Agugliaro Triumphs in Modified Victory at Riverhead

It was another night of racing between the rain drops Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway and when the checker flag waved on the 40-lap NASCAR Modified main event Jason Agugliaro of Islip would go wire to wire in the non-stop race to claim victory. Once again the staff of Riverhead NASCAR Whelen All American Series officials did a stupendous job of getting all 140 laps of NASCAR feature event racing completed in just a tick over two hours under threatening conditions as a near capacity crowd looked on.

14-year old NASCAR Modified rookie Dillon Steuer and Jason Agugliaro made up the front row for the feature event and when the green dropped the duo ran side by side for the first lap before Agugliaro rode the outside lane to the race lead. Another impressive NASCAR Modified rookie Cory Midgett made his way by Steuer on lap two to come to second with Dillon settling in for third. With no yellow flags in sight the top three strung out a couple of car lengths apart which was just fine with leader Jason Agugliaro. The driver on the march during the caution free affair would be Shawn Solomito who without the aid of any double file restarts was methodically making his way to the front from a 8th place starting berth. After disposing of Steuer for third Solomito the championship leader made his way to second place Cory Midgett and with just two laps remaining in the race made his way by the freshman driver for second on lap 38.

When the checker flag waved on the caution free race Jason Agugliaro steering his Northeastern Bus Rebuilders Chevy who lay claim to his third career NASCAR Modified victory. “I can’t thank my wife Theresa, my family and of course my crew chief Jay Blatz for all they put into my racing effort” Jason stated after exiting his car. Asked if the light rain drops had him concerned Agugliaro offered, “it was a bit slick but not too bad, I was worried at the start about Dillon starting on the pole for the first time but he did a nice job, he’s going to be a good one”.

Shawn Solomito of Center Moriches was runner-up in the Eastport Feeds Chevy while Cory Midgett of East Hampton completed the podium in third in his Keith grimes Excavating Chevy. Kyle Soper of Manorville and Dillon Steuer of Bohemia rounded out the top five.

On the eve of his 40th Birthday Chris Turbush of Wading River survived light contact with the wall while racing for the win to collect his 4th Late Model victory of 2016. When the 25-lap event took the green flag Eric Zeh and Kyle Ellwood diced for the early race lead with Zeh having the advantage for the first two laps. Lap three saw all time leading LM winner Roger Oxee enter the battle up front moving to second behind Zeh. While the veteran and LM rookie battled for the top spot contact was made with Oxee going around and Zeh moved to the rear of the field for his role in that spin. On the restart Kyle Ellwood would be the new race leader with Kevin Metzger second but Chris Turbush who started the race from the 6th spot was on the move and by lap 6 Chris put his car out front. One lap later championship leader David Roys came to second quickly setting his sights on Turbush for the race lead. On lap 15 exiting the second turn Roys was under Turbush for the lead but moved up the track forcing Turbush to tap the wall with his right front wheel. NASCAR race officials called for a yellow flag for the purpose of sending Roys to the rear of the field for the contact while Turbush remained the race leader. When the race resumed Turbush would remain the race leader and over the final 10-laps was challenged by two tested tough LM drivers Kevin Metzger and Shawn Patrick. With his right front fender dangerously close to his bent right front wheel Chris Turbush was not at all hampered by his damaged Deer Tick Solutions Chevy and he drove off to give himself an early 40th Birthday gift in the form of his 4th win of the year. Shawn Patrick of Brightwaters was runner-up in the Ronnie Gibbs Racing Dodge while Eriz Zeh of Selden battled his way back from his trip to the rear of the field for third place money in the Corwith’s Auto Body Chevy. Roys would storm his way back for a 5th place finish.

For the 116th time in his illustrious Figure Eight career Roger Maynor of Bay Shore sat in victory lane when the 15-lap main event was completed. Former champion Mike Mujsce Sr. made his way out front when the race went green with teammate Chris Elixson in tow for the first lap. Gary Fritz Jr. moved by Elixson for second on lap 2. A caution flag for a stalled Brian Hansen at the intersection would change the complexion of the race as during the yellow flag race leader Mike Mujsce Sr. had to duck into the pits with a flat front tire. That turn of events made Fritz the new race leader and when the contest resumed he and his future brother-in-law Ken Hyde Jr. went toe to toe for the race lead. Hyde would take the race lead on lap 8 from Fritz who was also soon passed by Roger Maynor for second on the same lap. With just one lap remaining in the race Ken Hyde Jr. seemed to be on his way to his second straight win when all of a sudden a lapped car turned right into his path sending the race leader into a spin drawing a yellow flag. When the race was restarted for it’s final lap Roger Maynor in his Edward Horton Builders Ford would lead the final lap of the race to claim victory and afterwards admitted, “sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good I guess. It’s a shame Kenny had a good car”. Gary Fritz Jr. of Mastic Beach was runner-up in the Northeastern Office Equipment Chevy while Chris Elixson of Riverhead turned in a solid performance for third place money in the Guardian Rivet Chevy. Hyde salvaged his night be racing back to 5th in the final lap.

