LongIslandJam.com (Long Island Racing News Site):  News

09/20/2008

Enduros Round Out Riverhead's '08 Season
by Ryan McGrellis

On a cool and breezy night, fans packed the stands at Riverhead Raceway for the final race of the 2008 season. The night would include a 20-lap Super Pro Truck feature, a Rollover contest, Spectator Drags as well as all the cars and stars of the Enduro divisions.

Super Pro Trucks
The Super Pro Trucks were the first out onto the track with 20 trucks set to go 20 laps. The points going into the event were led by the Gershow Recycling #1 of Lou Maestri. Second-place Wayne Meyer in the #41 AAA Firewood and Mulch entry would need Maestri to finish 18 spots behind him to win the championship. The Robert Jones Racing #43 of Bobby Jones would start on the pole with the Joseph Daleo Contracting #28 of Anthony Daleo on the outside. The green flag would wave followed quickly by a yellow flag as Daleo spun going in to turn one causing many trucks that started on the outside to check up. With no laps in the books, the restart would see Jones take the lead, while behind him the Rheem #88 of Roger Turbush would pass the Raceway Auto Sales #19 of P.J Vecchio for fourth. The caution would come out on lap 3 for the JYD Enterprises #2x of John Denniston as he got together with the SKP Racing #22 of Keith Rotzi in turn one. Denniston would need to be pushed into the pits and he would not return. During the caution Roger Turbush would forfeit the fourth position and pit due to a flat tire; the team changed the tire and came back out while still under the caution. After the track crew cleaned up the turn one area, racing got back underway led by the Jones. The restart would see another quick caution as the #17 of Anthony Vecchio took a hard hit into the wall in turns one and two and then again on the backstretch. Vecchio, who was running second, had his night come to an end and that would move the Stephanie McCormick Fund #42 of Frank Dumicich Jr. to second and the Nelsons Auto Salvage #97 of “Dangerous” Dave Koenig up to third. Dumicich would grab the lead on the lap 3 restart followed by Koenig would slide underneath Jones for third. The Wesemann's Sand And Mason Supply #5 of Frank Dumicich Sr. would follow Koenig, passing Jones for third then passing Koenig for second as Koening spun going into turn two. No caution came out for Koenig’s spin but one did come out on lap 12 when the SKP Racing #3 of Peter Rotzi hit the wall in turn four. The single-file restart would see Dumicich Jr. hang on to the lead with the Hollis Court Collision #66 of Mike Albasini passing Frank Sr. for second on lap 15. Frank Dumicich Jr. would hang on for the win followed by Albasini and Rob “The Racer” McCormick, who would round out the top three. Lou Maestri took home fourth place as well as the 2008 Super Pro Truck Championship title.

One-on-One Spectator Drags
The Spectator Drags had a strong showing of 14 vehicles for the event, with the familiar Don Carasiti receiving the checkered flag when all was said and done.

4C Supermodifieds
The 4C Supermodifieds had an exhibition with eight cars that would go 15 laps. The #22 went real high in turn two on lap two and wound up sliding up into the turn four wall on that same lap, after which he made his way to the infield. The fast and close racing would see the #17 the first one to the finish line after a three-wide pass coming off of turn two.

Grand Enduros
The Grand Enduros were next out for their last race of 2008, still looking to crown a champion in the division. #59 John Cozza led the way in points coming into the event, followed by #16 Ray Fitzgerald who was behind by only 30 points. Thirty cars were ready for 75 laps with Kyle Curtis in the Flanders Automotive #0 on the pole and the #31 of Charlie Lutz to the outside. The start of the race would quickly see the #56 of Robin Vollmoeller Sr. going to the inside to take the second spot on lap 1, then taking first on lap 4. The #63 of Bob Englefried would take over second with an inside pass on lap 5 off of turn four, followed by the #58 Flanders Automotive ride of Donny Oliver on lap 7. On lap 9, Englefried got sideways off turn two allowing Oliver to go under him and take second. On lap 27, the #99 would spin, gathering the Salon65 #19 of Anthony Foerster as well as Oliver’s second-place #58. Vollmoeller‘s #56 would remain the leader, navigating through heavy lapped traffic, but Ray Fitzgerald’s #16 was creeping up closer and closer to the leader. The #37 of Joe Staskowski, Jimmy Denis’ CJ Motorsports #92 and Englefried’s #63 got together on the backstretch causing the leader to slow down allowing the #16 of Fitzgerald to close in. On lap 52, Fitzgerald got a run on the outside of the Vollmoeller, but using a lapped car to his advantage the leader held him off. Vollmoeller would create some distance between the two cars until lap 64 when Fitzgerald’s #16 was back on his bumper again. Fitzgerald tried the outside again for the lead but again was held off by Vollmoeller. Moments later the Peconic Sign Co. #12 of Greg Zaleski Jr. would spin in turn one, forcing Vollmoeller‘s #56 to slow down and enabling the #16 of Fitzgerald to take the lead. Fitzgerald in the #16 would lead the rest of the way taking home the win followed by Vollmoeller in the #56.

