Chris Turbush Finally Back In Victory Lane
It was a packed house at Riverhead Raceway on August 22nd with fireworks and a bus demolition derby on the schedule just in time before the start of school.
The Charger division was back in action after getting the week off for a 20-lap feature that had Rich Wilson and Brian Midgett starting on the front row. When the green flag waved it was Steve Mastro who started third that jumped into the early lead.
Ray Minieri spun his No.43 in turn 1 on lap one but, no caution was thrown and he would drive away. The first yellow came out on Lap 6 when Cory Midgett hit the backstretch wall, riding it all the way to turn 3. Midgett would drive the car back to the pits but he would not return to the race.
On the restart Chris Turbush, who has had a rough 2015 season, made a run at Mastro for the lead. On lap 9 Owen Grennan pulled his car off the track while running in the top 5 suffering issues with his No.38. On lap 13 Chris Turbush was able to slip by Steve Mastro and take the lead. The caution would fly on lap 14 when CJ Lehmann and Mastro made contact cutting down the left front tire on the No.54. Under the caution Jason Hansen was forced to pit due to loose bodywork on his No.51.
On the restart it was still Turbush in control of the field with point leader Eric Zeh catching him quickly. On Lap 15 John Baker hit the back stretch wall knocking his right front fender loose, he would be black flagged by officials. With two laps to go Daryn Miller spun his No.30 in Turn 4, the race stayed green however and Chris Turbush came around to take the white and checkered flag to claim his first win since week two of action at Riverhead Raceway.
“I got lucky I got the inside lane [at the start],” Turbush said, “I got this car here for Crohn’s Disease and that’s for anybody out there. They said purple is bad luck, it’s not bad luck.”
Coming to the finish David Roys’ car went straight into the turn 4 wall head on. Roys’ would climb from the car under his own power but the front of the car was destroyed.
Slepian Captures Fifth Career Win of the 2015 Season
Also coming back after a week off were the Legends cars as drivers gear up for the National Qualifier next week. The heat races saw some action as in heat one, Kyle Ellwood hit the backstretch wall hard in his No.0. His team would be able to repair his car before the feature. In heat race number three Wally Davidowitz hit the front stretch wall very hard destroying the No.59, Wally was ok after the hit. Shawn Wanat won the first heat to start on the pole for the feature with Eric Hersey to his outside.
The first yellow flag flew right after the start of the race when Greg Harris spun his No.65 in turn 2. A front fender off Bryan Kelly’s car came off and was then run over by Craig Lutz in the No.11. Lutz would be in the pits for a while but did return later in the race. On the restart Steve Hersey and Steve DeFriest got together entering turn 1 bring out the caution for a second time. The third caution came out again on the first lap when Brandon Remson spun his No.14 in turn 3. Shawn Wanat continued to lead as the race stayed green through lap 1.
Point leader Dylan Slepian started 5th and worked his way up to third by lap 7. On lap 10 Sleapian, Eric Hersey, Richie Davidowitz, and Shawn Wanat were nose to tail. Soon Davidowitz moved into second and was all over the back end of Shawn Wanat. That was until lap 15 when Davidowitz made contact with Wanat spinning the No.02 in front of the field; Wanat was then hit by Johnnie Gloor in the No.99.
Eric Hersey blew his motor up while Wanat was spinning also ending his day. Davidowitz was parked by officials for rough riding also ending his race. This gave the lead to Dylan Slepian who had to hold off Vinny Delaney for 4 laps. Despite Delaney trying every which way he could to get by, Dylan Slepian took the checkered flag and extended his points lead.
Fortin Takes Home The Win In The Modifieds
11 Modifieds showed up to Riverhead Raceway just one week before the Whelen Modified Tour returns next week. Kyle Soper set fast time with an 11.876, he would pick out the third starting spot in the re-draw. John Fortin Sr. picked the pole with Vinny Biondolillo starting on the outside.
