Justin Bonsignore Continues Riverhead Raceway Hot Streak
Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville
continued his Riverhead Raceway hot streak Saturday evening when
he backed up his NASCAR WMT victory of a week ago with a win in
the 35-lap Best Buy/Miller Lite night NASCAR Modified feature.
The victory, Justin's third of 2011 at the quarter mile also
moved him into a comfortable lead in the Whelen All-American
Series points race as Bonsignore now enjoys a 30-point margin
over John Fortin with five scheduled races remaining.
Rookie driver Jason Agugliaro stepped
into the early race lead at the drop of the green with Robin
Vollmoeller in hot pursuit for the first two laps. Eddie
Brunnhoelzl III made some noise on lap three passing Vollmoeller
for second and once there the third generation driver quickly
pounced on Agugliaro for the lead on lap four. A lap six restart
would jumble the front of the 21-car field once again as Robin
Vollmoeller made a bold move to race out front on the sixth lap,
a lead he'd hold until a double file restart was needed on lap
ten. When the green light came back on Eddie Brunnhoelzl III
rode the outside line past leader Robin Vollmoeller to reclaim
the lead with Vollmoeller now second, while Justin Bonsignore
who started the race 8th was now sitting third.
Working the inside lane Bonsignore
wasted little time in making his way out front passing first
Vollmoeller and on lap 20 he dove under Brunnhoelzl for the lead
racing into the third corner. Over the final 15-laps of the
contest Bonsignore and Brunnhoelzl, who raced together for many
a win in the East End Kart Racing club at Riverhead, once again
found themselves as friendly foes, this time in 600 horsepower
NASCAR Modifieds. Fresh off his $10,000 plus win one week ago in
the Lighthouse Mission 200 by Baldwin Automotive Justin
Bonsignore continued to ride the wave of momentum; however Eddie
Brunnhoelzl III seeking his first win since 2008 had other ideas
pressuring the leader. It wasn't until the final few laps that
Bonsignore was able to pull away slightly to drive to his 6th
career victory.
As sweet as the victory for the M3
Technologies Team was and the 30-point lead they now enjoy at
their home track, it also comes with some scheduling conflicts
for Justin Bonsignore and his car owner Ken Massa. This Saturday
the NASCAR WMT is at New Hampshire Speedway as part of an IZOD
Indy Car weekend and the WMT race won't start until late
afternoon. When asked about the conflict Bonsignore revealed,
"like the last time we ran at New Hampshire I'll have a plane
waiting to take me back to Long Island, but it's going to be
really tight getting back here in time to run the feature, we
might not make it"
Eddie Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown
crossed the line second in the Senix Creek Inn Chevy with
veteran Robin Vollmoeller of Riverhead turning in a great
performance for third in the Blackhawk Fabricating Chevy. It was
a season best for both drivers. Bill Park of Manorville and
Chris Young of Calverton completed the top five.
It was on this date 17-years ago that
Shawn Patrick of Brightwaters claimed his first career Late
Model win and what better way to mark the occasion than with a
Miller Lite night win in the 25-lap feature which is exactly
what the veteran driver did. Rob McCormick and Dennis Krupski
tussled for the lead for the first two laps before Shawn Patrick
worked his way by Krupski for second on lap three. A 4th lap
caution flag would set-up a double file restart between
McCormick and Patrick and when the green flag waved it was
Patrick riding the outside to the race lead while McCormick was
racing for second with Kevin Metzger with Kevin taking the
position on lap 5. With Patrick and Metzger running one-two
Jarrod Hayes wanted in on the fun and on lap 10 he got by
Metzger for second and quickly closed in on leader Patrick. On
lap 15 right under the starters stand Hayes closed in on Patrick
rapidly and in fact his left front wheel caught the right rear
bumper of the leader causing Hayes to come to a stop with
damage. When the race resumed Shawn Patrick saw Kevin Metzger in
his rear view mirror, while Scott Kulesa now sat third. Over the
final green flag run there was no stopping the Steve Mehner Race
Engines Dodge of Shawn Patrick as he drove to his second win of
2011 and 5th overall in his career. Kevin Metzger of Massapequa
was runner-up in the Long Island Fuel Accessories Chevy and
Scott Kulesa of Georgetown, Ma. would finish third in the Ranco
Sand & Stone Pontiac.
Besieged by mechanical gremlins over the
past few Super Pro Truck races, defending champion Roger Turbush
of Riverhead overcame all the bad luck Saturday night leading
wire to wire to win the Miller Lite 20 for his second win of the
year. With all the rotten luck as of late Roger Turbush enjoyed
a pole starting berth which he quickly took advantage of roaring
into the race lead with Lou Maestri giving chase. Maestri soon
found himself racing for that second spot with "Dangerous" Dave
Koenig who indeed was able to slip by Lou for position on the
fourth lap. For the remainder of the race which was slowed by
just one caution flag, Roger Turbush would lead the way, but
nobody could blame him if he was hearing noises or waiting for
something to go wrong given his recent run of luck. However all
would be okay with the Allied Air Conditioning Chevy as Roger
Turbush drove to his 7th career SPT win and afterwards indeed
was one very relieved driver. Dave Koenig of Freeport would
settle for runner-up money in the Nelson's Auto Salvage Chevy,
while Lou Maestri of Deer Park was third in the Gershow
Recycling Chevy.
