Chuck Steuer Tops
Riverhead NASCAR Foundation Day Field
Chuck Steuer of Bohemia scored his 17th
career NASCAR Modified victory Saturday night at Riverhead
Raceway when he topped the 35-lap NASCAR Foundation Day Modified
feature event, which was contested in a heavy fog.
At the throw of the green Chuck Steuer from the pole quickly put
his machine out front and would be even happier just moments
later when a multi-car incident on the very first lap unfolded.
The crash involved the likes of Bill Park, Dave Brigati, Eddie
Brunnhoelzl III, Wayne Anderson and Sean McDonald. Park and
McDonald were through for the night, while the others returned.
The second attempt at getting the race underway found Steuer
once again bolting out front with Chris Young in pursuit, but a
5th lap yellow would set-up another double file restart. John
Fortin glued himself to leader Steuer's rear bumper to sneak
under Young for second and for the following 30-laps the opening
night winner would hound Chuck for the win. In the closing laps
Fortin turned-up the heat but Steuer was not going to give way
on this night. "I have to give all the credit to my crew" Steuer
noted after exiting his Northeastern Office Equipment Chevy.
""They put in endless hours so I can do what I have to do with
my two young children" Chuck is now tied with Axel Anderson, Bob
Park, Tom McCann and Gary Winters for 18th on the all-time
victory list.
John Fortin of Holtsville was right on Steuer's rear-spoiler in
the end but was runner-up in the SGS Stone Works Chevy, while
Chris Young of Calverton crossed the line third in the Riverhead
Building Supply Chevy. Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville and Dave
Brigati of Calverton rounded out the top five.
Scott Kulesa of Georgetown, Ma. Scored the victory in the 50-lap
Late Model main event after staging a seesaw battle with Roger
Oxee for the win. In the pre-race time trials Kulesa, a
Calverton native set fast time with a lap of 12.855, but in the
redraw picked the outside pole. Rim riding the outside lane
Kulesa got the jump on pole sitter Roger Oxee for the early race
lead, with the all-time leading winner in the class giving
chase. Caution flew on lap 22 and on the ensuing restart Oxee
would ride the outside groove to take over the race lead from
Kulesa, with Tom Rogers Jr. coming to second one lap later.
After pitting for a flat tire near the halfway mark Scott Kulesa
made a charge towards the front retaking second from Rogers on
lap 36 and setting sail for Oxee. Once again the outside groove
would be the lane of choice as Kulesa worked the high side to
pass Oxee on lap 41 and once in front there was no catching the
Ranco Sand & Stone Pontiac. The victory is Scott's 14th career
triumph. Roger Oxee of Peconic was runner-up in the North Fork
Sanitation Pontiac and in a career run Artie Pedersen Jr. of
Center Moriches placed third in the Sherwin Williams Paint Chevy
after a late race charge.
Roger Maynor of Bay Shore backed-up his opening night win with
yet another Cromarty Cup 25 victory taking control of the race
with 10-laps remaining. After Ken Hyde Sr. set the pace of the
race for three laps, Tom Kraft used an early race restart to his
advantage taking the top spot from Hyde, who was later overtaken
by Scott Pedersen for second. Scott would have to give way on
lap 12 to the high-flying Maynor, who once to second only needed
three laps to pass Kraft for the lead. Like his opening night
pass Maynor rode the outside line to put the Barrasso & Sons
Mason Supplies Ford out front passing Kraft who would later fall
from the race with mechanical woes. Over the final 10-laps
sophomore driver Scott Pedersen would fill Roger's mirror
staying right on the rear-bumper of the eventual winner, but in
the end Roger Maynor would again prevail and he's now just five
wins shy of 100 in his career. Scott Pederson of Shirley had an
outstanding run with second in the Land, Air & Water
Environmental entry, while Ralph Tasso of Bohemia in his 2009
debut raced to third place money in the Royal Star Landscaping
Chevy.
