Tom Rogers Jr. Makes a Comeback on I Love America Night

A huge crowd turned out to see the NASCAR Modifieds, Figure 8s, Chargers, Legends, Fireworks and school bus demolition derby on I Love America Night at Riverhead Raceway.

The evening began with heat races for the INEX Legends. Allan Pedersen and Brad Van Houten led the field to the green flag for the first heat race. Van Houten jumped out to the early lead going into turn three on the first lap. The first heat race went caution-free with Van Houten beating Eric Hersey, Artie Pedersen III, Justin Strumpf, and Allan Pedersen to the checkered flag.

Jeffrey Goodale led the second race to the green flag with Greg Harris to his outside. Goodale took the early lead, but he quickly had Vinny Delaney all over his back bumper. Delaney made the move to Goodale’s inside going into turn three on lap five and he completed the pass on the exit of turn four. Delaney held off a hard-charging Kyle Soper to score the heat race victory and secure a front-row starting position for the feature. Goodale, Kyle Ellwood, and Kevin Nowak completed the top five finishers.

The third and final heat race saw George Tomko Jr. lead the field down for the start with Steve Hersey to his outside. Tomko led the first two laps before Richie Davidowitz took the lead going into turn three. Davidowitz held off a fast Brendon Bock to win the caution-free race. Timmy Solomito, Tomko, and Anthony Marsh completed the top five.

Time-trials for the Modifieds followed the heat races. 16 Modifieds showed up and it was Ryan Preece who was the fastest out all of them. Preece’s lap of record was his second lap with a time of 11.847 seconds. Dave Brigati, Tom Rogers Jr., Vinny Biondolillo, Shawn Solomito, Jason Agugliaro, Timmy Solomito, and Kyle Ellwood completed the top eight qualifiers.

The top eight starting positions for the feature were determined by a redraw and it was Rogers, returning from a six-week suspension, who drew the pole position. Biondolillo would start on the front row for the second straight week as he drew the second starting position. Agugliaro drew third, Preece picked fourth, Brigati would start fifth, Ellwood sixth, Shawn Solomito seventh, and Timmy Solomito eighth.

The Chargers were back in action after a week off for a 20-lap feature race. Tom Anderson started the race on the pole with Richard Wilson to his outside. Wilson struggled to get up to speed at the start of the race so the inside line took off with Anderson jumping out to the early lead. Chris Turbush made his way into second place on the sixth lap of the race when he got by Jayson White in turn two. Turbush quickly chased down Anderson. The two battled hard for two laps before Turbush made his way into the lead on lap 10. Chad Churilla and Eric Zeh charged to second and third and battled hard before Zeh got by Churilla with two laps to go to take second. Zeh wasn’t able to mount a charge for the lead so it was Turbush who scored the victory, his third of the season. Zeh, Churilla, Ray Minieri, and Anderson completed the top five.

“We got a lucky break tonight,” said Turbush. “The outside lane got held up. The last three weeks I was on the outside and I went backwards. So this week I started on the inside and I got a good break. I went from seventh to third or fourth in the first couple laps. The car was good tonight. Handled good. Just weaved my way to the front of the field and got lucky enough to pull down another win.”

The Legends followed the Chargers for their 20-lap feature event. Brad Van Houten had the pole position after winning the first heat race, but he was sent to the rear of the field for jumping the initial start of the race according to track officials. The officials moved all starters up one position so Vinny Delaney became the new pole sitter with Richie Davidowitz to his outside. The first caution of the race came on the 14th lap of the race when Allan Pedersen and Ed Cheslak got together in turn one. Greg Harris was also involved. Delaney led the field down to a single-file restart. Brendon Bock was all over his back bumper but Delaney was able to hold him off to get his second win. Bock, Richie Davidowitz, Justin Strumpf, and Timmy Solomito rounded out the top five.

“I had a rearview mirror full of cars,” said Delaney. “It wasn’t just one car either. I just ran my line. Everybody told me before I went on the track that if you get the lead, stay low, and that’s what I did.”

The win is the second of Delaney’s career in the Legends division.

“Everybody told me the first was the hardest,” said Delaney, “and so far their right. I was cool, calm, and collected in the front, but last time I was nervous. It was cool. It’s definitely fun.”

The 35-lap feature for the Modifieds was next on the schedule. Tommy Rogers Jr. led the field to the green flag with Vinny Biondolillo to his outside. Rogers jumped out in front of the field on the second lap of the race. The first caution came out for a crash in turn one involving Timmy Solomito, Chuck Steuer, Eddie Brunnhoelzl III, Danny Watts, and David Roys. Solomito made contact with Dave Sapienza and spun out. Steuer had nowhere to go and hit the front of Solomito’s car. Everybody else just piled in as the track was blocked. The race was red-flagged as a result.

Jason Agugliaro moved to second place just before the caution came out and Ryan Preece made his way into third. As a result Agugliaro restarted to the outside of Rogers with Preece the second car on the inside. Preece got by Agugliaro for second just two laps after the restart. The race’s second caution came out on lap 10 when Biondolillo spun in turn four. Roys, Watts, and Ken Darch all spun as well. Roys and Watts were clearly not happy with each other as they slammed each other a couple of times before driving away from the scene of the crash.

Preece was chasing Rogers down just before the caution came out, but now he had to restart to Rogers outside. He was able to stay out there for a couple of laps before he darted in behind Rogers once he was clear of Agugliaro from behind. Preece looked like he would be able to get by Rogers and take the lead on a few occasions, but then Rogers started to pull away before the third caution came out on lap 27 for another spin by Biondolillo in turn four. Rogers pulled away from Preece on the restart, but would have to do it all over again after the caution came out again just four laps later for a spin by Sapienza and Biondolillo in turn four. Once again Rogers shot away from Preece on the restart. Rogers was able to keep Preece at bay to score the victory in his first race back from a lengthy suspension. Preece, Agugliaro, Howie Brode, and Dave Brigati rounded out the top five.

“The car was pretty good,” said Rogers. “It was good the last time I ran it. Joe and the guys worked hard on it. I can’t thank my guys enough.”

The “World Famous” Figure 8 Stock Cars were the final racing event of the night. Mike Mujsce Sr. started the race from the top spot with Johnny Vullo alongside. Ken Hyde Jr. quickly made his way past Vullo to take second. Hyde was immediately all over the back of Mujsce. They made contact in turn three and Mujsce almost spun out. Mujsce then got slammed by Vullo, which cut a tire down on Mujsce’s car and brought out the caution. Hyde led the field to the restart with Arne Pedersen alongside. Vullo was moved back to third by track officials for hitting a cone. The second caution of the race came out on lap 12 when Frank Dumicich Jr. and George Seus got together just past the intersection near the entrance to turn three. Hyde was able to hold off one last charge from Pedersen to score the victory. Arne Pedersen, Scott Pedersen, John Vullo, and Roger Maynor were the top five.

“I just let (the 13) know I was there with little bumps,” said Hyde, “and that if he made a mistake I was going to be on top of it. Me and him got together a bit more than I wanted to. He got a little loose and he couldn’t control it, and like I said I was there for the mistake. (This win) means more than words can describe.”

Following the four racing events, a fireworks display lit up the night sky above Riverhead Raceway to celebrate I Love America Night.

Michael Rommeney won the school bus demolition derby.

Photos available at: http://www.racerhub.com/photos/index.php?cat=2179

Chargers Results:

1. (7) Chris Turbush

2. (8) Eric Zeh

3. (9) Chad Churilla

4. (6) Ray Minieri

5. (1) Tom Anderson

6. (3) Jayson White

7. (5) Cj Lehmann

8. (2) Richard Wilson

9. (11)Rob Visconti

10. (4) Cory Midgett

11. (12) Mike Coll

12. (10) Tom Sullivan

Legends:

1. (1) Vinny Delaney

2. (5) Brendon Bock

3. (2) Richie Davidowitz

4. (9) Justin Strumpf

5. (8) Timmy Solomito

6. (10) Kyle Ellwood

7. (6) Artie Pedersen III

8. (3) Eric Hersey

9. (17) Bryan Kelly

10. (11) George Tomko Jr.

11. (25) Brad Van Houten

12. (13) Kevin Nowak

13. (15) Dylan Slepian

14. (24) Shawn Wanat

15. (20) Joe Sedotto

16. (18) Vincent Colletti

17. (21) Mike Van Houten

18. (12) Allan Pedersen

19. (14) Anthony Marsh

20. (22) Steve Hersey

21. (19) Steve Smith

22. (16) Gregory Harris

23. (23) Ed Cheslak

24. (4) Kyle Soper

25. (7) Jeffrey Goodale

Modifieds:

1. (1) Tom Rogers Jr.

2. (4) Ryan Preece

3. (3) Jason Agugliaro

4. (9) Howie Brode

5. (5) Dave Brigati

6. (7) Shawn Solomito

7. (8) Timmy Solomito

8. (6) Kyle Ellwood

9. (16) Kevin Orlando

10. (11) Chuck Steuer

11. (14) Ed Brunnhoelzl III

12. (2) Vinny Biondolillo

13. (10) Dave Sapienza

14. (15) Ken Darch

15. (13) Danny Watts

16. (12) David Roys

Figure 8:

1. (3) Ken Hyde Jr.

2. (4) Arne Pedersen

3. (5) Scott Pedersen

4. (2) Johnny Vullo

5. (6) Roger Maynor

6. (12) Gary Fritz Jr.

7. (8) Frank Dumicich Jr.

8. (7) Cj Lehmann

9. (10) Tommy Walkowiak

10. (9) George Seus

11. (11) Brian Hansen

12. (1) Mike Mujsce Jr.

 

Source: Rob Blount/LongIslandJam