04/17/2000
DONNY LIA AND JOHN DENNISTON SCORE RIVERHEAD RACEWAY
GOLD SUNDAY
(Riverhead, NY) Youth was served this past
Sunday afternoon at Riverhead Raceway when Barbara and Jim Cromarty
officially opened the 2000 race season as Donny Lia of Huntington and John
Denniston of Westbury scored the opening day victories in the Legend Race
Car and Super Pro Truck features respectfully. The show was delayed by a
morning rain, but by the time the final checker flag waved the conditions
were balmy.
Second generation driver Brian
McElearney would lead the first lap of the Legend Race Car 25 lap contest
before he was over taken by an ultra quick Larry Altholtz on lap 2 to the
inside exiting turn two. Altholtz once he came to the lead would then open a
comfortable cushion over McElearney who ran second until the 5th circuit of
the race. On lap six Donny Lia would work his way by McElearney to the
inside in the middle of the third and fourth turn and he would then focus
his efforts on leader Altholtz. It didn't take long for Lia to close in on
his good friend Altholtz when he got to second and the two waged a mid
season battle in the opening race for the victory.
After spending several laps
looking toward the inside of Altholtz for a way by, Lia would then take the
long way around the leader on lap 17 as he rim rode the outside groove and
took control of the race. Once out front Lia would then open a comfortable
lead in the Huntington Honda 1934 Ford Coupe, a lead he would enjoy to his
first ever Riverhead Raceway win. Meanwhile Larry Altholtz of Seaford in the
Autoworld USA entry would spend the last three laps of the race warding off
a late challenge by Fred Card of East Hampton in the Pro Kleen of the
Hamptons machine for runner-up. Altholtz scored the second place finish,
while Card settled for third.
In the
20 lap Super Pro Truck feature John Denniston utilized an outside pole
position starting position to bolt into the lead on the very first lap of
the feature and would go wire to wire to score his first career victory.
Denniston, a graduate of the Eastern Kart Racing Association would have pole
sitter Rich Giordano chase him the first nine laps of the tilt and in fact
Giordano was closing in on the leader. However Rich's Dodge was leaking
fluid and he was black flagged from the event on lap 10. This moved Peter
Sparks to second, but he had his hands full with defending champion Ron
"Hurricane" Humes in a fight for position more than worry about
the race leader.
After an
intense two lap battle for second Humes would work his way by for the spot
and set sail for the race leader Denniston, but the latter had built an
insurmountable lead. Humes gave it the old college try but the sand in the
hourglass ran out and John Denniston would score a convincing win in the
Pete's Towing entry. Ron Humes of East Rockaway would post a runner-up
finish in the Davidson's Metro racer, while Peter Sparks of Medford in the
Sparks Brothers Dodge was a solid third in the final tally.
In the Enduro action on the
afternoon Ray Fitzgerald of Manorville won the first 100 lap Enduro for the
full sized cars, while Kevin Lawlor of Bay Shore took the 60 lap night cap
for his first career win after eight years of trying. The 4 Cylinder Enduro
saw Stan Wagenstein of Holtsville score the triumph, while Jeff Wolfe of
Selden bested the competition in the Car Rollover Contest. Tommy Walkowiak
of Middle Village, Queens, won the One On One Spectator Drags.
Source: Riverhead Raceway
Posted: April 17, 2000
