modified driver Wayne Anderson and his crew were collecting
money for the Gregory Children Fund, set up to benefit the twin
4-year-olds from Riverhead who lost their parents aboard Angel
Flight #15. Wayne also donated all of his winnings for the night
to the cause.
A healthy field of 21 cars were on hand for the double point
time trial Blunderbust race. Anthony Battisti came out for his
second start of the season, while Caesar Cunaccia made his first
appearance of the year. The two did not fare very well in the
feature, however, with Battisti finishing 19th and Cunaccia
finishing 21st.
Things They Say in Victory Lane...
"The double pointers could be your best friend or your worst
enemy." -Tommy Walkowiak
"I had to hold him (Turbush) off. It was good and I loved it." -Timmy
Solomito
"I'll still race for the lead." -Roger Oxee
"I didn't want to make a move too early." -Chuck Steuer
"My heart's still in the trucks. I miss these guys." -John
Cozza
"I hate stripping cars." -Mike Rommeney
Source: Tracy
Chirico/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
August 16, 2008
