Riverhead Closes Out
Regular Season for Several Divisions
by Ryan McGrellis
Fans packed the bleachers at Riverhead Raceway for the last
regular Saturday night show of the 2008 season. On the schedule
were three 30 lap time trial races including a 30 lap Super Pro
Truck race in memory of Carl Rackoff and Joe DiGangi, a 25-lap
Figure 8 race, a National Championship Demolition Derby, and a
Full Size School Bus Demolition Derby.
The Blunderbusts were first out on the track ready and set to
go 30 laps in a time trial race. The time trials for the
Blunderbusts saw the second place points sitter Rush Hour Towing
#22 of Scott Maliszewski break the track record by setting a
fast time of 15.053. The point leader coming into this race, the
#00 Unique Golf Shop of Tommy “The Wild Child” Walkowiak would
start alongside Maliszewski having set the second fastest time
(15.079). Joining the Blunderbusts in their first appearances of
the year were the #90 of Ron Langdon, who would start 3rd; and
former multi-time Blunderbust champion Eugene Malverty, who was
behind the wheel of the Gibson's Auto Center #69 usually driven
by Paul Parisi. At the drop of the green, Maliszewski shot out
into the lead with Walkowiak right on his bumper. On lap 8 the
first caution of the night would come out for the #77 of Tim
Mulqueen whose stuck throttle planted him into the turn two
wall. Mulqueen was towed into the pits with heavy front edge
damage and the race would restart on lap 8 with Maliszewski
still leading. On the restart, Malverty would take the #69x
inside the Pickerell Clam #4 of Tom Pickerell for the 4th spot.
On lap 9, the yellow flag was thrown for the Over The Hill
Racing #3 of Doug Watson as he and the Constant Performance #29
of Jessica Larsen got together in turn one. On the lap 9
restart, Maliszewski would take the lead again with a lot of
bumping and spinning going on in the back of the field with no
cautions needed. The leaders navigated their way through lapped
traffic and barely got around the #38 of sixteen-year-old
driver Brian Hansen after he got together with the Craig’s Auto
Body #17 of Matt Pepitone in turn four. On lap 15, Malverty used
the lapped traffic to his advantage going three wide with a
lapped car and Langdon to take the third position. The caution
would come out shortly after that for dirt from the infield in
turn one. Hansen, Watson, and Pepitione all drove their cars to
the pits and did not come back. On the lap 17 restart,
Maliszewski shot out to the lead as Malverty would go inside to
take 2nd from Walkowiak followed by Langdon, dropping Walkowiak
to fourth. The caution again would come out on lap 20 for
debris. On the restart, Maliszewski shot out to the lead with
Langdon taking the #90 to the outside of Malverty. Malverty held
him off until lap 22 when the caution came out for Larsen and
the Centereach Transmissions #64 of “Racing” Ray Shannon,
who got together in turn three. The restart would once again
have Maliszewski taking the lead with Malverty and Langdon
trading paint and racing hard for the 2nd position. Walkowiak
was off the pace and losing positions quickly which appeared to
be the result of a right front tire going flat. On lap 26, the
officials made the decision to black flag the point leader for
what turned out to be a suspension issue that was making the
tire roll, sending him to the infield with Maliszewski leading
the race. Maliszewski pulled away from the field for the final
laps, capturing the win and - due to Walkowiak's suspension
issue - the 2008 Blunderbust championship. Malverty and Langdon
had strong returns, taking down the second and third positions,
respectively.
The Chargers were next up with 18 cars ready to go 30 laps.
The time trial qualifying saw the Chris Mohr Landscaping #81 of
2008 Charger champion Chris Turbush set the fast time of 13.369.
Before the race got started, Turbush would take his championship
lap around the track as he had already clinched the
championship, capping off a strong 2008 Charger campaign. The
race would start with Turbush on the pole and the Riverhead
Building Supply #66 of Timmy Solomito on the outside. The green
flag would fly, seeing Turbush take the lead and never look
back. The race was mostly single file with hard side by side
racing in the rear of the field. A caution would come out on lap
19 for the Uncle Guiseppi #30 of Daryn Miller spinning in turn
four. The race would restart on lap 19, but a caution would come
out once again for the #42 of Frank Dumicich Jr. as he got
together with the SMG Racing #13 of Garret Frabizio. Before the
restart the #66 of Solomito as well as the #23 B. Sexton Site
Development of Tom Anderson would need to be pushed around the
track by tow trucks in attempts to get their cars to refire.
Solomito would be able to re-fire his and stay in second, while
Anderson could not and had to be pushed into the pits, ending
his night. On the lap 14 restart, Turbush jumped out into the
lead with Solomito behind him. Soon after the green the Carpet
Express #8 of Dan Turbush and the James Becht Builders #37 of
Steve Ratti got around the Gershow Recycling #89x of Chris
McGuire for third and fourth, respectively. The last caution
would come out on lap 21 for a spin by the P&M Door #88 of Frank
Scimeca Sr. On the single file restart from lap 21, Turbush
would take the lead and not look back taking home the win,
followed by Solomito, Dan Turbush, and Steve Ratti.