Defending Legend Race Car champion Kevin
Nowak of Medford made a bold pass on two cars at once that would
pay off for his second win of the 2011 campaign in the Miller
Lite 20. Young lions Vinny Delaney and Dylan Slepian broke out
front on lap one and for the second lap swapped positions with
Slepian leading that lap. However on the third lap racing into
the first corner Kevin Nowak, a tested tough Legend veteran of
over 120 starts dove to the inside of Delaney for second going
into the first turn and then in the same motion passed Slepian
for the race lead. Slepian chased Nowak for five laps before
Delaney got by on lap 11, but just after working his way to
second Delaney quickly found himself third after Chris Young
worked his way by. It would be Young, the current championship
leader who would provide Nowak with his most serious challenge
over the final eight laps of the contest staying with the race
leader lap after lap. However in the end it would be the Racing
Creation sedan of Kevin Nowak posting the win, while Chris Young
of Calverton was second in the Ray The Plumber entry. Justin
Strumpf of Selden, Young's nearest rival in the title fight was
third in his Monster's Recycling machine and now trails Chris by
10-points.
Dennis Nelson of Coram notched the
4-Cylinder Enduro win when he topped the field in the Miller
Lite 50. Eric Kandler set the pace over the first ten laps of
the tilt before Dennis Nelson moved his Repo Joe machine out
front on lap 11, a lead he'd never surrender for the remainder
of the race. Eric Kandler of Coram would finish second in his
Family Auto entry, while Christian Conklin of Flanders was third
in the Let it Shine Detailing mount.
Dennis "The Mennace" Scott of Riverhead
won the Full Size School Bus Demolition Derby and in order to
claim his first career win would have to outlast two familiar
foes. His future son-in-law Michael "Cheesebox" Rommeney and
NASCAR Modified driver Ken Darch, all of whom are part of
Darch's D&K Motorsports team, were the final three drivers
standing before Dennis Scott won in the South Bay Beverage bus.
Best Buy/Miller Lite NASCAR Modifieds
35-laps: 1. Justin Bonsignore 2. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 3. Robin
Vollmoeller 4. Bill Park 5. Chris Young 6. Shawn Solomito 7.
Timmy Solomito 8. Jason Agugliaro 9. Kyle Ellwood 10. John
Beatty Jr. 11. Wayne Anderson 12. Frank Saladino 13. Kevin Nowak
14. John Fortin Jr. 15. Ken Darch 16. Sean McDonald 17. John
Fortin Sr. 18. Don Howe 19. Tom Rogers Jr. 20. Jerry Solomito
21. Amber Fortin
Miller Lite Late Models 25-laps: 1.
Shawn Patrick 2. Kevin Metzger 3. Scott Kulesa 4. Peter Eriksen
5. Mike Bologna 6. Dennis Krupski 7. Chris LaSpisa 8. Artie
Pedersen Jr. 9. Ken Alfano 10. Arne Pedersen 11. Jarrod Hayes
12. Roger Oxee 13. Rob McCormick 14. Dan Turbush 15. Justin
Strumpf
Miller Lite Super Pro Trucks 20-laps: 1.
Roger Turbush 2. Dave Koenig 3. Lou Maestri 4. Chris Turbush 5.
Frank Dumicich Jr. 6. Mike Albasini 7. Chris McGuire 8. Erin
Dumicich 9. Frank Dumicich Sr. 10. Peter Rotzi 11. Kevin
Scharfenberg 12. Kathleen Hallock 13. Keith Rotzi 14. Brian
McElearney
Miller Lite Legend Race Cars 20-laps: 1.
Kevin Nowak 2. Chris Young 3. Justin Strumpf 4. Vinny Delaney 5.
Dylan Slepian 6. Jason Sendlewski 7. Mike Malone 8. Jeffrey
Goodale 9. Jim Sylvester 10. John Harley 11. Kyle Ellwood 12.
Tom Marsh 13. Kyle Soper 14. Tony Naglieri 15. Cody Triola 16.
Vincent Biondolillo 17. Artie Pedersen III 18. Keith Goodale 19.
Chris Rogers 20. Alex Urbina 21. Michael Rommeney 22. Bryan
Kelly 23. Paul Dodorico 24. Jim Byrne
Miller Lite 4-Cylinder Enduro (top
five): 1. Dennis Nelson 2. Eric Kandler 3. Christian Conklin 4.
Don Nelson Jr. 5. Robert Endlekofer
Miller Lite School Bus Demolition Derby:
Winner- Dennis Scott
Source:
Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR
Posted: August 8, 2011