Many race car drivers are happy with two wins in a season but Saturday night Jack Handley Jr. of Medford won two feature events in two separate divisions back to back! First up would be the 20-lap Blunderbust feature event where Handley the championship leader won his 4th race of 2016 in a 20-lap affair. Early on 71-year old Bill Wegmann Sr. and Scott Maliszewski battled for the race lead with Wegmann leading the first lap before Maliszewski took the top spot with an outside pass on lap two. Scott would lead up until the fourth lap when he got loose exiting turn four allowing Wegmann to move back into the race lead. The “Racing Grandpa” would show the way up until just prior to the halfway mark when Jim Laird Jr. made an inside pass for the race lead in the third and fourth turns. One lap later Handley who started 7th in the field made his way to the outside of Wegmann to move to second and Jack then quickly set his sights on leader Laird. With just over five laps remaining in the tilt Handley ducked under Laird in the third and fourth turn to take command of the race on lap 15. Once out front Jack Handley Jr. would lead the rest of the way in his Phase II Diesel Caprice for the win. Jack waved off the victory lane interview so he could get ready for the 20-lap Super Pro Truck race where he was starting on the pole. Popular “Turbo” Tom Sullivan of Massapequa made a late race charge in his A&J Crane entry to come home second while Jim Laird Jr. of Islip Terrace was third in the L.I. Poultry racer.

Quickly strapping into the Mike Albasini owned Hollis Court Collision Chevy after his Blunderbust win Jack Handley Jr. and defending Super Pro Truck champion Lou Maestri brought the truck field to the green flag for their 20-lap main event. Riding the momentum of his Blunderbust win just moments prior Handley quickly broke out front while Maestri’s woeful season continued with a left front flat tire forcing the champ to the infield. That moved veteran Frank Dumicich Sr. to second behind Handley before being challenged by his son Frank Jr. who made his way by his father for second on lap 11. Just one lap later Rob “The Racer” McCormick was able to work his way by the younger Dumicich for second but with the race going green to checker without a caution flag Jack Handley Jr. was long gone having built up nearly a full straight away lead. When the race concluded with Jack taking the win his first words when he exited the winning truck were “I’m truly blessed”. Rob McCormick of Ridge would cross the line second in his Hampton Coffee Chevy with Dave Brigati of Calverton placing third in his JDL Environmental Chevy. Brigati with that finish moves into the championship lead after his son-in-law Roger Turbush who came to the race as the points leader dropped out with just a few laps remaining in the race with a rear end assembly failure.

“Big Money” Richie Davidowitz of East Moriches notched his second INEX Legend Race Car win of the season when he triumphed in their 20-lap feature event. George Tomko Jr. paced the race for the first two laps before Davidowitz took over the lead to the outside on a double file restart. Once Richie had his Thriftway Auto Body machine out front he’d have to withstand some challenges from three time race winner Kyle Ellwood who made his way to second on the lap 2 restart after starting the race from 7th. Oddly enough while it looked as though Davidowitz’s winning move came with that outside pass of Tomko for the lead it actually may have come earlier in the day. Richie among others is chasing the National INEX points title for his category Wall Stadium was offering two points paying 25 lap feature events. However rain would wash out that race program and indeed Richie’s winning move came with his decision to stay closer to home earning the win and avoiding the long tow south for nothing. Kyle Ellwood of Riverhead would move into the championship lead with his runner-up finish in the SGS Stone Works racer while “Blackjack” Bryan Kelly of Aquebogue finished third in his John’s Tree Removal mount after starting 10th on the grid.