At the drop of the green flag Kyle Soper was all over John Fortin for the lead but, Fortin was able to hang on. The first caution came out on Lap 20 when Kyle Soper spun in Turn 4 ending his chance at his first career win. Fortin held the lead on the restart with Tommy Rogers and Ryan Preece right behind him. The second caution would come out on Lap 28 when Ed Brunnhoelzl III spun in Turn 4 with help of John Fortin Jr. Then as the checkered flew, John Fortin Sr. was the first to cross the finish line.
Tom Rogers Jr. Wins Figure 8 Feature
Bryan Quilliam and Gary Fritz Jr. started on the front row for the 15 lap Figure 8 feature. Going into turn 1 on lap 1 the first caution flag flew when Quilliam spun, soon after Frtiz got into Scott Pedersen spinning the No.27 around.
Mike Mujsce then inherited the lead with Tommy Rogers right behind him. When the race restarted Rogers was all over Mujsce but, the green did not stay out long as the caution flew again on Lap 3 when Brian Hansen spun his No.88. On the restart Roger Maynor got into the back of Tom Ferrara spinning the No.11 around. CJ Lehmann and Artie Pedersen III were also involved with Lehmann’s car having to be towed off the track. Maynor was moved to the rear for rough riding.
Again Mujsce led the field to the green but Tom Rogers was all over the No.13 again. On lap 4 Rogers was able to get by Mujsce and take the lead. On lap 7 the yellow flag flew when Brian Hansen spun again. The final caution flag flew on lap 8 when Bryan Quilliam’s car lost a motor ending his night. From there it was the Tom Rogers Show as the No.43 was able to hold off everyone behind him and take down another win in the Figure 8’s.
Ryan Zukowski won the Bus Demolition Derby.
Photos available at: http://www.racerhub.com/photos/index.php?cat=2422
Aug. 22, 2015 Results:
Legends:
1 Dylan Slepian (5)
2 Vinny Delaney (8)
3 Kevin Nowak (20)
4 Kyle Ellwood (21)
5 George Tomko Jr. (3)
6 Bryan Kelly (11)
7 Ray Fitzgerald (9)
8 Gregory Harris (7)
9 Mike Van Houten Jr.(10)
10 Allan Pedersen (14)
11 Ed Cheslak (12)
12 Terry Stiles (13)
13 George Baker (19)
14 Bill Fitzgerald (15)
15 Craig Lutz (20)
16 Brandon Remson (18)
17 Artie Pedersen III (6)
18 Shawn Wanat (1)
19 Richard Davidowitz(4)
20 Eric Hersey (2)
21 Johnnie Gloor (17)
22 Steve Hersey (22)
23 Steve DeFriest(23)
Figure 8:
1 Tom Rogers(5)
2 Mike Mujsce Sr. (6)
3 Tom Ferrara (8)
4 Roger Maynor (9)
5 Kenneth Hyde Jr. (7)
6 Scott Pedersen (4)
7 Gary Fritz Jr. (2)
8 Artie Pedersen III (11)
9 Brian Hansen (11)
10 Bryan Quilliam (1)
11 CJ Lehmann (3)
Chargers:
1 Chris Turbush (5)
2 Eric Zeh (8)
3 CJ Lehmann (9)
4 Brandon Turbush (6)
5 Ray Minieri (11)
6 Jimmy White Jr. (14)
7 Steve Mastro (3)
8 Brian Midgett (2)
9 Jason Hansen (4)
10 David Roys (12)
11 John Baker (10)
12 Daryn F. Miller (15)
13 Richard Wilson (1)
14 Owen Grennan (7)
15 Cory Midgett (13)
NASCAR Modified:
1 John Fortin (1)
2 Tom Rogers Jr. (4)
3 Ryan Preece (5)
4 Howie Brode (6)
5 Kyle Soper (3)
6 Ken Darch (7)
7 John Fortin Jr.(9)
8 Eddie Brunnhoelzl III (8)
9 Vinny Biondolillo (2)
10 Amber Fortin (10)
11 Kyle Ellwood (11)
12 Jason Agugliaro (12)
Source: Brenden Madonia/LongIslandJam.com