08/03/2009
Chris Turbush & Tommy
Walkowiak Score
Riverhead 175 Prelim Victories
by Bob Finan
Both Chris Turbush of Riverhead and Tommy Walkowiak of Ridge
continued their march to the 2009 championship in their
respective divisions when they won Saturday night at Riverhead
Raceway. Turbush won his 5th Charger feature of the year in a
30-lap contest, while Walkowiak topped the 30-lap Blunderbust
main event for his 4th triumph of 2009.
In the Charger time trials Chris Turbush took fast time by the
slimmest of margins, 1/1000th of a second over John Elwood,
13.424 to 13.425 to win the $50 Brigandi Brothers Automotive
fast time bonus. Turbush saw his luck hold out in the redraw
among the top six when he drew the pole with Ellwood grabbing
the outside pole when he drew. Right from the drop of Mike
Rickert's green flag Turbush and Ellwood remained close as the
tandem ran one-two for the first 19-laps of the tilt. On a
longer green flag run of which there were few, Elwood's car
seemed to get tight upon exiting the corners and this allowed
rookie talent Jerry Solomito to close in and challenge for
second.
The 20th lap would be when Solomito was able to work his way by
Ellwood for second and once he completed that task he set his
sights on leader Chris Turbush, who when the race stayed green
was able to pull away from Solomito and others behind him. At
the checkers it was "The Cranberry Kid" Chris Turbush in the
National Fire Safety Solutions Pontiac scoring his 18th career
Charger win and he now leads his father "Dynamite" Dan by
38-points for the 2009 title. A great ride was turned in by
Islip's Jerry Solomito for runner-up money in the Riverhead
Building Supply Chevy, while Jeremy McDermott of Riverhead had a
solid showing with a third place tally in the Suffolk Precast
Pontiac.
When the Blunderbusts went up against the clock it would be
Jarrod Hayes of Calverton quickest with a lap of 15.222 scoring
the $50 fast time Brigandi Brothers Automotive money. That would
be as good as the evening got for "J-Rod" as he lost a wheel and
axle just moments after Jim Kelly's green flag waved. On the
ensuing restart "The Phantom" Henry Cataldo took the early lead
to lead the first two laps before point leader Tommy Walkowiak
wrestled the top spot away on lap 3. No less than five drivers
would then take a turn at chasing the all-time leading winner in
the class as Scott Maliszewski, Tom Pickerell, Tom Sullivan,
Wayne Okula and Neal Feola Jr. ran second to "The Wildchild".
It was Feola's run that was most impressive as he lost many
positions early in the race when he locked bumpers with Bill
Wegmann and once the two got separated Feola had much work to
do, while Wegmann suffered a flat tire in the encounter. As for
race leader Tommy Walkowiak it didn't concern him to watch was
taking place behind him and he roared to his 38th career victory
in the Unique Golf Chevy. With the win Tommy enjoys a hefty
96-point lead over Tom Pickerell, 564 to 468 with the season
entering its final two months. Neal Feola Jr. of Middle Island
was runner-up in his sponsor wanted rebounding from his early
race misfortune while Wayne Okula of Riverhead was a close third
in the Ramar-Hall entry.
RIVERHEAD RACEWAY SATURDAY AUGUST 1ST, 2009
Riverhead 175 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour: 1. Ryan Preece
2. Dave Brigati 3. Howie Brode 4. Justin Bonsignore 5. Glen Reen
6. Eric Beers 7. Jamie Tomaino 8. Todd Szegedy 9. Chris
Pasteryak 10. Rowan Pennink 11. Bill Park 12. Jimmy Blewett 13.
Kevin Goodale 14. Glenn Tyler 15. Woody Pitkat 16. Ed Flemke Jr.
17. Eric Goodale 18. Wade Cole 19. Mike Stefanik 20. Ted
Christopher 21. Ken Heagy 22. Doug Coby 23. Bobby Grigas III 24.
Donny Lia 25. Chuck Steuer 26. John Fortin 27. Ronnie Silk 28.
Frank Vigliarolo Jr.
Chargers 30-laps: 1. Chris Turbush 2. Jerry Solomito 3.
Jeremy McDermott 4. Dan Turbush 5. Brad Van Houten 6. Jay
Henschel 7. Frank Dumicich Jr. 8. Chris McGuire 9. John Ellwood
10. Frank Scimeca Sr. 11. Tom Anderson 12. Daryn Miller 13.
Allen Reeves 14. Brian Doyle 15. Frank Scimeca Jr. 16. Jack
Orlando 17. Erin Dumicich 18. Kory Comiskey
Blunderbusts 30-laps: 1. Tommy Walkowiak 2. Neal Feola
Jr. 3. Wayne Okula 4. Scott Maliszewski 5. Tom Sullivan 6. Tom
Pickerell 7. Tim Mulqueen 8. Ray Shannon 9. Jason Wegmann 10.
Bill Portney Sr. 11. Kevin Rommeney 12. Caesar Cunaccia 13.
Randy Johnson 14. Scott Sepe 15. Ed Mistretta 16. Jessica Cohan
17. Henry Cataldo 18. Paul Parisi 19. Matt Pepitone 20. Ralph
Corsini 21. Bill Wegmann 22. Jarrod Hayes
Source: Bob Finan / Riverhead
Raceway
Posted: August 3, 2009
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