Eddie Brunnhoelzl Makes Triumphiant Return to Riverhead
Victory Lane
Eddie Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown
picked a good night to end a three year dry spell in the NASCAR
Modified ranks at Riverhead Raceway Saturday night as he led
from start to finish in a non-stop 35-lap feature event
witnessed by a bus load of fans from his sponsor, Senix Creek
Inn Restaurant. It was Eddie's first win since his first career
triumph back on August 30th of 2008.
Amber Fortin and Eddie Brunnhoelzl III
brought the field to Mike Boken's green flag with Brunnhoelzl
roaring out to the early race lead with impressive rookie Jason
Agugliaro slipping by Amber for second on the first lap as well
on the outside. With the race never seeing a yellow flag
Brunnhoelzl was able to stretch out to a comfortable early race
lead with Agugliaro giving chase, but the driver on the move was
defending champion Tom Rogers Jr. After falling back a few spots
on the initial start Rogers soon became the fastest car on the
track and right at the halfway point of the race, lap 18 he made
an inside pass of Agugliaro for second. Now to second Rogers set
his radar on the race leader Eddie Brunnhoelzl III.
As the race wore on it was evident that
Rogers was indeed reeling in Brunnhoelzl but then suddenly while
lapping a slower car off turn four Roger and that car got
together slightly forcing Tom to take evasive action letting off
the gas for a second or two which allowed Jason Agugliaro to
reclaim second on lap 24. Rogers now sat third and soon was
under attack from point leader Justin Bonsingore who barely made
the race after flying in from New Hampshire. With all these
events going on behind him Eddie Brunnhoelzl III went back to
work and once again opened up a comfortable lead, a lead he'd
enjoy all the way to the checkered flag.
"Sure is good to see you here"
Brunnhoelzl quipped to track announcer Bob Finan after exiting
his Senix Creek Inn Chevy. "It's been too long between wins, but
it's the product of a hard working team that thrashes on the car
during the week while me and my father work" Eddie also noted
"our sponsor has a busload of guests over by turn three so if we
were to pick a night to end the dry spell this sure isn't a bad
one".
Jason Agugliaro of Islip who just three
weeks ago thought his season was done with a blown motor crossed
the line second in the Tom O'Keefe & Sons Inc. Chevy, while Tom
Rogers Jr. of Patchogue held off Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville
for third in his Jessup Landscaping Chevy. The battle for third
between Rogers and Bonsignore was intense and at times got
physical before cooler heads prevailed. Chris Young of Calverton
completed the top five. With rain off to the west the first
non-stop NASCAR Modified feature of 2011 could not have come at
a better time and all the NASCAR Officials thank the 20 drivers
for their effort.
Another driver ending a dry spell would
be Roger Maynor of Bay Shore who won a 9-lap Figure Eight
feature as the race was cut short due to the time limit
expiring. Maynor a 101-time career winner in the class since
1985 broke to the early race lead and was chased by Timmy
Farrell, Dennis Scott and Mike Mujsce all of whom ran second at
one time or another over the first six laps. The rough and
tumble nature to the race saw many cars go off on the hook with
tempers boiling over as well as the class ran its first race
since July 23rd. On lap 7 Ken Hyde Jr. moved to second behind
Roger Maynor during a 6th lap restart but with Roger not having
won since August 22nd of 2009 the driver of the Barrasso & Sons
Mason Supplies Toyota was not going to yield to anyone, whether
the race went 9 laps or its scheduled 15 and indeed made his own
triumphant return to the winner's circle. Ken Hyde Jr. of
Medford in the Maples Bar & Grill racer was runner-up while Mike
Mujsce of Westhampton Beach took over the point lead with his
third place finish in the Bill Beener Tree Service racer.
Tommy "The Wildchild" Walkowiak of Ridge
scored his 48th career Blunderbust win when he topped their
20-lap main event and afterwards admitted this one might just
have fallen into his lap. Tim Mulqueen broke our front at the
throw of the green and for the first half of the race was
followed by Scott Sepe with Mulqueen stretching out to a nice
lead over the first half of the race. Lap 11 saw Tom Pickerell
make an outside pass of Sepe for second and once there he went
right to work on tracking down leader Tim Mulqueen. After
catching Tim, Pickerell was applying the pressure racing off
turn two when his front bumper made contact with Mulqueen's left
rear tire and rim, which broke the axle right out of the
leader's car. During the caution flag period that ensued
Pickerell, who would have been the new race leader had issues of
his own as a left rear tire was going down and he was forced to
pit. When all was said and done after the wild turn of events
the new race leader would be Tommy Walkowiak, who raced his way
from a 16th starting berth to third in 15-lap. Once out front
there was no stopping the Blaze Fuel Oil Chevy and "The
Wildchild" Tommy Walkowiak who drove off to his track leading
5th win of 2011. Scott Sepe of Ozone Park notched his best
finish of 2011 when he crossed the line second and newcomer
Thomas Puccia of Mastic did the same with his third place
showing in the Ferrandino & Sons Contracting machine.
One week ago Roger Turbush of Riverhead
ended a mid-season run of bad luck in the Super Pro Truck
division when he won their 20-lapper, this week he buried those
demons with his second straight win in the class. With a slim
10-truck field on hand and two drivers electing to start at the
rear Roger Turbush for the second week in a row found himself on
the pole and he again took full advantage taking the race lead
at the drop of the green with Lou Maestri sitting second. With
these two veteran drivers out front running a few truck lengths
apart all eyes would focus on the battle for third among
"Dangerous" Dave Koenig and Frank Dumicich Jr., who also just
happen to be fighting for the 2011 SPT title. Dumicich threw all
he could at Koenig during the 20-lap contest but Dave was equal
to the task every time. Meanwhile back up front Roger Turbush
was on his way to his 8th career triumph in his Allied Air
Conditioning Chevy, his third win of 2011. Lou Maestri of Deer
Park was runner-up in the 5-Star Kennels Chevy while Dave Koenig
of Freeport was third in the Nelson's Auto Salvage Chevy.
For the 2011 season the Legend Race Car
teams that run Riverhead were told they'd run two heat races
when needed with the winner of the first heat starting on the
pole and the winner of the second qualifier starting outside the
front row. Chris Young of Calverton might just have won his 4th
feature event of the season in his heat race when he wheeled the
Ray the Plumber #49 from 13th to victory, giving him the pole
for the 20-lap main event. Young quickly zipped out to the race
lead at the start with George Baker Jr., who won the second heat
filing into second which is how they ran for the first 7 laps. A
double file restart saw Cody Triola take second from Baker for
lap 8, but on the very next circuit Baker reclaimed the position
while Young stayed out front. Lap 13 found Justin Strumpf, who
is locked in the 2011 championship battle with Chris Young move
to second after working his way by Baker, but second would be as
good as it got for Justin. At the finish it was point leader
Chris Young taking the victory and in the process increasing his
lead to 12 over Justin Strumpf of Selden who was second in his
Monster's Recycling entry. George Baker Jr. of Bayville turned
in a career best performance as he placed third in his RW Truck
Equipment racer and was in contention the entire race.
Gene Burbol of Brookhaven continued his
domination of the 6-Cylinder Enduro racing when he topped their
50-lap event. Christian Conklin, running the race with his
4-Cylinder machine broke out front and led the first 12 laps of
the contest before Gene Burbol raced his was by on the 13th lap.
Once out front as is his custom Gene Burbol in the Gene's 112
Auto Service racer would race off to a comfortable lead and
eventual victory. Christian Conklin of Flanders was runner-up in
the Spit's Speed Shop mount, while veteran Bob Haeger of Hampton
Bays placed third in the Haeger Home Improvement machine.
"The Killer Bee" Bobby Benison of
Lindenhurst scored his second 8-Cylinder Demolition Derby win of
2011 when he topped a rugged field of both veteran and young up
and coming drivers. Benison in his Albin Avenue Auto Salvage
mount topped brother-in-law Tom "The Madhatter" Kilkenny of
Babylon and his employee Jason Savoy of Lake Panamoka to score
the win. Kilkenny was named Judge's Choice and Savoy won Fan's
Choice.
NASCAR Modifieds 35-laps: 1. Eddie
Brunnhoelzl III 2. Jason Agugliaro 3. Tom Rogers Jr. 4. Justin
Bonsignore 5. Chris Young 6. Amber Fortin 7. John Fortin 8.
Wayne Anderson 9. Don Howe 10. Bill Park 11. Dave Sapienza 12.
John Beatty Jr. 13. Dave Brigati 14. Kyle Ellwood 15. Ken Darch
16. Kevin Nowak 17. John Fortin Jr. 18. Frank Saladino 19. Jack
Orlando 20. Mike Watson
Figure Eights 9-laps (time limit) 1.
Roger Maynor 2. Ken Hyde Jr. 3. Mike Mujsce 4. Arne Pedersen 5.
Peter Bertuccio 6. Bryan Sescila 7. George Brown 8. Jarrod Hayes
9. Dennis Scott 10. Tim Farrell 11. Steve Stadler 12. Tim
Mulqueen 13. Tom Ferrara 14. Gary Fritz Jr.
Blunderbusts 20-laps: 1. Tommy Walkowiak
2. Scott Sepe 3. Thomas Puccia 4. Bill Wegmann Jr. 5. Tom
Sullivan 6. Brandon Hubbard 7. Gary Caldwell 8. Jimmy White Jr.
9. Tom Pickerell 10. Bill Portney Sr. 11. Bryan Quilliam 12.
Jessica Cohan 13. Bob Muller 14. Rob Bader 15. Ralph Corsini 16.
Scott Maliszewski 17. Tim Mulqueen 18. Michael Rommeney 19. Paul
Parisi 20. Jack Handley Jr. DNS- Bill Wegmann Sr., Robert Duffus
Jr.
Super Pro Trucks 20-laps: 1. Roger
Turbush 2. Lou Maestri 3. Dave Koenig 4. Frank Dumicich Jr. 5.
Frank Dumicich Sr. 6. Chris Turbush 7. Mike Albasini 8. Peter
Rotzi 9. Erin Dumicich 10. Keith Rotzi
Legend Race Cars 20-laps: 1. Chris Young
2. Justin Strumpf 3. George Baker Jr. 4. Jim Sylvester 5. Bryan
Kelly 6. Jeffery Goodale 7. Jim Byrne 8. Kyle Soper 9. Kevin
Nowak 10. Dylan Slepian 11. Kyle Ellwood 12. Vinny Delaney 13.
Dan McNamara 14. Artie Pedersen III 15. Buddy Commerdinger 16.
John Harley 17. Michael Rommeney 18. Tom Barton 19. Tom Marsh
20. Cody Triola 21. Jason Sendlewski 22. Tony Naglieri 23.
Vincent Biondolillo 24. Mike Malone
6-Cylinder Enduro 50-laps (top five): 1.
Gene Burbol 2. Christian Conklin 3. Bob Haeger 4. Jeffrey Gregor
5. Peter Rabaglia
8-Cylinder Demolition Derby: Winner- Bob
Benison
Source:
Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR
Posted: August 15, 2011
