Island Insight
By J.A. Ackley
Pole Position – Nothing to
Gain, Everything to Lose
You had a one in six chance of success from the pole
position this past Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway. While
usually the pole sitter has a good chance at finishing within
the top five of a feature at the tight quarter-mile bullring,
only one, Frank Dumicich Jr., managed to do so, with a win in
the Super Pro Truck feature. In the Legends, No. 18 James Pape
Jr. finished 16th. In the Chargers, No. 51 Alan Reeves finished
12th. In the Late Models, No. 88 Shawn Patrick finished eighth.
In the Blunderbusts, No. 69x Paul Parisi finished 17th. And, in
the Modifieds, No. 8x Eddie Brunnhoelzl III finished sixth.
Legendary Numbers Fueled by New Blood
Two divisions had healthy car counts on opening day. The
Modifieds had a full field of cars, with several newcomers and a
couple of returning familiar faces filling the field. No. 3
Jerry Solomito, who won last year’s Charger Rookie of the Year,
will contend for the 2010 Modified Rookie of the Year. Other
contenders include former Legends racer No. 14 John Beatty, No.
91 Steven Booker (who has raced in several divisions), No. 33
Frank Russo, and No. 22 Tommy Sekulski (who has limited Charger
experience). In addition, another newcomer included
second-generation racer John Fortin Jr., who took out Frank
Saladino’s No. 25 for his maiden stock car voyage. Two returning
familiar faces included No. 6 Tom Rogers Jr. and No. 13 Al
Ermmarino.
But the buzz around the pits was
the Legend cars, which had 34 cars. Twenty-five of them started
the feature while the rest ran in the recently introduced
Freshman Legends class. Where did all these Legends come from?
The go-karts, which accounts for the background of a good chunk
of today’s new talent on Saturday nights.
However, the New Blood Isn’t Limited to Drivers
With the lowered age limit in the pits, the young talent
entering the ranks isn’t limited to that the space behind the
steering wheel. For instance, taking the role of lead wrench for
the Late Model No. 1 of Artie Pedersen Jr. is Artie Pedersen
III. Artie III races go-karts with his brother Allan, which they
race in as many regional races as possible, and hope to make a
big splash in this year's nationals. However, when Artie III
isn't racing, he’ll be applying his racing knowledge to
making his father’s car go fast and turn left.
Division to Watch in 2010 – Chargers
During the past few years, No. 81 Chris Turbush’s main
competition has been Lady Luck. If she was on his side, you
could bet Turbush would be contending for the lead by race’s
end. However, if the season opener was any indication, he might
have to fight more than Lady Luck. While No. 89x Chris McGuire
has been strong in recent years, he’s always been one step
behind the No. 81. During the opener, it looked as if the roles
were reversed. Turbush had been very vocal that his No. 81
Charger had been off in warm-ups, and his level of domination
didn’t look as strong last Saturday night. In addition to
McGuire, Turbush’s father No. 8 Dan Turbush and
second-generation racer No. 00 Kevin Orlando both looked fast.
The real question for 2010? Has Turbush’s car slowed down due to
an undiscovered problem or has the competition just got
stronger?
Source:
J.A. Ackley/LongIslandJam.com
Updated: May
2, 2010
