05/29/2010
Tom Rogers Jr.
Makes it Two in a Row in NASCAR Modifieds at Riverhead Raceway
The magical carpet
ride continues for Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue at Riverhead
Raceway as he won his second consecutive NASCAR Modified feature
event in a 35-lap event Saturday night after coming from a 14th
starting position to do so. Rogers earned $1,450 for his 11th
career NASCAR Whelen All-American Series triumph.
After Ken Darch paced the first lap of the race Timmy Solomito
moved out front on the 2nd cycle bringing Ed Brunnhoelzl III to
second with him just before an early race caution flew for an
incident on the back stretch. When the green light came back on
Brunnhoelzl on the double file restart was able to get a nose up
on Solomito on lap 3 for the lead and the duo ran in that order
until the next caution on lap 5. Suddenly during that yellow
flag period Solomito ducked into the pits done for the night
with a power steering issue. That moved defending champion John
Fortin to second and he would spend the following 9 laps chasing
race leader Brunnhoelzl.
After racing through the field Rogers would enter the frey on
lap 16 when he worked his way under John Fortin for second and
set his radar for race leader Brunnhoelzl, who had built a
comfortable lead. Lap after lap Tom chipped away at the lead and
on the 18th lap another yellow waved for a turn one tangle and
that would change the complexion of the race. After a close call
that saw Brunnhoelzl and Rogers make contact and start to spin,
another quick yellow waved for John Beatty who suffered a flat
trying to avoid the duo. Under track rules the caution was not
for the leaders who kept going after the contact and they were
placed back up front. On the ensuing second try and a restart
Tom Rogers Jr. outran Brunnhoelzl to the first corner for the
lead with Chuck Steuer taking over second. For the final 16-laps
all Steuer could do is try and stay close to Rogers but that
would be as good as it would get for the former two-time track
champion.
At the checkers it was the Steamroom of Port Jefferson Chevy of
Tom Rogers Jr. continuing his month of May hot streak with his
second win in a row which was proceeded by a runner-up finish in
the NASCAR Hall of Fame 100 May 15th. "Things are clicking right
now" Tom reflected in victory lane, "you don't get on a roll
like this without great people behind you and I can't thank my
crew enough along with my sponsors The Steamroom, Bellecon
Acrylic Asphalt Sealing and Frankie's Towing for making this all
possible".
Chuck Steuer of Bohemia would cross the stripe second in his
Northeastern Office Equipment Chevy, while early race leader
Eddie Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown placed third in the Senix
Creek Inn entry. John Fortin of Holtsville the current points
leader was 4th and Chris Young of Calverton rounded out the top
five.
Another driver on a two race win streak is Arne Pedersen of
Mastic Beach who took top honors in the Cromarty Cup 20 for the
Figure Eight class. Veteran Mike Mujsce set the tone of the race
leading the first 9 laps of the event with sophomore driver Ken
Hyde Jr. applying the pressure. Starting the 10th lap Hyde got
into Mujsce sending the leader spinning and Hyde to the rear of
the field during the caution for his role in the incident. That
left the Pedersen brothers Arne and Scott to test each other for
the lead at the halfway point of the race, with Arne steering
the BNR Home Improvement Intrepid taking the lead on lap 10, a
lead he would not relinquish as he made it two for two in 2010
with his second career win. Scott Pedersen of Shirley was
runner-up to his brother Arne in his Land, Air & Water
Environmental Camaro, while Ralph Tasso of Bohemia drove the S&H
Welding Chevy home for third place money.
A historic moment took place in a non-stop 20-lap Charger
feature event when Daryn Miller of Franklin Square, who is deaf
won his first career feature event. At the throw of the green
Miller was able to out drag Jay Henschel to the first turn with
Jay tucking into second and that is how they would run the
entire 20-lap distance. As the race moved along Miller was able
to build a nice size lead over Henschel and in the process the
crowd on hand started to sense they were going to witness NASCAR
history in the making. Daryn in the Business Brokers.com Chevy
stayed in his rhythm and hoped that the bad luck gremlins would
not strike and they didn't as he became the first hearing
impaired driver to win a NASCAR sanctioned race. After he exited
his car in victory lane the crowd instead of cheering for
Miller, showed their approval by waving their hats, programs and
whatever else they could find. Jay Henschel of Levittown was
runner-up in the Tri-State Paving Chevy, while Brian Doyle of
Ronkonkoma over came a fuel line issue and small fire in
practice to place third in the Mechanical Systems Chevy.
Roger Turbush of Riverhead padded his Super Pro Truck points
lead as he won a thrilling late race battle over Mike Albasini
to collect his second victory of 2010. Kevin Scharfenberg led
the way for the first five laps of the contest over Anthony
Vecchio and Erin Dumicich before Mike Albasini came along for
second on lap 5. A yellow flag soon after Mike came to second
spot set-up a double file restart and the defending champion
worked his way by Scharfenberg for the lead and he also looked
to be on his way to a second straight win. However Roger Turbush,
who started 12th raced his way to second on lap 17 and for the
next two laps he and Albasini staged a driving clinic racing
side by side for three laps and never touching. As the tandem
came off the fourth turn for the white flag Turbush in his JC'S
Restaurant Chevy rode the outside lane to the lead and eventual
victory. Mike Albasini of Flushing would have to be content for
second in the HCC Collision mount, while Chris Turbush of
Riverhead was third in the Bill Lyons Equipment Sales Chevy.
