06/10/2000

SHORT TRACK VETERAN JERRY MARQUIS TOPS RIVERHEAD MILLER LITE 200 FIELD

    Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway saw Peter “Buzzy” Eriksen of Baldwin, Bobby Wallace of East Rockaway and Rusty Turbush of Manorville all score their first wins of the 2000 NASCAR Weekly Racing Series. The Late Model, Figure 8 and Charger races took place prior to the Miller Lite 200 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series event, which was won by Jerry Marquis of Broad Brook, CT.

    Jerry Marquis of Broad Brook, Ct. used his many laps of short track experience at such tracks as Riverside Park Speedway and Manadnock Speedway to his advantage this past Saturday when he won the Miller Lite 200 NASCAR Featherlite Modified Series event at Riverhead Raceway. Marquis took home a handsome sum of $5,275 for his effort in the Mario Fiore owned Pontiac.

    In the pre race time trials a new track record was set by Bud Pole award winner Chuck Steuer of Bohemia who turned the quarter mile facility in 11.546, this barely eclipsed the record of 11.547 held by Frank Vigliarolo Jr. since August 28th of 1999.After the top six redrew for their starting position Ted Christopher drew the pole and “TC” would lead the first 41 laps of the 200. Riverhead veteran John Fortin overhauled Christopher for the lead on the 42nd circuit and proceeded to lead until the 71st lap when defending Riverhead Raceway NASCAR Modified champion Frank Vigliarolo took over.

    Vigliarolo led the next five laps of the race before he was over taken by Rick Fuller who would then go on to lead the majority of the race.  The personable chauffeur lead for a total of 80 laps from lap 77 until 157. Jerry Marquis moved to second on lap 141 working his way by Fortin for the spot and Jerry would quickly reel in leader Fuller. On the 158th lap Marquis drove the Teddy Bear Pools machine to the outside of Fuller and took over command of the race in a move that Fuller himself after the race could only describe by saying “wow”.

    Once in front Marquis who started the race 18th, would for the following 42 laps lead the $51,561 Miller Lite 200 until its conclusion. Rick Fuller of Auburn, Ma was second at the line earning $4,250, while Tim Connolly of Endicott, N.Y. placed third in the Tidy Cats Dodge after coming from 21st starting position. Howie Brode of Bay Shore was fourth in the Petro Fuel Oil Cavalier, and Ted Christopher of Plainville, CT raced to a 5th place tally in the Wynn’s Oil Chevy.

    After Brode’s fourth place tally Riverhead Raceway NASCAR Modified pilots wound up with John Fortin of Holtsville 7th in the Holbrook MTA Auto Service Chevy.  Chuck Steuer of Bohemia was 9th in the Panasonic Document Imaging Chevy.  J.R. Bertuccio of Centereach was 12th, while Frank Vigliarolo Jr. of Medford wound up 22nd.  Chris Young of Riverhead was 24th, while Ken Heagy and Mike Curtis also of Riverhead were 26th and 28th in the final rundown.

    For Peter Eriksen the win in the 25 lap Late Model feature came in his new Matlach Fabrication built car, a machine the team did not plan on using in competition so quickly. During the week the Harley Davidson of Hempstead team could not get their older car set up quite the way they wanted.  Upon further investigation they found later in the week the car had a bent chassis. So into the new car “Buzzy” went and the result was his first win of the 2000 campaign. Shawn Patrick set the tone for the race as he lead the first 6 laps of the contest. On lap 7 Peter Eriksen powered his way to the outside of Patrick off turn two and passed him for the lead on the backstretch. Once out front “Buzzy” pretty much put his mount on cruise control and raced to victory. Kevin Metzger of Massapequa collected his best finish of the season with a runner-up in the West End Supply Chevy, while “Mighty” Mike Mortimer of Mastic Beach was a solid third in the Davis Fuel Oil Pontiac.

    In the 20 lap Figure Eight feature Bobby Wallace made his way to the winner’s circle in the Tyra’s Pub entry. After Keith Terripichio lead the first lap of the race Tom Rogers Jr. made his way out front on the second lap of the event. Rogers looked as though he was headed to his first career win in the class but after contact with another car, his right rear tire began to rub into his rear bumper. Rogers did all he could to try and drive through the problem but on lap 16 Bobby Wallace raced his way out front on a restart.  Bill Steen then came second to Wallace as Rogers began to fade with the right rear tire now going flat. The final 3 laps saw Wallace build a comfortable enough lead, a margin he’d enjoy until the checker flag. Bill Steen of Oakdale was runner-up in the Euro tech Auto Body Dodge.  Carl Baxter of Bay Shore placed third in the T&C Performance Dodge.

    Veteran driver Rusty Turbush completed his return to weekly racing at Riverhead Raceway when he drove the John Ellwood owned machine to the win in the 20-lap Charger feature. Newcomer George Gould IV set the pace for the first 3 laps of the tilt before Rusty Turbush muscled his way by to the outside on a 4th lap restart. Once he brought the Panasonic Document Imaging mount to the front there was no stopping Turbush who spent the better part of 1999 racing on the Pro Truck Tour of New England. The visit to victory lane Saturday night was indeed a homecoming for the Manorville resident. Rob Tribuzio chased Turbush from the 4th lap until the 15th, but a rear end problem sent the rookie to the pits ending a solid run. Richie Carman would move to second on lap 16 and glue himself to Turbush’s rear spoiler, but Carman of Pt. Jefferson would have to be content with second in the Chief Auto Parts entry. Tony Anello of Islip was third in the Atlas Quality Asphalt Chevy.

Source:  Riverhead Raceway Press Release
Posted:  June 13, 2000