Shawn Solomito Rolls to First Career Modified Victory in
Cromarty Cup 50
Shawn Solomito of Islip sure picked a
fine night to win his first career NASCAR Modified feature event
Saturday at Riverhead Raceway as he won the Cromarty Cup 50 over
a star studded 24-car field on Miller Lite Night before a large
crowd that gathered for the annual Fireworks show at the quarter
mile oval. Aside from the prestigious Cromarty Cup, Shawn
collected $1,500 for his efforts.
In pre race time trials Howie Brode of East Islip turned in the
quickest lap at 11.940 earning $100 for that lap from Brigandi
Brothers Automotive of Nesconset, but Brode would draw the
fourth starting berth in the redraw among the top six from time.
John Beatty Jr. and Shawn Solomito drew the front row and when
the green light came on it was Solomito roaring out front with
John Beatty second for the first lap. On the second lap Beatty
got a little loose exiting the second corner and Howie Brode
pounced on the opportunity to move on the high side to second
while Beatty would lose several positions before gathering his
car back up. The remainder of the race found Brode giving chase
to leader Shawn Solomito, with Shawn at times able to pull away
slightly, while at other times Howie was able to draw a beat and
pull right up to his rear bumper.
As the race wore on Shawn just kept hitting his marks lap after
lap, while Brode did the same behind him. The final 10-laps of
the race which saw only one caution flag proved to be the most
challenging for both Solomito and Brode as they'd periodically
hit packs of lapped cars. With less than five laps to go one
lapped car made life very interesting for the leaders, but both
talented drivers were able to work their way past the situation
without incident.
As the checkers waved it was Shawn Solomito in his Acme Sanitary
Service Chevy taking the win and he now joins his father Jerry
(2) and younger brother Timmy (5) on the all-time win list at
Riverhead Raceway. Shawn admitted afterwards in victory lane
that his team which finished third June 25th was gaining
momentum towards this first career win, “we’ve enjoyed a few
good weeks recently and I owe all that to my dad and Butch
Capuano, they keep all three of us racing". He added, "Our Billy
The Kid Engine kept us out front tonight and I have to thank him
along with Acme Sanitary for all their support". The win propels
Shawn into third place in the 2011 NASCAR Modified championship
chase behind Justin Bonsignore and John Fortin.
Howie Brode would have to settle for runner-up money in his Long
Island Freightliner Chevy, with Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville
making a bold late race charge to third in his M3 Technology
Chevy. Ronnie Silk of Norwalk, Ct and John Fortin of Holtsville
rounded out the top five.
"Radiant" Ray Minieri of Bay Shore made his return to the
Charger division at Riverhead Raceway complete Saturday when he
won their 20-lap feature event for his first victory since 2001.
Ray, the 1999 champion in the class spent some time racing at
Wall Stadium before returning late in 2010 to Riverhead. Allen
Reeves had a good start to the race as he showed the way for the
first four laps of the contest before Derek Stachecki got the
better of him during a double file restart. After leading just
one lap before the yellow waved again Stachecki, who rode the
outside lane to the lead a lap prior, watched as Ray Minieri did
just that to him on this restart to take over the lead, bringing
Brian Doyle to second as well. Minieri and Doyle would be the
two key players for the remainder of the race as they went
toe-to-toe for the lead and win. At one point Ray got very
sideways in the third and fourth corner after a tap from Brian,
but Doyle rolled out of the throttle to allow the leader to
collect his racecar back up. Over the final laps Brian Doyle saw
Chris Turbush fill his mirror and that backed his effort for the
lead down a notch which was music to the ears of Ray Minieri who
drove to his 13th career victory in his Sunrise Chiropractic &
Wellness Center Pontiac. Brian Doyle of Ronkonkoma would cross
the line second in his K&M Truck & Auto Repair Chevy while Chris
Turbush of Riverhead roared from 12th starting spot to place
third in his Meadowbrook Sweeping Pontiac.
"The Alter Boy" Tom Ferrara of Holbrook made it two straight in
Figure Eight competition as he won their 15-lap main event.
Defending champion Scott Pedersen jumped to the early race lead
and for the first two laps was chased by Dennis Scott. With a
bold move Ferrara raced his way from fifth to second on lap 3
and he then set his sights on leader Pedersen. On lap 9 things
went from good to really bad for the race leader when Scott
slowed suddenly and dropped out of the race with what later was
found to be a blown engine. That turn of events moved Ferrara
into the race lead with his car owner and teammate Mike Mujsce
now sitting second and you'd think that the tandem would settle
in for a 1-2 finish, right? Not Mike Mujsce who is a hard core
racer and threw a few challenges Ferrara's way but in the end it
would indeed be a first and second place finish for the Bill
Beener Tree Service team. Mujsce of Westhampton Beach was
followed in third place by Arne Pedersen of Mastic Beach in his
BNR Home Improvement Dodge, who tested Mujsce for second in the
closing laps which allowed Ferrara some much needed breathing
room.