The scheduled 20-lap Legend Race Car main event was cut short to
just four laps due to the time limit running out in a caution
flag marred event. It took four attempts to just to run the
first lap of the race with father and son Silas Hiscock Sr. and
"Wild" Bill Hiscock dicing for the lead early along with Chris
Rogers. Each and every time the green flag waved after a yellow,
another yellow flag would wave and the INEX Officials decided
after four laps and way too much time that the race was over.
That gave Bill Hiscock of Bridgehampton his first career victory
in the Bridgehampton Tank Cleaning Sedan, with Chris Roger of
Patchogue second in the Maggio's Sanitation racer. Silas Hiscock
Sr. of Bridgehampton would cross the line third.
Donny Fox, aka "Danny U-Bomber" scored his first career Full
Size School Bus Figure Eight victory in a 10-lap affair. Michael
"Cheesebox" Rommeney and Tommy "The Wildchild" Walkowiak were
racing in close quarters when they got together momentarily in
turn three allowing Fox in the Phil's Truck & Auto Bus race by
for the lead and victory. Rommeney in the Gershow recycling bus
was runner-up, while Walkowiak placed third in the Blaze Fuel
Oil Bus.
In a bone jarring 4-Cylinder Demolition Derby Jason Savoy of
Lake Panamoka outlasted both Michael Rommeney and James
Killkenny to score the victory. The event boiled down to these
three drivers and with the new back to basic Demolition Derby
rules in effect many agreed afterwards it was one of the best
demolition Derbies in quite sometime at the track. In the end
Savoy in the Albin Avenue Auto Salvage entry was the last man
standing. Michael Rommeney of Maspeth was named Judge's Choice,
while James Killkenny of Howard Beach was voted Fan's Choice.
NASCAR Modifieds 35-laps: 1. Tom Rogers Jr. 2. Chuck Steuer 3.
Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 4. John Fortin 5. Chris Young 6. Jerry
Solomito 7. John Beatty 8. Howie Brode 9. Al Ermmarino 10.
George Brunnhoelzl III 11. Frank Saladino 12. Mike Andrews Jr.
13. Ken Darch 14. Timmy Solomito 15. Bill Park 16. Amber Fortin
17. Tommy Sekulski 18. Kevin Orlando 19. Steven Booker 20. Dave
Brigati
Cromarty Cup 20 Figure Eights: 1. Arne Pedersen 2. Scott
Pedersen 3. Ralph Tasso 4. Ken Hyde Sr. 5. Roger Maynor 6. Tom
Ferrara 7. Mike Mujsce 8. Johnny Vullo 9. Ken Hyde Jr. 10. Will
Farrell 11. Bob Dalke 12. Dennis Scott
Chargers 20-laps: 1. Daryn Miller 2. Jay Henschel 3. Brian Doyle
4. Dan Turbush 5. Jeremy McDermott 6. Chris Turbush 7. Kevin
Orlando 8. Tom Anderson 9. Chris McGuire 10. Frank Dumicich Jr.
11. Derek Stochecki 12. Erin Dumicich 13. CJ Lehmann
Super Pro Trucks 20-laps: 1. Roger Turbush 2. Mike Albasini 3.
Chris Turbush 4. Dave Koenig 5. Shaun Gouldsbury 6. Frank
Dumicich Jr. 7. Erin Dumicich 8. Frank Dumicich Sr. 9. Frank
Scimeca Jr. 10. Lou Maestri 11. Matt Odwazny 12. Peter Rotzi 13.
Keith Rotzi 14. Kevin Scharfenberg 15. Anthony Vecchio 16.
Kathleen Hallock
Legend Race Cars (time limit): 1. Bill Hiscock 2. Chris Rogers
3. Silas Hiscock Sr. 4. Timmy Solomito 5. Tony Naglieri 6. Kevin
Nowak 7. Paul Dodorico 8. Tom Sherman 9. Jim Pape Jr. 10. Tom
Rogers Jr. 11. Chris Turbush 12. Anthony Cacioppo 13. Mike
Malone 14. Jay Sendlewski 15. Chris Young 16. Johnny Brand 17.
Jim Byrne 18. Justin Strumpf 19. Kyle Soper 20. Johnny Gloor IV
21. Jeffrey Goodale 22. Bryan Johnson 23. Glenn Maningo 24.
Silas Hiscock Jr.
Full Size School Bus Figure Eights 12-laps: 1. Donny Fox 2.
Michael Rommeney 3. Tommy Walkowiak
4-Cylinder Demolition Derby: Winner- Jason Savoy Judge's Choice-
Michael Rommeney Fan's Choice-James Killkenny
Source:
Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR
Posted: May
30, 2010
|