The Super Pro truck main event turned out to be a sibling
rivalry for the half of the 20-lap contest as Erin Dumicich and
Frank Dumicich Jr. fought it out for the lead with Frank Jr.
eventually capturing the win. The brother and sister tandem ran
nose to tailgate over the first dozen laps with Erin pacing her
older brother. Sister or no sister on lap 13 Frank took over the
lead of the race, while Erin fell back with several trucks
taking advantage of the opening on the inside. "Dangerous" Dave
Koenig would mirror Frank Dumicich Jr. for the next few laps of
the race, but he would find himself racing with Roger Turbush
for second in the closing laps. That allowed Frank Dumicich Jr.
of East Quogue to grab his 8th career win in the Gregg's
Landscaping Chevy. Roger Turbush of Riverhead would make that
late race pass for second in the Allied Air Conditioning
machine, while Dave Koenig of Oceanside had to be happy with
third in the Nelson's Auto Salvage Chevy.
It took just over a year for Kevin Nowak of Medford to enjoy the
thrill of victory in Legend Race Car competition and Saturday
night the driver of the NAPA Auto Parts Sedan did just that in
their 20-lap main event. Bill Hiscock and Jim Pape Jr. paced the
field for the first two circuits before Nowak worked his way by
Pape for second on a double file restart. Once to second Nowak
wasted little time making a bid on Hiscock for the lead, a bid
he successfully completed with an inside pass on lap 4 in the
third and fourth corner. Once out front it would be Kevin Nowak
to open up enough of a comfortable cushion that he'd enjoy to
that all-important first career victory. For the second week in
a row Tom Sherman of Farmingdale was second in the Oval Speed
Unlimited Legend, while defending champion Timmy Solomito of
Islip was third in the Argyle Auto Service entry.
In the evening ending 75-lap 8-Cylinder Enduro Anthony Pizzo of
Lake Ronkonkoma took control of this race early on and roared to
victory in his Brownstone Body Works Chevy. Veteran Dominic
Ranieri of E. Northport was runner-up in the Local Cesspool
Chevy, with Ed Brown Jr. of Mastic Beach third in the United
Exhaust entry.
NASCAR Modifieds 35-laps: 1. Chuck
Steuer 2. John Fortin 3. Chris Young 4. Justin Bonsignore 5.
Dave Brigati 6. Wayne Anderson 7. Timmy Solomito 8. Amber Fortin
9. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 10. Mike Andrews Jr. 11. Tom Rogers Jr.
12. Bill Park 13. Sean McDonald 14. Johnny Bush
Late Models 50-laps: 1. Scott Kulesa 2. Roger Oxee 3.
Artie Pedersen 4. Kevin Metzger 5. Chris LaSpisa 6. Tom Rogers
Jr. 7. Peter Eriksen 8. Mike Bologna 9. Doug Reynolds 10. Mike
Coll 11. Shawn Patrick
Cromarty Cup 25 Figure Eights: 1. Roger Maynor 2. Scott Pedersen
3. Ralph Tasso 4. Ken Hyde Sr. 5. Mike Mujsce 6. John Vullo 7.
Michael Rommeney 8. Will Farrell 9. Ken Hyde Jr. 10. Arne
Pedersen 11. Bob Dalke 12. Jim Donaldson 13. Tom Kraft 14. Tom
Ferrara
Super Pro Trucks 20-laps: 1. Frank Dumicich Jr. 2. Roger
Turbush 3. Dave Koenig 4. Lou Maestri 5. John Denniston 6. Mike
Albasini 7. Chris Turbush 8. Rob McCormick 9. Danny Grennan 10.
Greg Podlaski 11. Shaun Gouldsbury 12. Erin Dumicich 13.
Kathleen Hallock 14. Frank Dumicich Sr. 15. Anthony Daleo 16.
Anthony Vecchio 17. Bryan Quilliam
Legend Race Cars 20-laps: 1. Kevin Nowak 2. Tom Sherman
3. Timmy Solomito 4. Tony Naglieri 5. Bill Hiscock 6. Silas
Hiscock Sr. 7. Mike Malone 8. Johnny Gloor IV 9. Dan Pace 10.
Max Zachem 11. Paul Dodorico 12. Greg DiCanio 13. Jim Pape Jr.
14. JD Abrahams 15. Chris A. Young 16. Joe Sole 17. Glenn
Maningo 18. Tom Rogers Jr. 19. Fred Card 20. Johnny Brand 21.
Jim Sylvester 22. Silas Hiscock Jr. 23. John Visconti DQ- John
Beatty
8-Cylinder Enduro 75-laps (top five) 1. Anthony Pizzo 2.
Dominic Ranieri 3. Ed Brown Jr. 4. Jess Martines 5. Dege Russell
Source: Bob
Finan / Riverhead Raceway
Posted: May
18, 2009
