An energetic race program was presented Sunday afternoon at
Riverhead Raceway and when the day concluded Chris Turbush of
Riverhead scored his first career Super Pro Truck win, while
John Beatty of Valley Stream topped the Legend Race Cars and Ray
Fitzgerald of Manorville continued his perfect season in the
Grand Enduro ranks.
Dave Koenig and Shaun Gouldsbury broke into the top two spots of
the Super Pro Truck main event at the throw of the green and
would test each other for the lead over the first 8 laps.
However the duo would get too close on that 8th cycle and
crashed from the front of the field moving Chris Turbush from
third to first in the process. Turbush was then pursued by point
leader John Denniston for the middle portion of the race before
John faded with a tire going down dropping him through the pack.
Rob "The Racer" McCormick raced his way to second on lap 17 but
by the time he got there Chris Turbush in the Bill Lyons
Equipment Sales Chevy was on his way to his first win with the
"tailgate brigade" Rob McCormick of Calverton was runner-up in
the Quiznos Subs of Riverhead Dodge, with veteran Frank Dumicich
Sr. of East Quogue third in the Wesemann's Sand & Mason Supplies
Ford.
Like the Super Pro Trucks before them, the Legend Race Cars also
staged a yellow flag filled contest and in fact the race hit the
time limit with 17 of 20-laps complete. Rising talent Jim Pape
Jr. broke out front early and the second generation driver would
lead the first 11-laps of the tilt. Silas Hiscock Jr. chased
Pape for the first 10-laps before John Beatty roared from deep
in the field to claim second on lap 11. Once to second Beatty in
the All-American Mortgage Bankers entry wasted little time in
passing Pape for the lead on the front stretch with Hiscock
coming to second as well. However Hiscock saw his day go south
on lap 17 when he, Chris Young and Johnny Gloor all came
together in turn two with heavy contact. That moved Pape back to
second behind Beatty and after a quick spin on the ensuing
restart the time limit ran out and John Beatty scored his first
win of the 2009 campaign. Jim Pape Jr. of Mattituck had a career
best second place finish in the Plycon Van Lines entry, with
veteran Paul Dodorico of Miller Place a solid third in the RPM
Dyno Legend.
Ray Fitzgerald has now won all three Grand Enduro 2009 races
topping the 50-lap main event that also saw this class have a
very rough and tumble affair. Michael Retus showed the way for
the first 18-laps of the race before Frank Martines slipped by
for the lead on lap 19. Retus then engaged himself in a heated
battle for second on lap 19 with Fitzgerald that saw the latter
take the position on the 23rd lap of the tilt. Once to second
Ray went right to work on Martines for the lead, which he took
with an inside pass down the back stretch at the halfway mark of
the race. Unlike the first two races of '09 Fitzgerald was not
able to simply pull away once in the lead as a feisty Retus
slipped by not only Martines for second, but Fitzgerald for the
lead on lap 30 with bold move. However three laps later as they
raced the 33rd lap Ray Fitzgerald powered the Tom's Automotive
Chevy out front for good to score his 52nd career win. Walter
Stroud of Yaphank made a late race charge for runner-up money in
the Gene's 112 Service Chevy, while Joe Parcelluzzi of W.
Sayville completed the top three in the Blue Point Auto Body
Monte Carlo.
John Cozza of Medford notched his second consecutive
4/6-Cylinder Truck Enduro victory as he took home the gold in a
50-lap contest. "Handsome" Hank Hallock had one of his best
efforts in the class as he led the first 15-laps of the race,
chased early on by "Woot" Lawrence for four laps before Cozza
moved by for second on lap 5. John then spent the next 10-laps
chasing down leader Hallock with the winning pass coming on lap
15 exiting the fourth corner when Cozza ducked under Hank for
the lead. Once out front John Cozza would never relinquish the
lead and drove to victory in the Blue Point Auto Body Chevy.
Hank Hallock of Riverhead would have a great afternoon with
second in the Dantona Industries entry, while Donald Lawrence of
Hampton Bays placed third in the Westhampton Auto Salvage truck.
Ed Brown Jr. of Mastic Beach would sweep both ends of the
8-Cylinder Enduros with the first finding him and his brother
Anthony Pizzo swapping the lead in the final two laps with some
daring moves. Brown in the STS Tire Centers racer would prevail
in that 75-lap thriller, as he would in the 40-lap nightcap
later in the day.
In another family one-two finish Shawn Wanat of Riverhead won
the 50-lap 6-Cylinder Enduro in his Spits Speed Shop racer,
besting his stepfather Robin Vollmoeller in the process.
In a dominating performance Matt Brown of Ronkonkoma took the
lead of the 75-lap 4-Cylinder Enduro early and never looked back
in his J&K NASCAR Collectibles entry.
Don Carasiti of St. James continued his winning ways in the One
On One Spectator Drags in his 1986 Firebird as he bested former
Blunderbust standout John "King" Clancy of Shirley who was
wheeling an all-new 2008 Pontiac G8.
06/14/09 - Riverhead Raceway Finishes
Super Pro Truck feature 20-laps: 1. Chris Turbush 2. Rob
McCormick 3. Frank Dumicich Sr. 4. Danny Grennan 5. Mike
Albasini 6. Frank Dumicich Jr. 7. Erin Dumicich 8. Anthony
Vecchio 9. Lou Maestri 10. John Denniston 11. Roger Turbush 12.
Kathleen Hallock 13. Shaun Gouldsbury 14. Greg Podlaski 15. Dave
Koenig 16. Bryan Quilliam 17. Anthony Daleo
Legend Race Car feature 17-laps (time limit) 1. John Beatty 2.
Jim Pape Jr. 3. Paul Dodorico 4. Glenn Maningo 5. Silas Hiscock
Sr. 6. Tony Naglieri 7. Bill Hiscock 8. Matt Maring 9. Dan Pace
10. Chris Rogers 11. Greg DiCanio 12. Tommy Barton 13. Johnny
Brand 14. Tyler Devault 15. Timmy Solomito 16. Jim Sylvester 17.
Silas Hiscock Jr. 18. Chris Young 19. Johnny Gloor IV 20. Fred
Card 21. Steve Booker 22. JD Abrahams 23. Tom Sherman 24. Kevin
Nowak
Grand Enduro 50-laps: 1. Ray Fitzgerald 2. Walter Stroud 3. Joe
Parcelluzzi 4. Michael Retus 5. Donny Oliver
4/6-Cylinder Truck Enduro 50-laps: 1. John Cozza 2. Hank Hallock
3. Donald Lawrence 4. Shawn Wanat 5. Rich Onorato
1st 8-Cylinder Enduro 75-laps: Winner- Ed Brown Jr.
2nd 8-Cylinder Enduro 40-laps: Winner Ed Brown Jr.
6-Cylinder Enduro 50-laps: Winner- Shawn Wanat
4-Cylinder Enduro 75-laps: Winner- Matt Brown
Spectator Drags: Winner- Don Carasiti
Source: Bob Finan /
Riverhead Raceway
Posted: June 14, 2009
