Timmy Solomito
Prevails In Wild Last Lap Riverhead Raceway Finish For Second
Win Of 2010
There were fireworks above and on the track at Riverhead
Raceway Saturday night as "The Natural" Timmy Solomito, 18, of
Islip scored his second NASCAR Modified victory in three weeks.
He did it with a wild last lap finish with season long rival
Chris Young in a 35-lap contest on Donaldsons VW-Subaru night.
Another 18-year old driver Ken Hyde Jr. of Medford won his
second Figure Eight main event of 2010 as the youth movement was
evident during the I Love America night program.
Double file restarts would shuffle the running order several
times early on in the NASCAR Modified contest as Chris Young
made a textbook move to race from third to the race lead on the
first lap before the first of three early race yellows waved as
the field started lap two. On the ensuing restart Young and
"Fast" Al Ermmarino lined up on the front row with point leader
Tom Rogers Jr. third and in classic short track style Rogers was
able to sneak under Ermmarino for second when the green waved.
Tommy spent the next half dozen laps chasing Chris until another
caution flew on lap 8 setting-up another two by two restart,
with Timmy Solomito running third. When the race resumed
Solomito used the inside lane to work under Rogers for second
and it was now his turn to put the pressure on Young for the
race lead.
With a welcome extended green flag run Solomito hounded Young
for the race lead in each and every turn of the 61-year old
quarter mile. The duo, who had some early race season run-ins,
but who are both backed by Riverhead Building Supply raced hard
for the win all race long, but it would be the final two laps of
the race that would tell the tale. Just after receiving the two
to go signal Young got loose exiting the second corner with
Solomito rolling out of the throttle to avoid contact. Once the
white flag waved Timmy really turned up the heat and exiting the
final corner Chris seemed to start to get loose on his own and
Solomito indeed made contact sending the race leader around.
Timmy Solomito crossed the line first with Tom Rogers Jr.
following and both drivers pulled up on the front stretch to see
what the call would be from the NASCAR Officials.
After a lengthy review and discussion among the officials Timmy
Solomito was declared the winner of the race making his 4th
career victory official. In victory lane Timmy shared his
version of the wild last two laps, "over in turn two Chris got
loose and I checked-up to avoid him, but over in turn four
coming to the checker his car got loose again and I had nowhere
to go". Solomito recalled. "I hate to win like that. Chris and I
had our problems earlier this year, but tonight we had a good
race and I'm sorry it ended that way"
Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue was runner-up and improved his point
lead with the finish in his Bellecon Acrylic Asphalt Sealing
Chevy, while Dave Brigati of Calverton placed third in his
Integra Shocks Chevy. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown and
John Fortin of Holtsville rounded out the top five. With just
three races to go Rogers now has a 14-point lead over Fortin,
with Chuck Steuer still in the chase from third some 22 markers
back of Rogers.
For the second time in 2010 Ken Hyde Jr. of Medford was the
benefactor of a Figure Eight main event being cut short from its
normal 15-lap distance by the time limit, with the race this
time going 10 laps before time expired. Hyde wasted no time in
racing his Gershow Recycling Dodge out front at the throw of the
green flag with both Tom Graff and then Will Farrell taking
turns running second for the first five laps. Roger Maynor
worked his way to second on lap 6 with some nifty moves and when
a yellow flag waved on lap 10 a double file restart would be in
order. With the time limit creeping up on the race the green
flag waved with Hyde and Maynor on the front row, but the yellow
quickly followed as NASCAR Officials felt Roger may have left
early. It was at that point the time ran out and Ken Hyde Jr.
was declared the winner and after he commented, "When I won the
first time after just four laps I said a win is a win and I'll
take them anyway I can". Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue was
runner-up in the S&H Welding Chevy with point leader Arne
Pedersen of Mastic Beach third in the BNR Home Improvement
Dodge. Arne leads younger brother Scott by 12 markers with just
two races left on September 11th and 18th, but the final race is
a 20-lap double point affair.
Two time and defending Charger champion Chris Turbush of
Riverhead scored his fifth win of the season in their 20-lap
main event and with his 24th career victory also put himself
into a tie for the point lead with Chris McGuire with four races
remaining. The Charger event would also be a hard hitting
contest and almost every car in the 19-car field showed some
battle scars when the race concluded. Frank Dumicich Jr. jumped
out to the early advantage with Derek Stachecki giving chase for
the first two laps before he was passed by fellow rookie Eric
Zeh on lap 3. Zeh in just his fifth start would soon surrender
second to CJ Lehmann, but he too would only hold the position
for a lap as Chris Turbush burst upon the scene on lap 6 moving
to second behind Dumicich. A caution flag waved for a multi car
tangle in turn four and after a lengthy clean-up Dumicich and
Turbush lined-up on the font row for the restart. When the green
light winked on Dumicich and Turbush, who have had several
encounters during the 2010 campaign, waged a torrid fight for
the lead as the duo ran side by side for several laps before
Chris Turbush put his Chris Mohr Landscaping Pontiac out front
for good just after the halfway mark. Frank Dumicich Jr. of E.
