Tom Rogers Jr. Scores Two Victories in NASCAR Modified & Figure 8

What ever ailed defending Riverhead Raceway NASCAR Modified and Figure Eight champion Tom Rogers Jr. of Riverhead earlier in the season is now just a memory as he scored the win in both the 40-lap NASCAR Modified feature which he backed up minutes later with the victory in the 15-lap Figure Eight main event. In the 30-lap INEX Legend Race Cars National Qualifier championship leader Vinny Delaney of Holtsville scored the biggest win of his career taking home the win and some $950 in the process.

A rare sight on the starting grid for the NASCAR Modified contest found Tom Rogers Jr. on the pole joined by rising talent Dillon Steuer with Rogers gaining the advantage on Steuer at the start of the race. A quick lap 2 caution period set-up a double file restart which found Ken Darch racing underneath Steuer for second when the race resumed. Darch’s five lap run in the challengers role saw his pressure Rogers for the race lead until a 9th lap caution slowed the race. When the race went back to green Dave Brigati raced his way under Darch on the double file restart to come to second on lap 10. Like Darch before him, Brigati was able to stay right on the rear spoiler of Rogers as the race moved towards the halfway point.

Eddie Brunnhoelzl III making his first start of 2016 would become a player for the win when he ducked under Dave Brigati for second off the second turn on lap 22 and for a few laps many wondered if Eddie could pull off his second career win. However a yellow flag on lap 28 bunched the field up with yet another double file restart in the offering and once again Dave Brigati was able to race his way under the second place car, Brunnhoelzl when the green flag waved. In the closing stages of the race Tom Rogers Jr. would finally show all of his cards as he was able to get away from Dave Brigati as the laps wound down.

When the checker flag was displayed to conclude the race Tom Rogers Jr. raced under it first in his SGS Stone Works Chevy for his 43rd career win. “The car wasn’t quite where we’d like it to be” Tom admitted in victory lane, “I sure didn’t want to see all those double file restarts but we were able to hang on”. Afterwards Tom’s premonition about his car being some what off proved to be spot on when car owner Joe Ambrose pointed to a misplaced right rear brake caliper as well damaged rear suspension. When quizzed as to what point of the race he thought the damage occurred Tom simply shrugged his shoulders ” I really don’t know” Tom is now 20 wins behind all time Modified leader at Riverhead Raceway “Charging” Charlie Jarzombek who won 63 races.

Dave Brigati of Calverton would finish second in his JDL Environmental Chevy while championship leader Shawn Solomito of Center Moriches recovered from early race contact with the wall to race his way back to a third place tally in the Eastport Feeds entry. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown and John Fortin Jr. of Holtsville completed the top five.

It was a big night for the INEX Legend Race Cars with their annual National Qualifier as well as plenty of extra money that went along with it on the line. Kyle Ellwood of Riverhead led the way in qualifying with a lap of 13.634 earning the $300 Fast Time award. However when Kyle drew the number for the invert from time he picked the worst possible pill, number 6. Championship leader Vinny Delaney would time in fifth and start the race from the outside of the front row with Ray Fitzgerald the pole sitter for the 24 car field. When the green light came on Vinny Delaney raced his way out front with Fitzgerald in tow from second. “Big Money” Richie Davidowitz moved to third early in the race and was in the mix for the lead with Delaney and Fitzgerald. At one point on lap 11 Davidowitz passed Fitzgerald for second but the caution flag waved before that lap was completed and Richie had to go back to third for the restart. Delaney picked up right where he left off when the race got back underway with Davidowitz some three laps later on the 14th circuit making his way by Fitzgerald for second.