A stellar 60-car field turned out for the Gut & Go Enduro and when their 60-lap event was over it was the familiar face of Joe Warren Jr of Ridge sitting in victory lane. Warren was able to work his way by early race pacesetter Mitch Pattern of Southold and once the versatile driver was out front he drove off to a convincing win. Pattern was runner-up while popular veteran Donald “Woot” Lawrence of Southampton crossed the line third. Despite the gridlock on the track the race was run caution free with just the top three cars on the lead lap.

The night concluded with a knock out, drag out School Bus Demolition Derby. John Denniston of Westbury was tabbed by Dennis Scott, who took ill in the pit area to drive the Menace Racing bus and that decision paid dividends when Denniston out lasted Kevin Rommeney of Maspeth for the win. After most of the buses were eliminated the hard hitting affair boiled down to Denniston, Rommeney and Chris Van Cott. Once Van Cott was taken out for good Denniston and Rommeney tussled for the win with Kevin’s bus losing it’s batteries after a hit by John. Not able to restart his bus all Rommeney could do is watch as John Denniston took the checkered flag as the winner. Kevin was runner-up while Van Cott of Dix Hills was third.

NASCAR Modifieds: 1. Jason Agugliaro 2. Shawn Solomito 3. Cory Midgett 4. Kyle Soper 5. Dillon Steuer 6. Ken Darch 7. John Fortin Jr. 8. John Fortin Sr. 9. Dave Brigati 10. Vinny Biondolillo 11. John Baker 12. Johnny Bush 13. Howie Brode DNS- Amber Fortin

Late Models: 1. Chris Turbush 2. Shawn Patrick 3. Eric Zeh 4. Kevin Metzger 5. David Roys 6. Jeremy McDermott 7. Brandon Turbush 8. Kyle Ellwood 9. Ray Minieri 10. Jack Orlando 11. Rob Pelis 12. Chris Lescenski 13. Steve Mastro 14. Mike Bologna 15. Roger Oxee DNS- Chris McGuire DNS- Jarrod Hayes

Figure Eights: 1. Roger Maynor 2. Gary Fritz Jr. 3. Chris Elixson 4. Bob Dalke 5. Ken Hyde Jr. 6. Mike Mujsce Jr. 7. Tom Kraft 8. Brian Hansen 9. Mike Mujsce Sr. 10. Scott Pedersen DNS- Anthony Vecchio

Blunderbusts: 1. Jack Handley Jr. 2. Tom Sullivan 3. Jim Laird 4. Scott Maliszewski 5. Eric Zeh 6. Bill Wegmann Sr. 7. Rob Bader 8. Tom Puccia 9. Derek Wegmann 10. Bill Wegmann Jr. 11. Cassandra Denis 12. Joshua Creel 13. Alyssa Paprocky 14. Tim Mulqueen 15. Tommy Walkowiak 16. Michael Rommeney 17. Ryan Zurkowski DQ- Tom Pickerell

Super Pro Trucks: 1. Jack Handley Jr. 2. Rob McCormick 3. Dave Brigati 4. Owen Grennan 5. Frank Dumicich Jr. 6. Jimmy Rennick Jr. 7. Mike Albasini 8. Sean Glennon 9. Mark Stewart 10. Frank Dumicich Sr. 11. Amanda Anderson 12. Rich Campo 13. Roger Turbush 14. Lou Maestri

Legend Race Cars: 1. Richie Davidowitz 2. Kyle Ellwood 3. Bryan Kelly 4. Vinny Delaney 5. Jim Sylvester 6. Ray Fitzgerald 7. Eric Hersey 8. Will Hiscock 9. Joe Warren Jr. 10. Mike Van Houten Jr. 11. Jeff Otto Jr. 12. Bill Fitzgerald 13. John Beatty Jr. 14. Silas Hiscock Sr. 15. George Tomko Jr. 16. Kyle Kwasna 17. Brad Van Houten 18. Paul Dodorico 19. Don Conradis 20. Ed Cheslak 21. Dylan Slepian 22. Kyle Soper DNS- George Baker DNS- Chris Mitchell

Gut & Go Enduro (top ten) 1. Joe Warren Jr. 2. Mitch Pattern 3. Donald Lawrence 4. Kevin Augustine 5. Patrick McGay 6. Christian Conklin 7. Mike Mujsce Jr. 8. Richard Gray 9. Mitch Halfern 10. Drew Fohrkolb

School Bus Demolition Derby (top three) 1. John Denniston 2. Kevin Rommeney 3. Chris Van Cott

Source: Bob Finan/RR PR