In one of the most emotionally charged races and subsequent
victories ever "Pistol" Paul Parisi of Riverhead made it
Christmas in July for his late Wife Traci when he won the 20-lap
Blunderbust feature event. Backtrack to January of this year
when Traci, at a very young age passed away suddenly one night
in her sleep, a tragic loss for any husband, but for Paul who
was inseparable from the love of his life, it was that much more
tragic. Saturday night, with his car all decked out in a
Christmas theme that he is running in memory of his wife in 2011
for her love of the Christmas season Parisi made an inside pass
of early race leader Tim "Lightning" Mulqueen in the third and
fourth turn to take control of the race at the halfway mark. Rob
Bader also quickly dove under Mulqueen for second and moved
right in on Parisi and the race for the win was on. The question
was could Parisi ward off the challenges of an equally as hungry
Rob Bader for the win? Bader tucked right up on the back bumper
of Parisi and let him know he was there ready to take the lead
at any moment. However as track announcer Jeff Bressler pointed
out after Paul drove his Outlaw Racing Chevy into victory lane,
"not even Dale Earnhardt Jr. was passing Paul for the win
tonight" and indeed that was the case. Tears of both sadness
and joy flowed as Paul celebrated Traci's life with family and
friends after his third career win. Rob Bader of Holtsville in
the MoMo's Sports Bar & Grill drove to perhaps the most
important runner-up finish of his fine career, while 15-year old
Jack Handley Jr of Medford who continues to turn heads finished
third in his Mignone & Sons Construction racer.
History was nearly made in the 4-Cylinder Demolition Derby as
Amber Galiano almost became the first female driver in 62-years
of racing at Riverhead raceway to win a Demolition Derby event.
However Jamie Kilkenny had other ideas and in the end he would
score the win in his Monsters Recycling entry. The contest came
down to four remaining cars with Jason Savoy and Joey Palmeri
slugging it out with Kilkenny and Galiano. A hard hit by Palmeri
sent Savoy's car upside down and both drivers, who were okay,
were done for the event. That left Galiano and Kilkenny to smash
it out for the win which Jamie eventually took. Amber Galiano of
Rocky Point who became the crowd favorite in the event won
Judge's Choice, while Joey Palmeri of Lindenhurst won Fan's
Choice.
Cromarty Cup 50 NASCAR Modifieds: 1. Shawn Solomito 2. Howie
Brode 3. Justin Bonsignore 4. Ronnie Silk 5. John Fortin 6. Tom
Rogers Jr. 7. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 8. Wayne Anderson 9. Richie
Pallai Jr. 10. Eric Goodale 11. Dave Brigati 12. John Beatty Jr.
13. Timmy Solomito 14. Jerry Solomito Jr. 15. Chris Young 16.
Brad Van Houten 17. Kyle Ellwood 18. Jason Agugliaro 19. Kevin
Nowak 20. John Fortin Jr. 21. Amber Fortin 22. Don Howe 23.
Terry Stiles 24. Bill Park DNS-Mike Watson
Miller Lite Figure Eights 15-laps: 1. Tom Ferrara 2. Mike Mujsce
3. Arne Pedersen 4. Dennis Scott 5. Bryan Sescila 6. Mike Herbst
7. Peter Bertuccio 8. Roger Maynor 9. Tim Farrell 10. Steve
Stadler 11. Tim Mulqueen 12. Scott Pedersen
Miller Lite Chargers 20-laps: 1. Ray Minieri 2. Brian Doyle 3.
Chris Turbush 4. Jeremy McDermott 5. John Baker 6. Derek
Stachecki 7. Erin Dumicich 8. CJ Lehmann 9. Frank Dumicich Jr.
10. Allen Reeves 11. Eric Zeh 12. Chris McGuire
Miller Lite Blunderbusts 20-laps: 1. Paul Parisi 2. Rob Bader 3.
Jack Handley 4. Tim Mulqueen 5. Tommy Walkowiak 6. Tom Pickerell
7. Bill Wegmann Sr. 8. Scott Maliszewski 9. Michael Rommeney 10.
Joe Seeger 11. Tom Sullivan 12. Gary Caldwell 13. Sean Byrne 14.
Bill Portney Sr. 15. Fred Nolan 16. Scott Sepe 17. Kevin
Rommeney 18. Bryan Quilliam 19. Brandon Hubbard 20. Thomas
Puccia 21. Ralph Corsini 22. Ed Mistretta 23. Bill Wegmann Jr.
24. Jessica Cohan
Miller Lite 4-Cylinder Demolition Derby: Winner- James Kilkenny
Judge's Choice- Amber Galiano Fan's Choice Joey Palmeri
Source:
Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR
Posted: July 4, 2011
