Bill Park Moves
to Third on All-Time Wins List with Saturday Victory
Former four-time Riverhead Raceway
NASCAR Modified champion Bill Park of
Manorville scored his second win of the 2010 Whelen All-American
Series this
past Saturday night when he won the 35-lap feature event for his
32nd career
victory at the historic quarter mile facility. The win gives
Park sole
possession of third on the all-time win list at Riverhead behind
the late
"Charging" Charlie Jarzombek (63) and Jim Malone Sr. (50).
The front row of Amber Fortin and Al
Ermmarino did battle for the lead on
the first lap of the race with Ermmarino leading by a nose over
the
sophomore driver Fortin who soon yielded second to Park who
passed her to
the inside on lap 2. For the following nine laps Park glued
himself to
"Fast" Al's rear spoiler and waited for an opportunity to make a
bid for the
lead. The opportunity came on 12 when the 63-year old Park
slipped below
Ermmarino for the lead with Al now doing the pursuing from
second position.
The race had a nice long green flag run
until the 23rd lap when Timmy
Solomito lost the handle when his car, leaking water off the
fourth corner,
forced him into a spin and the 2009 Rookie of the Year then
nosed his car
into the wall drawing the only yellow of the race. On the
ensuing double
file restart defending NASCAR Modified champion John Fortin
powered under
Ermmarino to take over second, but like Al before him, John
could only watch
as Bill Park in the JAD Carpet Showcase Chevy pulled away to the
milestone
victory.
"I want to dedicate this win to my
brother Jerry who passed away suddenly
this week" an emotional Bill Park noted in victory lane, "I
can't say enough
about my crew. They worked all week long on this car while I
took care of
family matters". Park who has openly been critical of the new
double file
restart past halfway policy in 2010 didn't seem so bothered by
the 23rd lap
restart, "Jack Merkel gives us great power and I was able to get
away from
Al and John and we have even a better piece coming soon, but
without a major
sponsor we might have to pick and choose our races for the rest
of the
year".
John Fortin of Holtsville was runner-up
in the SGS Stone Works Chevy, while
Al Ermmarino of Brookhaven crossed the line third. However in
post race
technical inspection Ermmarino was found to have an un-approved
carburetor
and was set to last position in the 18-car field. That moved
points leader
Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue into third in the Frankie's Towing
Chevy, while
Chuck Steuer of Bohemia and Wayne Anderson of Yaphank rounded
out the top
five. Rogers now leads Steuer by eight points in the 2010 title
chase, 502
to 494.
Mike Bologna of Huntington continued his
career Late Model season winning
his third feature of 2010 for his fifth career triumph in the
class. Artie
Pedersen led "Mighty" Mike Mortimer for the first three laps of
the contest
when an early race yellow waved setting up a double file
restart. On that
restart it was deemed by NASCAR Officials that Pedersen went
before the
yellow box in turn four and he was sent to the rear of the field
moving
Mortimer into the lead with Mike Bologna now alongside for the
restart. When
the green flag dropped Mike Bologna dropped the hammer down and
outran
Mortimer to the first turn and the race lead in his PCHS Race
Engines Chevy.
Once in the lead, Bologna who came to the 2010 season with two
career Late
Model wins drove on to victory. Points leader Kevin Metzger of
Massapequa
slipped under Mike Mortimer for second on the 11th lap and that
is where the
defending champion finished in his V&J Auto Body Chevy. Peter "Buzzy"
Eriksen of Baldwin rebounded from being sent to the rear of the
field early
in the race for a third place tally in his Harley Davidson of
Nassau County
entry. Metzger now leads Roger Oxee by 30-points in the 2010
championship
battle, 414 to 384.
Subbing for the recovering Ralph Tasso,
former two-time Figure Eight
champion Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue made a triumphant return to
the class
when he won their 15-lap feature event. After starting dead last
in the
12-car field Tom Rogers Jr. carefully sliced and diced his way
towards the
front where Ken Hyde Sr had been leading since the start of the
race. Hyde
was first tested by Tom Ferrara for the race lead before Rogers
got by Tom
for second on lap 7. Just after Rogers completed his pass of
Ferrara a
yellow flag waved setting up a double file restart. When the
green light
winked back on Tom Rogers Jr. got the measure of Ken Hyde for
the race lead
with Ken running in second until the 11th lap when he was passed
Scott
Pedersen for the position. It mattered not to Tom Rogers Jr. in
the S&H
Welding Chevy as he wheeled Tasso's entry to victory lane for
his 15th
career win in the division which ties him with Tom Ryan for 8th
on the
all-time win list. Scott Pedersen of Shirley was runner-up in
the Land, Air
& Water Environmental machine, while Roger Maynor of Bay Shore
once again
had to recover from a late race pit stop to finish third in the
Edward
Horton Builders Chevy. Maynor takes over the points lead from
Arne Pedersen
by 10 364 to 354.
Popular driver Michael "Cheesebox"
Rommeney of Maspeth scored his first
career Blunderbust victory when he won their 20-lap main event,
his first of
two victories on the evening. Steering the Dog Me Out hot dog
stand racer
Rommeney wasted no time asserting himself as the car to beat
jumping from
the pole to the race lead. "Turbo" Tom Sullivan chased Michael
for the first
three circuits of the race before giving way to veteran Scott
Sepe on lap 4.
