May Meltdown Takes Riverhead After Being Postponed

After having to wait two weeks to get the May Meltdown Enduro program in at Riverhead Raceway Sunday afternoon was a blustery and cool day at the track with veteran drivers Dave Antos of Lindenhurst and Ben Gregor of Bridgehampton among the seven feature event winners. Antos topped the 50-lap Grand Enduro after a race long battle with Brian McCormack of Holbrook with Gregor declared the winner of the Truck Enduro.

Former Blunderbust driver Rhett Fogg led the first lap of the Grand contest but he was passed on lap 2 by his son Logan for the top spot. Logan led until the 4th lap when Dave Antos, a two time champion in the class moved by to take the lead from the second generation driver. Once out front Antos quickly felt the heat from Brian McCormack who for the remainder of the race stayed glued to the rear bumper of the leader. With about three laps to go Brian went for broke ducking under Dave entering the first turn but he’d have to back off when Antos shut the door. From there Dave Antos drive off to victory in his G&R Performance Chevy with Brian McCormack a close second in the Big Mack’s Towing entry. Jimmy “The Kid” White Jr. of Southampton was third in the Busy Bee Pest Control Chevy.

The 50-lap Truck Enduro featured some close racing as well with contact late in the race determining the outcome. Former champion Don Nelson Jr. quickly put his Abner Tree Service Chevy out front when the race went green and was chased by Richard Galante who ran second up until the 31st lap. At that time Rob “The Racer” McCormick entered the mix passing Galante for second and then quickly setting his sights on leader Nelson. McCormick would eventually catch Nelson for the lead and make several bids for the top spot, one of which was too close as he got into the back of Don sending him into a spin. McCormick would take the checker flag first but for his part in Don’s spin was sent to last on the lead lap. Ben Gregor who made his way to second on lap 46 was awarded the win in his Gregor Well Drilling S-10 pick-up. Richard Galante of East Patchogue was the runner-up in his sponsored wanted machine with Don Nelson of Rocky Point recovering for third place money.

After trying to score his first career 8-Cylinder Enduro win since 2007 Justin Ferreri of Hicksville finally grabbed the brass right in the May Meltdown 75-lap main event. Several drivers led the race early on including Ferreri who led the first five circuits. Mike D’Orta, Sean Fitzpatrick and Brian Halsey all took a turn up front before Ferreri reclaimed the lead for good on lap 32 when Halsey was sent spinning by a lapped car. Once out front Justin Ferreri would not be denied that first career trip to victory lane in his Lakewood Used Auto Parts machine. Veteran Mike Sorrentino of Lindenhurst was runner-up, he too backed by Lakewood Used Auto Parts with Dave Verbeek of Seaford third in the Empire entry.

The 60-lap 4/6-Cylinder Car Enduro was also a barn burned with Steve “The Pitbull” Trimboli of Freeport turning a late race pass into victory. Young talent Brandon Esposito wasted little time taking the early race lead when the green flag waved and built himself a comfortable lead right up until the closing laps of the race. Tested tough veteran Steve Trimboli made his was through the field and with just a few laps to go worked his way by Esposito for the lead, a lead he never surrender in his Pitbull Motors racer. Brandon Esposito of Farmingville was second in his Gene’s 112 Car Care machine with 2015 champion Paul Wojcik of Centereach placing third.

The Gut & Go class were awarded a second race to go along with their scheduled contest as they produced the higher car count in the pits area for the day. In the 60-lap opener Peter Verwys of E. Stroudsburg, Pa. took home the win dominating the second portion of the race in his VFR Racing entry. Mike Biddlecomb of Selden and Brandon Petricek of Shoreham were second and third.

In the 25-lap nightcap for the Gut & Go class Brandon Esposito took the lead of the race right at the drop of the green and never looked back completing his very successful day in victory.

The Mini 8 Enduro run on the famed Figure Eight course was a hard fought race that once again involved Brandon Esposito. In this contest Esposito and “Cheesebox” Michael Rommeney of Bohemia were the two main combatants with Brandon holding the lead for most of the race. Rommeney was all over the back bumper of the leader looking for a way by. With just over a lap to go Michael found and opening and drove past Esposito for the win. Gary Fritz Jr. of Mastic Beach was third.

Grand Enduro (top five) 1. Dave Antos 2. Brian McCormack 3. Jimmy White Jr. 4. Glenn Simonin 5. Anthony Pizzo

Truck Enduro (top five) 1. Ben Gregor 2. Richard Galante 3. Don Nelson Jr. 4. RJ Gage 5. Matt Triola

8-Cylinder Enduro (top five) 1. Justin Ferreri 2. Michael Sorrentino 3. David Verbeek 4. Pat Collins 5. Tom Talbolt

4/6-Cylinder Cars (top five) 1. Steve Trimboli 2. Brandon Esposito 3. Paul Wojcik 4. Ed Fontana 5. Joe Warren Jr.

1st Gut & Go Enduro (top five) 1. Peter Verwys 2. Mike Biddlecomb 3. Brandon Petricek 4. Jarrod Hayes 5. William Quinn

Mini 8 Enduro (top five) 1. Michael Rommeney  2. Brandon Esposito 3. Gary Fritz Jr. 4. George Astacio 5. John Kraft

Source: Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR