Fortin Notches 25th Win, Trims Bonsignore's Point Lead
Former three-time Riverhead Raceway
NASCAR Modified champion John Fortin of Holtsville had just the
night he needed in the Whelen All-American Series championship
chase on Saturday evening as he scored his 25th career win in
the Donaldson's VW-Subaru night 35-lap contest at the demanding
quarter mile oval. In the process Fortin trimmed Justin
Bonsignore's point advantage and with three races left to the
2011 campaign Justin leads John by 22 points, 518 to 496.
Don Howe seeking his second win of the
year out powered pole sitter Amber Fortin at the throw of the
green with John Fortin quickly wheeling past his daughter to go
from fourth to second before the 22-car field hit the second
turn. Over the first five laps of the tilt Fortin pestered Howe
for the race lead before a yellow flag waved for Eddie
Brunnhoelzl III who had contact with the front stretch wall. On
the ensuing restart Fortin was able to gain an advantage over
Howe to the outside and try as he might Howe, a former five time
track champion, was unable to hold off Fortin for the race lead.
Another quick series of double file restarts found the second
position changing hands rapidly before the halfway mark of the
race as on an 8th lap restart John Beatty Jr. moved under Howe
but just 4 laps later Tom Rogers Jr. would do the same to Beatty
on the final double file restart of the contest.
Although Rogers, the defending NASCAR
Modified champion, could mirror leader Fortin for the remainder
of the race that was as close as he'd get to passing the
eventual race winner. Meanwhile further back in the running
order John Beatty Jr., who stayed with the Fortin/Rogers tandem
for a spell, soon found himself under attack for third from
Chris Young. A battle for position that lasted until the checker
flag waved. Further back in the top ten Justin Bonsignore was
having a dickens of a time trying to stay in the top ten as he
slugged it out with Shawn Solomito, Don Howe and Jason Agugliaro.
Bonsignore would end-up registering a disappointing 8th place
finish.
After receiving the Donaldson's VW
hardware in victory lane John Fortin noted that even though he
had a good points night he still has a very tough task at hand,
"it's going to be tough with just three races to go" John
admitted. "I have to hand it to Justin and his group, "they've
been running good all year while we just seemed to struggle more
than we'd like, but my team never stopped working trying to get
us right again. It is what it is". John's journey to 25-wins
started at Riverhead Raceway back on July 18th when he scored
his first career triumph.
Tom Rogers Jr. after making a switch of
cars from the race shop of Joe & Debbie Ambrose was runner-up in
the Jessup Landscaping Chevy with John Beatty Jr of Merrick
collecting third place money in his North Shore Recycling Chevy.
Chris Young of Calverton and Bill Park of Manorville completed
the top five.
After going nearly two years without a
win before taking a victory last week, Roger Maynor of Bay Shore
assured himself that wasn't going to happen again as he scored
his second straight Figure Eight win in the Donaldson's VW night
15. Peter Bertuccio and Steve Stadler ran up front for the first
lap before Roger Maynor squeaked by Stadler for second and
setting his radar for race leader Bertuccio. After two laps of
chasing Peter for the top spot Maynor made a textbook move
exiting the right hand turn to pass Bertuccio for the race lead
on lap 4. Just a lap after Maynor took the lead a yellow flag
waved setting up a double file restart which Arne Pedersen took
full advantage of to make his way by Bertuccio for second. In
the final 10-laps of a basically incident free race all Pedersen
could do was stay with Maynor as the duo darted through criss-crossing
traffic at the intersection. At the finish it was Roger Maynor
notching his 103rd career win in his Barrasso & Sons Mason
Supplies Toyota, while Arne Pedersen of Mastic Beach actually
scored a small victory of his own with a runner-up showing in
the BNR Home Improvement Dodge. With the finish, coupled with a
tough night for point leader Mike Mujsce, Arne now leads Roger
by 12 points, 366 to 354 with two races left in September;
Mujsce slips to third in the rankings after losing laps in the
pits after a turn three skirmish. Tom Ferrara of Holbrook was
third in the race in his Bill Beener Tree Service racer.
The first half might not have gone quite
the way three-time defending Charger champion Chris Turbush of
Riverhead might have liked but the second half was the polar
opposite as he drove to his 4th win of the year in the
Donaldson's VW night 20. Frank Dumicich Jr. stepped out to the
early race lead at the drop of the green and from that point on
the second generation driver was under attack for the top spot
with sophomore driver Eric Zeh first to apply the pressure. Zeh
threw all he could at Dumicich over the first half of the race
before he gave way to "Radiant" Ray Minieri who took second on
the 11th circuit. For the next five laps Ray threw his machine
to the outside of Dumicich in a great race for the lead with Zeh,
Turbush and Jeremy McDermott all in the mix. The turning point
of the race would come on lap 17 when Dumicich tried to throw a
block on Minieri who was trying an outside pass once again and
that opened the inside line for not only Chris Turbush to slide
low for the race lead, but also Chris McGuire who came to
second. Once out front there was no stopping the Meadowbrook
Sweeping Pontiac of Chris Turbush who drove to his 29th career
win, which also further added to his slim points advantage over
Chris McGuire, 534 to 530. McGuire of Shirley in the Long Island
Fiber Exchange Ford was runner-up, while "Dynamite" Dan Turbush
of Riverhead claimed third in the Burt's Reliable entry.
Lou Maestri of Deer Park drove to his
first Super Pro Truck win of 2011 after an intense battle for
the win with Erin Dumicich in the Donaldson's VW night 20. Peter
Rotzi showed the way over Erin Dumicich over the first 4 laps of
the contest before Erin made an outside pass of the early race
leader for the top spot on lap 5 just under the starters stand.
