Island Insight
by Greg
Berkowitz
During an action-packed night at
Riverhead Raceway, the Blunderbusts had what may be one of the
greatest Riverhead feature finishes in recent history. Three
drivers – No. 4 Tom Pickerell, No. 90 Scott Maliszewski, and No.
00 Tommy Walkowiak – battled over the final laps of a
caution-free race for the win. Late in the race, leader
Pickerell encountered heavy lap traffic that allowed the second-
and third-place cars of Maliszewski and Walkowiak to catch up.
The three drivers, who make up three of the top four in points,
battled three-wide for the win. While they bumped and rubbed at
times through the corners, they did not race beyond their
capabilities, holding on to their 4,000 lb. race cars all the
way to the checkers. The race was not decided until the finish
line, when Maliszewski edged Walkowiak by a mere nose. But,
perhaps the most surprising part of Maliszewski’s exciting win
was that he won driving a borrowed car from Ron Langdon. Despite
not having been raced recently, the No. 90 was quite potent,
with Maliszewski saying the only adjustment was related to his
seat’s fit.
The Turbushes continue to make a statement, this week with Chris
Turbush bringing the No. 81 Charger to victory lane for the
second week in a row. While every win is special, this one was
especially important for Chris Turbush because last week it was
Chris’ brother Roger behind the wheel of the No. 81 as Chris was
serving a one-week suspension for an incident during the June 5
event. Chris credited his crew with preparing such a strong race
car. Despite missing a race, Turbush is still confident that he
is a threat to win the championship, a belief that was bolstered
when the points leader going into the night, Chris McGuire,
suffered an engine failure during the feature.
An eight-cylinder demolition derby capped off the night – the
second demolition derby since Riverhead Raceway officials
drastically altered the rules for the 2010 season. The new rules
now prohibit adding reinforcements to the cars’ frames and
bodies. In prior seasons, competitors had used everything from
railroad tracks to I-beams in an effort to strengthen their
cars. The result was increased cost and decreased participation.
By eliminating reinforcements, not only has the cost of
preparing a demo car been reduced, but as frequent demo driver
and winner Jason Savoy explained, it puts the competition back
in to the hands of the driver. Now that drivers are competing
with less-resilient, bone-stock cars, they must drive smarter in
order to be competitive. This in turn makes for a better
on-track product for both drivers and fans. The effects of these
rules changes were easily apparent. In the past, heavily
reinforced cars appeared to take little damage from hard
impacts. Last night, the cars crinkled and crumpled like tin
cans. James Killkenny would go on to win the event. Like Babe
Ruth pointing to center field to call a home run, prior to the
start of the demo derby, Killkenny confidently proclaimed that
this was the night he would finally break through to victory
lane. His predictions would come to be true as Killkenny
outlasted teammate Jason Savoy in the final minutes of the
event. Riverhead officials plan to apply these new-and-improved
rules to the National Championship Demolition Derby hosted at
Riverhead Raceway in September.
Source: Greg Berkowitz/LongIslandJam.com
Posted: June
20, 2010