Sepe then spent the next 10 laps running second to Rommeney who
lap after
lap kept building his lead over Scott and the remainder of the
field. Sepe
was re-passed for second by Tom Sullivan on lap 15 as Tom ducked
under Scott
but by like Sepe could only watch as Michael Rommeney raced to
victory. Tom
Sullivan of Massapequa would have to be content with runner-up
honors in the
Custom Exteriors Lincoln, while "The Pistol" Paul Parisi of
Riverhead made a
late race charge to finish third in the Tidewater Dock Building
Chevy.
Heading into this week's 30-lap, double point tilt Tommy
Walkowiak leads Tom
Pickerell by a comfortable 68 markers, 512 to 444.
Tom Sherman of Farmingdale backed-up his
opening night Legend Race Car
victory in May with his second win of 2010 making him the first
repeat
winner in the class. Jeffery Goodale and Jim Byrne ran one two
for the first
two laps of the race before Byrne, during a yellow flag on lap
two, was sent
to the rear for jumping the initial start. That moved Tom
Sherman alongside
Goodale and when the race resumed Goodale held onto the lead
over Sherman
for the next five laps of the race. Sherman, a veteran driver
who has
Mini-Modified, Late Model and Modified racing in his resume,
worked on the
second year driver trying to find an opening which he did to
take the lead
on lap 12. Both Mike Malone and Kevin Nowak also worked their
way by Goodale and set sail for leader Tom Sherman in his Oval
Speed Unlimited sedan, but Tom was not to be caught on this
night and drove to victory lane. Mike
Malone of Shirley in the PDR Race Engines entry was runner-up,
while Kevin
Nowak of Medford was third in the Racing Creations machine.
Nowak, with that
finish, assumes the points lead by 18 over defending champion
Tony Naglieri,
268 to 250.
Robin Schewire of East Quogue won his
second 8-Cylinder Enduro of 2010 as he bested a 31 car field in
a 60-lap affair. Veteran driver Jason Carpenter led
the way over the first 22 laps of the contest before two-time
defending
champion Dege Russell took over the top spot on lap 23.
Russell's lead was
short lived as he was then passed by Dominic Ranieri on the 26th
lap and
Ranieri, one of the all-time leading winners in the class,
looked like he
would add to that total. However Dominic's sponsor and good
friend Robin
Schewire had other plans as he put his Westhampton Auto Salvage
Chevy past
Ranieri on lap 41 and led the rest of the way. Dominic Ranieri
of East
Northport was runner-up in the Spare Parts Racing Chevy, while
Frank
Martines of Shirley was third in the Safe Guard Security entry.
In perhaps one of the hardest hitting
Full Size School Bus Demolition Derby
contests ever, brothers Michael and Kevin Rommeney, battled for
the victory
which Michael won with one last bone jarring blast. The hit was
so hard it
collapsed the roof of Kevin's bus, which sent Michael rushing
out of his bus
to check on his younger brother. Kevin was okay and the fans
roared with
approval while Michael was one relieved winner.
NASCAR Modifieds 35-laps. 1. Bill Park 2. John Fortin 3. Tom
Rogers Jr. 4.
Chuck Steuer 5. Wayne Anderson 6. Dave Brigati 7. Justin
Bonsignore 8. Amber
Fortin 9. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 10. Ken Darch 11. Frank Saladino
12. John
Beatty 13. Sean McDonald 14. Steven Booker 15. Chris Young 16.
Timmy
Solomito 17. Mike Mortimer 18. Al Ermmarino
Late Models 25-laps: 1. Mike Bologna 2. Kevin Metzger 3. Peter
Eriksen 4.
Shawn Patrick 5. Roger Oxee 6. Artie Pedersen 7. Daryn Miller 8.
Mike
Mortimer 9. Ken Alfano 10. Ralph Stanzione
Figure Eights 15-laps: 1. Tom Rogers Jr. 2. Scott Pedersen 3.
Roger Maynor
4. Tom Graff 5. Tom Ferrara 6. Will Farrell 7. Dennis Scott 8.
Ken Hyde Sr.
9. Mike Mujsce 10. Ken Hyde Jr. 11. Arne Pedersen 12. Jim
Donaldson
Blunderbusts 20-laps: 1. Michael Rommeney 2. Tom Sullivan 3.
Paul Parisi 4.
Ray Shannon 5. Bill Wegmann Sr. 6. Tommy Walkowiak 7. Ron
Langdon 8. Chris
LaSpisa 9. Rob Bader 10. Fred Nolan 11. Jack Handley Jr. 12.
Gary Caldwell
13. Scott Sepe 14. Tom Pickerell 15. Scott Maliszewski 16. Bill
Portney Sr.
17. Tim Mulqueen 18. Bill Wegmann Jr. 19. Kevin Rommeney
Legend Race cars 20-laps: 1. Tom Sherman 2. Mike Malone 3. Kevin
Nowak 4.
Jeffery Goodale 5. Tony Naglieri 6. Vinny Delaney 7. Justin
Strumpf 8. Jay
Sendlewski 9. Glenn Maningo 10. Chris Rogers 11. Johnny Gloor IV
12. Jim
Sylvester 13. Tom Rogers Jr. 14. Silas Hiscock Sr. 15. JD
Abrahams 16. Jim
Byrne 17. Chris Young 18. Kyle Soper 19. Bryan Johnson 20. Timmy
Solomito
21. Bill Hiscock 22. Jim Pape Jr. 23. Chris Turbush 24. Anthony
Cacioppo
8-Cylinder Enduro 60-laps (top five): 1. Robin Schewire 2.
Dominic Ranieri
3. Frank Martines 4. Bob Baker 5. Donald Lawrence
Source: Bob Finan/Riverhead
Raceway PR
Posted: July
26, 2010
