Chuck Steuer
Takes Riverhead Raceway Point Lead with Cromarty Cup 50 Victory
Chuck Steuer of Bohemia got his
4th of July weekend started off on the right
foot, literally, as he set fast time, drew the pole and went on
to win the
Cromarty Cup 50 for the NASCAR Modifieds Saturday evening on
Miller Lite
night. For Steuer it was his second win of 2010 and worth $1,600
but more
importantly with double points on the line the triumph shot him
from third
place in the championship chase to the lead in the standings
entering the
second half of the season.
When it comes to qualifying in
time trials Chuck Steuer has a stranglehold
on winning the $100 Brigandi Brothers Automotive bonus, as for
the third
time in as many time trial shows Chuck turned a lap of 11.766
and for the
first time in 2010 in the redraw among the top six, his team
drew the pole.
At the drop of the green flag Steuer from the pole position and
John Fortin,
the point leader coming into the race, ran hard for the early
race lead.
Exiting turn two to start the second lap Fortin's car glanced
off Steuer's
which sent the defending champion into the wall hard. John's car
suffered
heavy damage and was done for the night. On the ensuing restart
it was now
Chris Young lined up to the right of Steuer. Chris tried to gain
a run to
the outside of Chuck but the latter held on to take the lead
with Young
tucking into second.
The race hit a nice stretch of
green flag racing up until the 37th lap when
Bill Park slowed in turn four with a right front flat tire while
battling
Donny Lia for position drawing a yellow flag and changing the
complexion of
the race. With double file restarts now in effect all race long
at Riverhead
in 2010 Young would have another crack at Steuer, but lurking in
third was
Donny Lia. When the green waved Lia was able to slip under Young
to wrestle
second away with 13-laps to go. Lia was able to keep pace with
leader Steuer
while Dave Brigati, Timmy Solomito and Eddie Brunnhoelzl III got
involved in
a three car fight for third in the closing laps after Chris
Young on that
final restart got hung out to dry on the outside groove.
In the end however it would be
Chuck Steuer in the Northeastern Office
Equipment Chevy pocketing his 19th career NASCAR Modified
victory and taking the point lead by a mere two markers over Tom
Rogers Jr., 432 to 430, while Fortin slips to third with 400.
Afterwards the soft spoken Steuer, who in
the two previous time trials show did not do well in the redraw
admitted a
change in strategy, "I didn't pick this time, I let my engine
builder Big
Sal go up and pick and sure enough he drew the pole". When asked
if he'd do
the same this Saturday in the Baldwin Evans & Jarzombek 77 by
Northeastern
Office Equipment, a time trial show is contested, Chuck quickly
replied,
"I'm going to make sure Sal is here next week". As for the race
itself Chuck
recalled, "I had a great car and was just using what I had to,
Chris tried
the outside a couple of times on restarts and then Donny made
his way to
second, but I still had more car to use so we were okay".
Donny Lia of Jericho would have
to settle for runner-up money in the
Eastport Feeds Chevy after starting 15th on the grid, while "The
Natural"
Timmy Solomito in the WPW Growers entry raced his way from 18th
to a third
place finish. That was good enough to earn him the Tom Baldwin
Hard Charger
Award by Fred Bobb, worth 5 gallons of Sunoco Race Fuels. Dave
Brigati of
Calverton was fourth and Eddie Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown
completed the
top five.
In the Miller Lite night 25-lap
Late Model feature event Mike Bologna of
Huntington raced from the outside pole to take the early race
lead and then
proceeded to dominate what would be a non-stop main event. When
the green
light flashed on, Bologna was able to get the jump on pole
sitter Mike
Mortimer to take the race lead with Mortimer holding down second
for the
first three laps. On lap 4 Ken Alfano who has been hot as of
late, moved
around Mortimer for second, but race leader Bologna was off in
the distance
and Alfano and Roger Oxee who moved into third both hoped for a
caution flag
to tighten up the field. After a few laps of testing Alfano for
second Oxee
was able to slip by with just six laps to go and was looking for
his third
straight win in the class and was still hoping against hope for
a late race
yellow. However no caution flags waved and for the first time in
his Late
Model career Mike Bologna has multiple wins in a single season
as he drove
the Schlaugies Fuel Oil Chevy to its second win of 2010 in
convincing
fashion. Roger Oxee of Peconic was second in the Sonic Media
Print Pontiac,
while Ken Alfano of Southold was third for the second week in a
row in his
Bayport Auto Body entry.
For the second consecutive race
the Chargers went non-stop in their Miller
Lite night 20-lap main event, making it 40-laps with no yellows
and when the
dust settled it was Brian Doyle of Ronkonkoma scoring his second
career win.