Just two laps later Lou Maestri slipped by Rotzi for second and
the race to catch leader Erin Dumicich who was seeking to be the
first female driver to win in the class and first at the track
since Laurie Harlin won a Blunderbust race in 1998. As the race
wore on Maestri glued himself to Dumicich's back bumper and from
time to time took a peak to see if he could complete a pass. The
fight for the race lead would intensify on the 16th lap when
Maestri moved outside of Dumicich off the second turn, Erin
tried to block the run Lou had and they hooked bumpers with Erin
collecting the third turn wall and done for the night. That left
Lou Maestri as the race leader with championship contender
"Dangerous" Dave Koenig now second, with Chris Turbush sitting
third. Over the final three green flag laps Lou Maestri in his
Curiously Creative Candles Chevy scored the win, the 21st of his
career which leaves him one back of Danny Grennan on the
all-time win list. Dave Koenig would reclaim the SPT point lead
with his runner-up finish in the Nelson's Auto Salvage Chevy, he
leads Maestri by 6, 484 to 478 with three race to go in 2011.
Chris Turbush was third in his Let It Shine Detailing Chevy.
Chris Young of Calverton took a giant
step forward in the chase for the 2011 Legend Race Car
championship when he won his 5th main event of the year in the
Donaldson's VW 20 and without question his season could now be
termed a career year. Former National Legend champion Danny
McNamara moved out front early in the race with Paul Dodorico
applying the heat right from the start. While racing for the top
spot exiting the fourth turn on lap 3 the duo got together with
Paul actually riding over the hood of McNamara for a moment
which allowed both Chris Young and Timmy Solomito to take over
the top two positions. Over the following eight laps Young and
Solomito went toe to toe in a very entertaining race for the
lead, with Solomito actually taking the lead on lap 8 with an
outside pass before Young came back with a vengeance to reclaim
the lead on lap 10. Once back out front there was not stopping
the Ray the Plumber racer as he was able to hold off his
championship rival Justin Strumpf of Selden when the race
concluded. Strumpf who started the race back in 18th had to
peddle his way to second in the Monster's Recycling machine and
with just one race on September 10th left in 2011 he trails
Young by 14 points, 468 to 454 meaning he'll have to be eight
spots better than Chris in the finale. Kyle Soper of Manorville,
after taking a provisional to make the 24-car field, wheeled his
News 12 Long Island mount from 23rd to 3rd at the finish.
The 4-Cylinder Demolition Derby
competitors waged another spirited battle and in the end it was
Jason Savoy of Lake Panamoka scoring the victory in his "Misery
Machine". Savoy in his Monster's Recycling machine had to
outlast both James Kilkenny of Howard Beach and "Jumping" Joey
Palmeri of Lindenhurst before he could lay claim to the win. In
the season-long Demolition Derby points race, Kilkenny shows the
way over Savoy, 430 to 360 with two events left. Kilkenny in the
Albin Avenue Auto Salvage entry was named Judge's Choice in the
4-Cylinder event, while Palmeri in his J&J Towing wagon was
voted Fan's Choice.
Donaldson's VW NASCAR Modifieds 35-laps:
1. John Fortin 2. Tom Rogers Jr. 3. John Beatty Jr. 4. Chris
Young 5. Bill Park 6. Wayne Anderson 7. Shawn Solomito 8. Justin
Bonsignore 9. Don Howe 10. Dave Sapienza 11. Jason Agugliaro 12.
Kevin Orlando 13. Glenn Logan 14. Amber Fortin 15. Frank
Saladino 16. Jim Byrne 17. Sean McDonald 18. Ken Darch 19. John
Fortin Jr. 20. Kevin Nowak 21. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 22. Kyle
Ellwood
Donaldson's VW Figure Eights 15-laps: 1.
Roger Maynor 2. Arne Pedersen 3. Tom Ferrara 4. Ken Hyde Jr. 5.
Peter Bertuccio 6. Tim Farrell 7. Tim Mulqueen 8. Steve Stadler
9. Dennis Scott 10. Jarrod Hayes 11. Bryan Sescila 12. Mike
Mujsce 13. George Brown DNS- Gary Fritz Jr.
Donaldson's VW Chargers 20-laps: 1.
Chris Turbush 2. Chris McGuire 3. Dan Turbush 4. Frank Dumicich
Jr. 5. CJ Lehmann 6. Ray Minieri 7. Brian Brown 8. Tom Sullivan
9. Allen Reeves 10. Derek Stachecki 11. Anthony Pizzo 12. Johnny
Baker 13. Eric Zeh 14. Jeremy McDermott 15. Erin Dumicich
Donaldson's VW Super Pro Trucks 20-laps:
1. Lou Maestri 2. Dave Koenig 3. Chris Turbush 4. Frank Dumicich
Sr. 5. Mike Albasini 6. Peter Rotzi 7. Matt Odwazny 8. Erin
Dumicich 9. Frank Dumicich 10. Roger Turbush 11. Keith Rotzi
Donaldson's VW Legend Race Cars 20-laps:
1. Chris Young 2. Justin Strumpf 3. Kyle Soper 4. Timmy Solomito
5. Chris Rogers 6. Jim Sylvester 7. Brendan Bock 8. Michael
Rommeney 9. Tom Marsh 10. Vinny Delaney 11. Paul Dodorico 12.
Kevin Nowak 13. Bryan Kelly 14. Tony Naglieri 15. Jason
Sendlewski 16. Artie Pedersen III 17. Mike Malone 18. Cody
Triola 19. Dan McNamara 20. Vincent Biondolillo 21. Shawn Wanat
22. Alex Urbina 23. Jim Byrne 24. Kyle Ellwood
Donaldson's VW 4-Cylinder Demolition
Derby: Winner- Jason Savoy
Source:
Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR
Posted: August 22, 2011
