Tom Rogers Jr. Tops
Modified Field for Fourth Victory of 2010
Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue inched another step closer to his
second career
NASCAR Modified championship Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway
when he
topped the Miller Lite night 35-lap feature event for his fourth
win of the
2010 campaign. The $1,425 triumph was the 13th of Rogers career
and with his
nearest championship rival; John Fortin of Holtsville, finishing
second Tom
gained two points in the title chase and leads by 16 over Fortin
with two
races remaining.
Al Ermmarino took the early lead from the pole and early on
was chased by
Ken Darch for the first lap before Chuck Steuer came to second
on lap 2.
Steuer, who sits third in the championship standings, chased
Ermmarino for
the following five laps before Tom Rogers Jr., who started 6th
made his way
by with an inside pass for the position. After pressuring
Ermmarino for
three circuits once again Rogers used the inside lane exiting
turn four to
make what would wind up being the winning pass working by
Ermmarino for the
lead on lap 11.
The fight for position would now be centered around second as
Dave Brigati
slipped by Ermmarino on lap 16 and once Dave completed that pass
he tried to
track down race leader Rogers. A late race yellow flew on lap 27
setting up
a double file restart with Rogers and Brigati in row one, while
John Fortin
sat third. When the green light winked back on Fortin was able
to drive
under Brigati for second and it was now up to the defending
NASCAR Modified
champion to see if he had anything for race leader Tom Rogers
Jr.
Although Fortin stayed in Rogers' mirror it would be the HR
Promotions Chevy
of Tom Rogers Jr. posting the victory giving Tom six wins in
total in 2010
as he has also won a Figure Eight and Legend Race Car feature
this season.
"It's nice to get this win with our new sponsor HR Promotions
here" Tom
reflected, "What's even nicer is this is my 13th win and that
ties me with
another sponsor of mine, Frank Vigliarolo of Frankie's Towing,
on the
all-time win list". As to the flawless performance of his car in
the race
Tom admitted, "We tried a few new things the last few races, but
tonight we
went back to my old set-up."
John Fortin of Holtsville was runner-up in his Triangle Pub
Chevy, while
Dave Brigati of Calverton drove the JDL Environmental Chevy
across the line
for third place money. Timmy Solomito of Islip and Justin
Bonsignore of
Holtsville completed the top five.
The largest Late Model field in recent memory turned out for
the Miller Lite
night 50, as 21 cars signed into the pit area and when the dust
settled it
was Peter "Buzzy" Eriksen of Baldwin taking the victory in
31-laps as the
caution marred race hit its time limit. Jarrod Hayes won the
Brigandi
Brothers Automotive fast time award with a lap of 12.554 and
drew the
outside pole alongside Rusty Turbush, another driver making his
first start
of the year. No less than five attempts were needed to try and
get the race
underway as numerous yellow flags waved before a full lap was in
the book
four times, one of which was for Hayes who cut down a tire after
contact
with Turbush trying to get the race started. Once the race did
get underway
it was Rusty Turbush moving to the lead with Peter Eriksen in
tow and the
duo ran in that order for the first 14 laps before Eriksen made
a classic
short track maneuver for the lead. Racing into the third corner
on lap 15
Eriksen saw a slight opening under Turbush which he was more
than happy to
fill making a pass for the lead on lap 15, a lead the driver of
the Harley
Davidson of Nassau County Chevy driver would never surrender.
When a yellow
flag waved for point leader Kevin Metzger and, Shawn Patrick,
who got
together off turn two, the race was deemed official. Once the
field was
reset, Peter Eriksen for the 44th time in his career sat in
victory lane.
Rusty Turbush of Manorville finished second in the Middle Road
Plantations
Pontiac, while Roger Oxee of Peconic in the Sonic Media Print
entry was
third.
Frank Dumicich Jr. of E. Quogue led all but three laps to win
the Miller
Lite night 20-lap Charger main event for his second win of the
year to
compliment his one victory in the Super Pro Truck class. Rookie
driver Derek
Stachecki broke out to the early race lead with Dumicich in tow
for the
first three laps before Frank worked his way by for the top spot
on lap 4
passing underneath Stachecki. Another rookie talent Eric Zeh
also got under
Stachecki for second and Zeh chased Dumicich for the lead until
the halfway
mark of the race. Lap 10 found Kory Comiskey passing Zeh for
second and he'd
now chase Dumicich for the lead over the ensuing three laps
before he was
overtaken by Roger Turbush for second on the 14th circuit. Over
the final
six laps Turbush tested Dumicich for the lead but in the final
two laps
Comiskey put pressure back on Turbush for second and that
allowed the JP
Hunter Roofing Toyota of Frank Dumicich Jr. to drive away to
victory for the
third time in his career. Roger Turbush of Riverhead was
runner-up in the
Burt's Reliable Oil entry, while Kory Comiskey of Islip Terrace
crossed the
line third in the Tom O'Keefe & Sons Cadillac.
Tommy "The Wildchild" Walkowiak of Ridge posted his 42nd
career Blunderbust
win when he came out on top of the Miller Lite night 20-lap
Blunderbust
feature event. Chris LaSpisa set the pace over the first two
laps of the
contest before he was passed by popular "Turbo" Tom Sullivan.
Once out front
Sullivan with the help of an extended green flag run was able to
pull away
from LaSpisa, who was soon overtaken for second by Paul Parisi
on lap 4.
Parisi would hold down second until a double file restart at the
halfway
mark, lap 10 found Timmy Mulqueen slipping under Paul when the
green flag
waved. Mulqueen's stay in second was short lived as Tommy
Walkowiak passed
him on lap 11 and set sail for leader Sullivan. After spending
three laps
reeling in Sullivan, Walkowiak dove under the race leader racing
into the
third turn for the lead on lap 15. Once in command Tommy
Walkowiak in the
Blaze Fuel Oil Chevy never looked back on his way to his 4th win
of the 2010
season. Tom Sullivan of Massapequa was a solid runner-up in the
Custom
Exteriors Lincoln, while Ron Langdon of Wantagh roared from 16th
to finish
third in his Langdon's Automotive & Auto Body Chevy.
Michael "Cheesebox" Rommeney of Maspeth made it a clean sweep
in Full Size
School Bus Demolition Derby competition winning his second
straight such
event over "Slim" Jim Donaldson. Rommeney's bus actually locked
horns with
Kenny Hyde Jr. and the two seemed done for the night when
Donaldson made a
hit that was meant to free up the two. Only Rommeney in the
Gershow
Recycling bus was able to re-fire and his way of thanking
Donaldson was to
make a night ending hit to the radiator to score the victory.
Source: Bob Finan/Riverhead
Raceway PR
Posted: August
30, 2010
