John Fortin
Comes Out on Top in NASCAR Modified Contest at Riverhead
Defending NASCAR Modified
champion John Fortin of Holtsville escaped a close call late in
Saturday evenings 35-lap feature event at Riverhead Raceway
Saturday to drive to his 23rd career victory before a chilled
and windswept collection of die hard fans. The win moved John
into sole possession of 11th on the all-time win list, four
behind Don Howe and John Berkoski who share 9th at 27 victories.
The race got off to an auspicious start when the front row cars
of Chris Young and Timmy Solomito got together going into turn
one to on lap one with Solomito ending up in the wall done for
the night, while Young was sent to the pits by NASCAR officials
for the night for his part in the incident. At the second
attempt to get the race under green Eddie Brunnhoelzl III and
Dave Brigati would now occupy the first two positions and would
do so for the first 17 circuits of the race which is when things
started to heat up the chilly evening. On lap 18 Mike Andrews
Jr. slipped by Brigati on a double file restart as Riverhead
Raceway on a trial basis id trying double file restarts for the
entire race for all divisions.
Andrews would chase Brunnhoelzl for a spell with the likes of
Bill Park, Justin Bonsignore, John Fortin and Tom Rogers Jr. all
right there. On lap 23 Brunnhoelzl appeared to get a shove from
behind which shot him up the hill in turn one collecting Park
and sending others scrambling, including eventual race winner
Fortin. When the dust settled Brunnhoelzl remained the race
leader with Fortin second for the double file restart. On that
restart Fortin on the outside powered his SGS Stone Works Chevy
to the front with Tom Rogers Jr. moving into second. Over the
final dozen laps John Fortin would ward off some intense
pressure from Tom Rogers Jr. to cross the line first which John
did while Rogers seemingly scored a second place finish.
"I have to thank Tony and Matt Hirschman for clipping this car
so quickly, I showed up at their shop Sunday at 9:30 pm and by
dinner time Monday I was on my way home" Fortin disclosed. The
car was damaged in a Sunday test session prior to the May 2nd
Enduro card at Riverhead. John added" My crew did a remarkable
job for me and I want to thank them and SGS Stone Works for all
their support". In victory lane John's car sported a heavily
damaged left rear wheel from his close call on lap 22 and the
team was amazed that it held air at all.
After post race technical inspection runner-up Tom Rogers Jr.
was disqualified for being light at the scales, moving Eddie
Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown to second in the Senix Creek Inn
Chevy, with opening night winner Chuck Steuer of Bohemia
pocketing third place money in the Northeastern Office Equipment
racer. Al Ermmarino of Brookhaven and Howie Brode of East Islip
completed the top five.
Chris LaSpisa of Shirley arrived to the track late Saturday
after attending his son Kyle's 1st Communion and his efforts
paid off with his first victory in 13-years in the 25-lap Late
Model feature event. The first 19 laps of the race were almost a
replay of opening night racing as Shawn Patrick showing LaSpisa
the way and unfortunately for Patrick the ending would not end
up pleasant. While trying to lap the slower car of Doug Renalds
on lap 19 Patrick went high and LaSpisa low going into the third
turn Renalds drifted high collecting Patrick who then clipped
the fourth turn wall. When Shawn tried to start his car during
the caution the ignition went out ending his fine run. A six lap
shootout with a double file restart was now in order with
LaSpisa flanked by second place Kevin Metzger and followed in
third by Mike Bologna. Both drivers applied pressure to Chris
LaSpisa but there was no stopping the driver of the McBetts
racing Engines powered car that he fields with virtually no
sponsorship. Kevin Metzger of Massapequa the defending champion
in the class was runner-up in the V&J Auto Body Chevy, while
Peter "Buzzy" Eriksen of Baldwin made a late race move to third
in the Harley Davidson of Nassau County machine.
Chris Turbush of Riverhead, the two time defending Charger
champion collected his 19th career victory when he topped the
30-lap event that paid double points. Opening night winner Chris
McGuire topped the pre-race time trials with a lap of 13.541 but
drew fourth in the redraw for the starting line-up. Chris
Turbush and his famed father "Dynamite" Dan picking the front
row in the redraw. However at the throw of the green Chris
jumped out front while Jeremy McDermott slipped under Dan for
second spot as he and the elder Turbush would wrestle for second
for the first 17 laps of the race. A lap 17 double file restart
would change the look of the race as Dan Turbush slipped under
McDermott for second and the duo continued to battle for the
position late into the race. This allowed "The Cranberry Kid"
Chris Turbush to pull away in his Eastern Storefront Pontiac and
drive to victory lane where he dedicated the race to his
hospitalized grandfather. Dan Turbush of Riverhead was second in
the Island Wide Taxi entry, while Jeremy McDermott also of
Riverhead placed third in the Sandy Shore Builders Chevy.