Ironically his first win came on the very same weekend last year
on July
4th. Doyle got the measure on Erin Dumicich from his outside
pole starting
berth to take the race lead, with Erin giving chase over the
first 4
circuits. Jeremy McDermott was able to slip by Dumicich for
second and the
race would boil down to Doyle and McDermott for the win and in
the closing
laps the duel got intense. Once McDermott got to the rear
spoiler of Doyle
the battle was on and Jeremy tried inside and outside to make a
run at Brian
for the lead and race win. The duo did swap some paint along the
way in what
Doyle later called "just some good old fashioned hard short
track racing.
Jeremy let me know he was there "but never used me up" Indeed
that would be
the story of the race as Brian Doyle was able to ward off the
persistent
challenges to score the win in his Creative Craftsman Chevy.
Jeremy
McDermott of Riverhead had to be happy with second place money
in the
Gabrielsen Builders Chevy, while Chris McGuire of Shirley waited
in the
wings for something to occur among the leaders but would place
third in the
Long Island Fiber Exchange Ford.
Week in and week out the
Blunderbust division provides late race excitement
which more often than not leads to a photo finish and they did
not
disappoint in their Miller Lite night 20, as Rob Bader of
Holtsville notched
his first win of 2010. Newcomer Fred Nolan paced the race for
the first two
laps before suddenly spinning on his own and handing the lead to
Rob Bader,
with Ray Shannon now running second for two laps before he was
overtaken by
Kevin Rommeney on a double file restart. Rommeney's run in
second lasted
until the halfway mark when "The Racing Grandfather" Bill
Wegmann slipped
under Kevin on lap 11. Soon coming to third would be Tommy
Walkowiak and he
along with Wegmann in second would try and track down Bader who
had built a
comfortable lead while everyone fought for second. A late race
caution would
aid Wegmann and Walkowiak's effort in catching the high flying
Bader with a
green, white and checker in the offering. Not even that obstacle
could keep
Rob Bader in the Robert's Express Oil entry from victory lane
and he
withstood the late race pressure to score the popular win. Bill
Wegmann of
N. Bellmore wheeled his Crackerjack Auto Stores Olds across the
line for
runner-up honors after starting 12th on the grid, while Tommy
"The
Wildchild" Walkowiak of Ridge further padded his points lead
with a third
place tally in the Blaze Fuel Oil Chevy.
Shawn Wanat of Riverhead
continued his domination of the 6-Cylinder Enduro
division at Riverhead Raceway winning his second third straight
race in the
Miller Lite night 50. After Mitchell Pattern, Jeffrey Gregor and
Gene Burbol
waged a three car fight for the lead early on it would be Burbol,
the
defending champion of the class, taking the lead while Shawn
Wanat was
working his way to the front from an 11th place starting spot.
After Burbol
and Wanat swapped the top spot back and forth at the halfway
mark Shawn
Wanat put the Iron Man Welding racer out front for good on lap
29 and led
the remainder of the race. Gene Burbol of Brookhaven in the
Gene's 112
Service Center #3 was runner-up, while pole sitter Jeffrey
Gregor of
Bridgehampton was third in the Gregor Well Drilling machine.
In the 10-lap Skid Plate Race
James "The Killa" Killkenny of Howard Beach
collected his first win of 2010. Killkenny in the Albin Avenue
Auto Salvage
station wagon jumped out front early in the race and despite
many spinning
cars around him kept his cool to score the victory making him
the third
winner in as many races this season.
Jason Savoy of Lake Panamoka took
down his second demolition Derby triumph
of the year when he topped the Miller Lite night 8-Cylinder
Demo. After some
very hard hitting took place the event boiled down to Jason and
his brother
Brian after the likes of James Killkenny, Jimmy White Jr., Peter
Mikos, Joey
Palmeri, Rich Fowler and Michael Wahl were eliminated. Jason in
the Sims
Steel entry made the final hit and was declared the winner. "The
Orange
Crush" Peter Mikos of Lake Ronkonkoma was named Judge's Choice,
while James Killkenny won the Fan's Choice.
With all the excitement on the
track, there was still lots more to come as
Bay Fireworks put on a splendid display of colors, shapes, sizes
and sounds
of electrifying fireworks.
Each year Bay Fireworks has
exceeded themselves with their displays and this
year was no exception. All in all, they completed a beautiful
4th of July
Celebration of racing and fun at Riverhead Raceway.
Source: Bob Finan/Riverhead
Raceway PR
Posted: July
5, 2010