4/6-Cylinder Truck Enduros
The 4/6-cylinder trucks had Bryan Kelly’s Kelly Racing #11 on the pole and the Phoenix Used Auto Parts #53 of Kevin Nowak to the outside. At the start of the race the #7 of Rich Onorato would grab the lead from Kelly as his #11 would go spinning in turn one. The #17x WPW Growers mount of Rob “The Racer” McCormick would come to second followed by Shawn Wanat’s #02 into third. The leader would get together with Greg Harris in his SGS Stoneworks #65 on the backstretch on lap 11, allowing the #17x of McCormick to take the lead. Onorato’s night would get worse as he spun two laps later, losing the second spot. On lap 15, the Hampton Fleet Service #9 of Tommy Walkowiak would go to the outside of Wanat’s #02 to take second place and then inherited first as McCormick‘s #17x went spinning after contact with Mariah Lawrence’s #01. The #9 of Walkowiak would lead the rest of the race to take home his fourth win of the year, in what he said in the winner’s circle as his last truck Enduro, followed by McCormick in the #17x and the #02 of Wanat.

8-cylinder Enduro – Race #1
The 8-cylinders had 65 cars ready to go 100 laps. The green flag would fly and immediately a jumble of cars bounced off of each other, with the #37 from the back of the field slamming into the stalled #33 on the backstretch, pushing him into the infield before he was able to refire the car. In turn four, the #62, #56, and the #1 would get together leaving the #62 car stuck there for much of the race. Cars were spinning and hitting walls for much of the early going, with the most trouble in turns two and four. The #24 while stuck on the backstretch would get a hard hit from the #61 but both would continue. The #51 spun into the backstretch wall as well and the #48 got locked together with him after the collision. The #48, after constant, frustrating, tire-smoking attempts to get loose finally got free and continued around the track backwards along the wall before he was finally able to turn around in turn two. The #51 was not so lucky as his car would not re-fire, requiring him to watch the race out the driver‘s side window while backed into the backstretch wall. Lap 33 would see the #29, #27, and #30 cars come together in the backstretch, with the #19, #44, and #20 cars soon joining them. At the halfway mark, half the cars that started were parked in the infield or stuck on the track. Mike Smith was leading when he spun in turn two on lap 62, which caught up the #49, and spun again in the same spot on lap 78. Leading the remaining 16 cars that were left at the end of the race, and after the two late race spins, the #19 was declared the unofficial winner of the event. After post-race tech the #19 was disqualified, thus giving the win to Philip LaManna.

Car Rollover Contest
The Car Rollover Contest had six cars ready to take the ramp. The championship battle for the division was between Joe Marco, who was atop the points, and “Slim” Jim Donaldson, who was second. Marco would gather 14 points after two attempts gave him a roll and a half each time. “Slim” Jim would take the event win but not the championship as he accumulated 25 points is his three attempts coming up only 3 points short of the season championship.

6-cylinder Enduro
The 6-cylinders had 24 cars going 50 laps. The race would start with the #1 leading the way. The #4, who was quickly moving his way up through the field, came to third on lap 9 after a three-lap battle with the #3. The #4 would take second one lap later and then, after the #1 got sideways, took the lead. The #18 would have a hard time controlling his car after a lot of contact prior. On lap 35 the #18 managed to hit the wall and collided with the #1 and then the #9. On the following lap he had contact with the #15, the #15, and the #15 again, when on lap 39 the officials decided to black flag him for a brief infield discussion, after which he came back out with better understanding of the objective of the race. A scary moment on lap 42, when the bottom of the #10 car erupted in flames, but the driver made a great move to get to the infield, which allowed the track crew put out the fire. The #4 of Shawn Wanat would take the win, his seventh of seven races this year.

4-cylinder Enduros
The 4-cylinders had 36 cars to go 50 laps. At the start, the #4 would take the lead as the #13 and #20 would get together on the backstretch. On lap 7, the #4 would spin after contact with the #9. Cars would spin left and right, with the #31 and #13 getting together and the #31 going hard, head on into the wall at the exit of turn 2 on lap 9. After being stuck in the turn he was tagged by the #7 on lap 10. The race would be red flagged on lap 15 to allow medical assistance for the #31 after complaints of chest pains. The restart brought much of what the start of the race did – many spins and collisions. The #9 of Matt Brown would take the win.

8-cylinder Enduro – Race #2
The last race of the 2008 season would be the second 8-cylinder Enduro. 36 cars were on hand for 50 laps. The start would see spins by the #01 and the #13 as the #2 would get around the #1 for the lead. On lap 9, #64 spun for the first time. The #11 and the #22 were among five cars that went spinning after contact with the #64 on lap 21. The #9 emerged as the leader on lap 22, followed by the #2 in second. On lap 27, the #2 would spin after contact with the #64. The #64 would then go spinning after contact with the #2 in turns two and four on lap 28. Lap 37 saw #64 spin after contact with the #2 in turn two, with a similar scenario in turn four on lap 40, after which the #64 retired to the infield. Half the entries were able to finish the race with the #9 of Frank Martines at the front of the field followed by the #5.

Source: Ryan McGrellis/LongIslandJam.com
Posted: September 21, 2008