The Super Pro Trucks were next out for their 30-lap,
time-trial Carl Rackoff and Joe DiGangi memorial race. The time
trials would see the #15x of Rob McCormick setting fast time
(13.645) in his first truck race of the year. The Long Island
Fiber Exchange #65 of Michael Power was on the outside to start
the race. At the start McCormick took lead followed by the
Gershow Recycling #1 of Lou Maestri who quickly got around Power
for second. The caution would come out for the G-Force Collision
#7 of Rich Giordano as his truck went spinning and hit the wall
hard on the backstretch. After a very lengthy caution, the
restart would see Maestri taking the lead away from McCormick
who stayed right on Maestri's bumper. On lap 6, the Rheem #88 of
Roger Turbush took the third position from Power after some hard
side by side racing between the two. After many spins with no
cautions, the caution came out when the Raceway Auto Sales #19
of P.J Vecchio went around in turn four on lap 24. The restart
had close racing between the top three trucks but another
caution would halt the action as the #99 of Brian McElearney hit
the backstretch wall and required a tow into the pits. The final
restart would see Maestri holding on for the win in what had to
have been one of the greatest and most bittersweet victories of
his racing career. A story book ending for Lou Maestri after
losing his crew chief Joe DiGangi - Lou comes out and wins the
memorial race in his name. This is what racing is all about,
moments like those. Rest in peace to DiGangi and Rackoff and
congratulations to Maestri on the victory.
The World Famous Figure 8 stock cars rolled to the track for
their last race of the 2008 season. Fifteen cars were set to go
25 laps with the #8 of Tom Kraft on the pole and the Barrasso &
Sons Mason Supplies #28 of 2008 Figure 8 champion Roger Maynor
on the outside. On the drop of the green, Maynor would grab the
lead with Kraft following in second and the third position being
battled out between #34 of Arne Pedersen and the Mike's Auto
Service #13 of Mike Mujsce Sr. One of many cautions for the race
would come out on lap 6 for the #21 of Rick Swanson who stalled
coming off of turn 2. On the restart, Maynor would grab the lead
but another caution would come out for a multi-car collision on
the backstretch. Three of the cars involved would pit and all
come back. On the restart once again Maynor shot out to the
front with Kraft behind him and the Long Island DEUTZ #85 of Tom
Graff taking over third. The caution would come out again on lap
7 as Graff would spin in the middle of turn 1 and 2. The restart
would see Maynor holding his lead for two laps before another
caution came out for Graff as he spun near the middle of the X.
On the lap 9 restart, Maynor would take the lead followed by
Kraft and Pedersen. The next caution would come out as the
Anthony’s Custom Carpets #16 of Will “The Thrill” Farrell got
tangled up with the JTL Enterprises Motorsports, LLC #37 of
Terry Stiles. Farrell’s car had heavy damage so he decided to do
some different kind of racing, with an official, racing on foot
from turn one to turn four in order to have a conversation with
Mujsce. The official got a hold of Farrell, and both cars would
go into the pits and not return for the rest of the race. The
restart from lap 11 - which would be a single file restart -
would again see Maynor holding the lead. The Blast-it
Sandblasting #74 of Carl “The Axe” Baxter rode up against the
wall to the backstretch and parked it with mechanical problems.
The #3 of long time Firgure-8 driver Ralph Tasso would do what
he has done this whole season by putting on another show for the
fans and going full speed into the dangerous X. The caution
would come out again, this time for the #27 of Scott Pedersen
and the Loebs & Gordon Poolcraft #47 of “Slim” Jim Donaldson,
who got together in turn three on lap 17. The restart saw Maynor
shoot out to the lead before the last caution came out for Tasso,
who spun in turn four on lap 20. The final restart would be how
they finished with the 2008 Figure 8 Champion Roger Maynor
scoring the victory followed by Kraft and Pedersen.
The National Championship Demolition Derby was to follow the
Figure-8’s. The Demo included some of the best. Among those on
hand were 2-time Blunderbust champion Eugene Malverty, Jimmy
Hummel, and the 2008 track demo champion Mike “CheeseBox”
Rommeney, just to name a few. Twelve cars lined up trying to win
the purse of $1,500 and the Championship trophy. Mike Rommeney,
who was battling engine troubles in his original car, was one
the first to be out having to use a back-up car for the demo.
The final three cars running were the #317 of Irish Mike
O’Keefe, the #51 of Jimmy Hummel and the #16 of Eugene Malverty.
All three cars were stuck together after a hit by Hummel. The
officials made the call that they were going to pull the cars
apart but the drivers of the cars said it would be useless as
all of the cars had blown transmissions. Jimmy Hummel would be
the National Demolition Derby Champion as Malverty got the
Judges' Choice and Timmy Mulqueen would get the Fans, Choice.
The last event for the night would be a Full-Size School Bus
Demolition Derby. Four buses were ready and set to go with
“Jackpot” Jack Levix edging out Rommeney to take the win.
Source: Ryan
McGrellis/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:
September 13, 2008