For awhile in the 20-lap Blunderbust feature it looked as though
Bill Portney Sr. of Ronkonkoma was going to grab his first win
since 1999, but it was not to be as former champion Tom
Pickerell of Huntington claimed the gold when the checkers
waved. Portney quickly moved out front at the start of the race
and in the first half of the tilt drew pressure from Paul Parisi
and Ray Shannon early, as both took turns running second. A lap
12 caution would set-up a double file restart that found Tom
Pickerell who had moved to third diving under Paul Parisi for
second on lap 13 and the very next lap making his bid for the
lead a successful one passing Portney, bringing Ray Shannon to
second with him. Ray and Scott Maliszewski slugged it out for
second with Scott working his way by on lap 16, but that didn't
leave him enough time to catch the eventual race winner. When
the race concluded Tom Pickerell in the Pickerell Clam Buick
notched his 10th career win, while Scott Maliszewski of Deer
Park was runner-up in the Thomas J Stock Attorney-At-Law Chevy.
Rob Bader of Holtsville wheeled his JTL Enterprises entry from a
17th starting spot to finish third.
In the 20-lap, double point Super Pro Truck main event time
trials were staged prior to the event with Roger Turbush setting
quick time at 13.774 and he later completed the clean sweep by
winning the feature event as well. As the green Whelen
Engineering light winked on "Dangerous" Dave Koenig moved to the
front of the field with Roger and Mike Albasini in tow. For the
first half of the contest Roger chased Dave and on lap 11 made
what would be the winning move to out front putting his Superior
Systems Chevy out into the lead, which Roger would not surrender
for the remainder of the race. Frank Dumicich Jr. made some
noise late in the race as he roared to second in his Gregg's
Landscaping Chevy where he would finish the race. Dave Koenig of
Freeport would cross the stripe third in the Nelsons's Auto
Salvage mount.
James Charrier of Shirley is now two-for-two in 2010 in Grand
Enduro action as he topped the 50-lap event Saturday night for
his second win in six days. Charrier had waited 11-years for his
first win before winning two in less than a week. Michael Retus
and David Antos ran in the first two spots for the first 19-laps
before James Charrier worked his way by both to take the lead
for good in his ClearBeerDraft.com Chevy. Veteran Bobby Pease
chased Charrier for a spell before David Antos of Lindenhurst
staged a late race rally to claim runner-up money in the CR
Customs Monte Carlo. Bobby Pease of Medford was third in the
United Irrigation Chevy.
NASCAR Modifieds 35-laps: 1. John Fortin 2. Eddie Brunnhoelzl
III 3. Chuck Steuer 4. Al Ermmarino 5. Howie Brode 6. Dave
Brigati 7. Mike Andrews Jr. 8. Bill Park 9. Justin Bonsignore
10. Jerry Solomito 11. Richie Pallai Jr. 12. Wayne Anderson 13.
Amber Fortin 14. Ken Darch 15. John Beatty Jr. 16. Frank
Saladino 17. Sean McDonald 18. Steven Booker 19. Frank Russo 20.
Tommy Sekulski 21. Russell Savoy 22. Timmy Solomito DQ'D- Chris
Young, Tom Rogers Jr. DNS- Brad Van Houten
Late Models 25-laps: 1. Chris LaSpisa 2. Kevin Metzger 3. Peter
Eriksen 4. Roger Oxee 5. Artie Pedersen 6. Mike Mortimer 7.
Ralph Stanzione 8. Mike Bologna 9. Shawn Patrick 10. Doug
Renalds
Chargers 30-laps: 1. Chris Turbush 2. Dan Turbush 3. Jeremy
McDermott 4. Kevin Orlando 5. Chris McGuire 6. Frank Dumicich
Jr. 7. Erin Dumicich 8. Brian Doyle 9. Arne Pedersen 10. CJ
Lehmann 11. Derek Stochecki 12. Daryn Miller 13. Tom Anderson
14. Tom Ferrara 15. Jay Henschel 16. Mike Mujsce 17. Dennis
Scott 18. Scott Pedersen
Blunderbusts 20-laps: 1. Tom Pickerell 2. Scott Maliszewski 3.
Rob Bader 4. Ray Shannon 5. Tommy Walkowiak 6. Bill Wegmann 7.
Chris LaSpisa 8. Paul Parisi 9. Tim Mulqueen 10. Tom Sullivan
11. Terry Stiles 12. Jimmy White Jr. 13. Fred Nolan 14. Jason
Wegmann 15. Bill Portney Sr. 16. Scott Sepe 17. Russ Skippon
DNS- Frank Bruno
Super Pro Trucks 20-laps: 1. Roger Turbush 2. Frank Dumicich Jr.
3. Dave Koenig 4. Frank Dumicich Sr. 5. Lou Maestri 6. Mike
Albasini 7. Chris Turbush 8. Shaun Gouldsbury 9. Erin Dumicich
10. Kevin Scharfenberg 11. Keith Rotzi 12. Peter Rotzi 13.
Anthony Vecchio 14. Frank Scimeca Jr. 15. Bryan Quilliam 16.
Matt Odwazny
Grand Enduro 50-lap (top five): 1. James Charrier 2. David Antos
3. Bobby Pease 4. Walter Stroud 5. Jimmy Denis
Source:
Riverhead Raceway PR
Updated: May
9, 2010
