Saturday saw an action-packed
night at Long Island’s Riverhead Raceway. Fans saw eight
different classes, including two new ones – 4C Super Modifieds
and skid plate racing.
The unique-looking 4C Super
Modifeds tour around the Northeast and finally made their Long
Island debut after being rained out last year. They are
5/8-scale Super Modified replicas, powered by a 600cc stock
motorcycle engine. The entire drivetrain of the car sits on the
left side, providing plenty of left-side weight to help the cars
turn.
The cars are hand-built right
here on the island in Medford, N.Y. Long Island native Mike Renn
drives the No. 17 4C and is the man behind this up-and-coming
division. The 4C Super Modifieds primary goal is to put racing
back into the hands of the driver and crew chief instead of
those with the biggest wallets. Pole sitter Harry Weed says the
cost of racing is continuously growing as teams are forced to
maintain an edge by seeking out new technologies. However, the
4C Super Modifieds prevent racers from outspending each other by
dictating identical, spec cars with little room for creative
rule interpretation. In addition, their Honda and Suzuki motors
come out of salvaged motorcycles and run on normal pump gas and
one set of tires will last the entire season. The end result is
a division with relatively flat costs, but is still fast,
competitive, and fun.
The quarter-mile Riverhead
oval provided a challenge for the 4C drivers. Mike Renn says
most of the tracks the 4C cars travel to require only minor
setup tweaks; however Riverhead demands more radical changes.
This did not deter the nine-car field from putting on a great
show for the fans. Mike Renn would go on to win the race, which
had a special meaning for the driver who first started in
Riverhead’s Enduro ranks. Renn hopes to bring the 4Cs back to
Riverhead within a few months for another race.
The 4C’s were joined by
another division that made its debut – skid-plate racing. In a
skid plate race, drivers race front-wheel-drive cars, with
aluminum skis in place of the rear wheels- basically a
snowmobile in reverse. Sparks flew as six cars attempted to
negotiate 12 circuits around Riverhead. However, there were no
sparks from the car of eventual winner Shawn Wanat. Instead of
metal skid plates, Wanat used wood skis. By the end of the event
the air around the track smelled like a campfire as the wood
underneath Shawn Wanat’s No. 02 burnt off . After Wanat’s
dominating performance, it’s likely we will see even more cars
with wooden skid plates the next time they return on June 5.
