Island Insight
by
Greg
Berkowitz
Riverhead Raceway held the first
half of its Memorial Day doubleheader Saturday night. Four
weekly divisions took to the track as well two specialty events
- a School Bus race and a new event, a Minivan Demolition Derby.
The stars of the NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series seem to be suffering from yet another case
of yellow fever. The caution flag waved frequently throughout
the evening in what turned out to be a very expensive night for
many of Riverhead’s regular competitors. Attrition played a big
role in determining the outcome of the night’s races especially
the Legends feature. The Legends only completed 16 of 20 laps
after exceeding the time limit. Riverhead officials use a time
limit for all events at Riverhead in order to keep the action
moving and ensure that the all scheduled races have the
opportunity to start. Prior to the start of the season,
officials added several new rules to help curtail frequent
cautions. The new rules mostly address drivers who intentionally
bring out the caution in order to avoid losing track position,
however that was not the case in today’s myriad incidents. Many
of the wrecks that brought out the yellow flag were large,
multiple-car wrecks. The night's events at times looked more
like something one would have expected to see during tomorrow's
enduro show, with large pile-ups and cars having to dart high,
low, and through the infield in order to avoid the melee.
Several Late Models began to look more like Modifieds as they
shed more and more body panels. Perhaps it was the cooler track
temperatures or just the urge to win on Memorial Day weekend
that led to the over-the-top driving. Fortunately this style of
caution-plagued racing is a relatively isolated incident with
many of the season’s events so far providing both clean and
exciting racing.
Despite the frequent yellows, the stars
of the Legends, Super Pro Trucks, Late Models, and Modifieds
still managed to put on an entertaining show. Unsurprisingly,
the night’s racing involved lots of contact, supporting the old
adage “Rubbin’s racing”. The Legends division provided some of
the closest racing, even with the shortened lap count and
frequent yellows; in fact it was the frequent restarts that
added to the excitement. Two of Riverhead’s young stars Chris
Young and Timmy Solomito (winner of last week’s Hall of Fame
100) dueled for the win along with defending champ Kevin Nowak.
Chris Young was able to get the better of Solomito at times,
however each time a caution would come out, the lead went back
to Solomito as the field had not yet completed a full lap. On
the final restart Chris Young would make use of his front bumper
in order to pass Solomito, however Solomito would return the
favor just prior to the following race-ending caution. Likewise,
the Late Model division saw its share of “rubbing.” Buzzy
Eriksen chased down race leader Shawn Patrick late in the race.
As Eriksen made an impressive and aggressive move to pass
Patrick the two cars made contact, loosening a piece of
Eriksen’s body work in the process. That very piece would bring
out the caution thereby resetting the field back to the previous
lap when Patrick was race leader. Patrick would go on to win the
event. It was a cruel twist of fate for Eriksen, but also a
product of the close aggressive racing that a small bullring
like Riverhead produces. The "Days of Thunder" style racing may
have been expensive for the teams and drivers, but it was also
extremely exciting for the many fans in attendance.
The night concluded with a first-time
event at Riverhead Raceway, a Minivan Demolition Derby. The idea
of a Minivan demo was one of several tossed around during the
offseason as a new potential event for 2011, along with Soccer
Demolition Derbies and Figure 8 Enduro races, however the
Minivan event was the only one to come to fruition. The new
event posed an exciting new challenge for the drivers as well as
an entertaining event for the fans. Ironically, minivans did not
even exist when the demolition derby was first developed at the
former Islip Speedway back in the late '50s. But that didn’t
stop the former grocery-getters from putting on a good show for
the fans. Surprisingly all of the top heavy mini vans managed to
stay on all four wheels during the event, although there were a
few close calls. Ultimately, it was first time driver Dan
Mulqueen who won the first-ever minivan event. Another Minivan
Demo Derby is scheduled for later on this season which along
with several other traditional 4- and 8-Cylinder Demo Derbies
will comprise the 2011 Riverhead Raceway Demolition Derby
Championship.
Source: Greg Berkowitz/LongIslandJam.com
Posted: May
30, 2011