Quogue would have to settle for runner-up money in his Martins
Fuel Oil Toyota, while Jay Henschel of Levittown had another
good outing with third in the Rossiello Auto & Truck Salvage
Chevy.
Just prior to winning his second NASCAR Modified feature of
2010, Timmy Solomito turned the trick in the 20-lap Legend Race
Car feature event capturing his second win of the year in that
class. Jim Byrne set the pace for the first six laps of the tilt
leading Chris Turbush over that distance. A double file restart
on the 7th lap shuffled the deck as both Chris Turbush and Timmy
Solomito looped around Byrne to run one-two and battle for the
lead, with Chris Young entering the fray as well. With the
crossed flags being displayed for the halfway mark Solomito
snuck under Turbush for the lead with Young following through to
come to second. Over the final half of the race Young shadowed
Solomito the rest of the way but when the checkers waved it was
Timmy in the Riverhead Building Supply Coupe scoring the win.
Chris Young of Calverton running in his third race in four days
was a close runner-up in the Ray the Plumber racer, while for
the second week in a row "Wild" Bill Hiscock of Bridgehampton
placed third in the Bridgehampton Tank Cleaning entry.
Michael Wahl of East Islip is on a roll in the Skid Plate Race
as he drove his Garrett Auto Salvage entry to victory for the
second week in a row in a 10-lap feature event.
Brian Savoy of Lake Panamoka topped a very competitive field of
foes in the 4-Cylinder Demolition Derby for his first win of
2010 steering the Albin Avenue Auto Salvage machine. Jason
Aquqliaro of Shirley was named Judge's Choice, while Michael "Cheesebox"
Rommeney of Maspeth won the Fan's Choice vote.
NASCAR Modifieds 35-laps: 1. Timmy Solomito 2. Tom Rogers Jr. 3.
Dave Brigati 4. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 5. John Fortin 6. Bill
Park 7. Wayne Anderson 8. Chuck Steuer 9. John Beatty Jr. 10.
Ken Darch 11. Chris Young 12. Gary McDonald 13. Sean McDonald
14. Kevin Nowak 15. Amber Fortin 16. Mike Mortimer 17. Al
Ermmarino 18. Dan Jivanelli 19. Justin Bonsignore
Figure Eights 10-laps (time limit) 1. Ken Hyde Jr. 2. Tom Rogers
Jr. 3. Arne Pedersen 4. Scott Pedersen 5. Mike Mujsce 6. Tom
Ferrara 7. Will Farrell 8. Mike Herbst 9. Dennis Scott 10. Roger
Maynor 11. Jim Donaldson 12. Tom Graff 13. Ken Hyde Sr.
Chargers 20-laps: 1. Chris Turbush 2. Frank Dumicich Jr. 3. Jay
Henschel 4. Dan Turbush 5. Kevin Orlando 6. Chris McGuire 7.
Roger Turbush 8. Erin Dumicich 9. Brian Doyle 10. Eric Zeh 11.
Kory Comiskey 12. Frank Scimeca Jr. 13. Allen Reeves 14. Tom
Sullivan 15. CJ Lehmann 16. Jeremy McDermott 17. Peter Cataldo
18. Derek Stachecki 19. Daryn Miller
Legend Race Cars 20-laps: 1. Timmy Solomito 2. Chris Young 3.
Bill Hiscock 4. Tony Naglieri 5. Jim Byrne 6. Kevin Nowak 7.
Chris Turbush 8. Jeffrey Goodale 9. Mike Malone 10. John Beatty
Jr. 11. Justin Strumpf 12. Kyle Soper 13. Tom Marsh 14. Kyle
Ellwood 15. Art Marrero 16. Joe Scibelli 17. John Harley 18.
Vinny Delaney 19. Tom Sherman 20. Glenn Maningo 21. Jay
Sendlewski 22. Silas Hiscock Sr. 23. Jim Sylvester 24. John
Gloor IV
Skid Plate Race 10-laps: Winner- Michael Wahl
4-Cylinder Demolition Derby: Winner- Brian Savoy Judge's Choice-
Jason Aquqliaro Fan's Choice- Michael Rommeney
Source: Bob Finan/Riverhead
Raceway PR
Posted: August
23, 2010