Once to second Davidowitz went right to work on leader Delaney as they renewed a rivalry dating back to their Eastern Long Island Racing go kart days. As the tandem entered the corners Davidowitz would take the high line entering the turn trying to set up a crossover move to the inside exiting the turns. Delaney in his Stakey’s Pumpkin Farm machine was wise to Davidowitz’s strategy and was able to defend the move. Sitting a close third was John Beatty Jr. who watched the high speed chess game unfold in front of him with hopes the leaders might get together. That never materialized and Vinny Delaney would drive to the biggest win to date in his Legend Race Car career. Richie Davidowitz of East Moriches was runner-up in the Thriftway Auto Body racer while John Beatty Jr. of Merrick had to be content with third in the D&D Auto Body racer. With one points race left in 2016 Delaney enjoys a 21-point lead over Beatty for the championship.

His winning Late Model might have sported some battle scars but that didn’t seem to upset Eric Zeh of Selden too much as he won his second race of 2016 taking the 50-lap victory. Defending champion Jeremy McDermott topped qualifying with a lap of 12.794 but like Ellwood in the Legends he’d pick the #6 pill inverting the top half dozen from time. Scott Kulesa and Mike Bologna brought the field to the green flag with Kulesa getting the edge over Bologna going into the first turn. A long green flag run saw the top two remain the same for the first 22 laps of the tilt before Chris Turbush made an inside pass of Bologna for second entering the first turn. Turbush would have a 10-lap run as the main challenger to Kulesa before he was passed by Eric Zeh on lap 34. After four laps of tailing race leader Kulesa, Zeh made his bid for the top spot payoff with an inside pass on lap 38. Turbush’s night took a turn for the worse on lap 39 when he spun in turn one setting up a double file restart with 11 laps remaining. When an attempt was made to resume the race with Zeh leading Kulesa and championship leader David Roys who was now third, Roys got into the back of Kulesa causing Scott to spin in turn three. Roys was ushered to the back of the field for his role in the spin. That turn of events moved Jeremy McDermott who started the race 6th to second and he followed in the tire tracks of Zeh when the race went back to racing. McDermott though would soon feel the heat from a hard charging Kevin Metzger. Kevin with four laps remaining in the race would move by McDermott for second but it would be too little too late as Eric Zeh in the Corwith’s Auto Body Chevy showed the way to the checker flag. Kevin Metzger of Massapequa was runner-up in the Complete Well & Pump Chevy while Chris Turbush of Wading River made a strong comeback for third in the Corzini Electric racer.

Just minutes after his NASCAR Modified triumph Tom Rogers Jr. had to go right back to work for the 15-lap Figure Eight feature. Blessed with another front starting spot Rogers quickly broke out front at the throw of the green. Scott Pedersen made his way to second behind Rogers and the former champion would fill the leaders mirror for the entire distance of the race. With several newcomers in the division this season the action at the intersection got very dicey at times for both Rogers and Pedersen as they had to get on the brakes to avoid traffic at the famed “X”. Meanwhile Tom Ferrara who started the contest in the 11th starting spot weaved his way towards the leaders and late in the race would throw his hat into the ring for the win. However Tom Rogers would remain cool, calm and collected in the Keith Repp owned United Exhaust Shop Plymouth Coupe and he raced off to his 26th career victory in the class ranking him 5th on the all time win list. Scott Pedersen of Shirley was runner-up in the Reliable Auto Sales Chevy while Tom Ferrara of Patchogue was third in the Northeastern Office Equipment entry.

Defending Blunderbust champion “Slick Pick” Tom Pickerell of Huntington raced his way to his third win of the 2016 campaign when he won the 20-lap feature event. Once again “The Racing Grandpa”. 71-year young Bill Wegmann Sr. paced the race for the first five laps chased by two championship drivers Scott Maliszewski and Tom Pickerell. The fight for second behind Wegmann was intense with Tom taking the spot from Scott on lap 4. Once to second Pickerell knew it was go time and with an inside pass of Bill Wegmann off the second turn on lap 5 Tom Pickerell became the new race leader. Eric Zeh moved by Wegmann for second on lap 9 and he made a run at Pickerell before he fell back into the clutches of Tim Mulqueen. With Zeh distracted by Mulqueen, Tom Pickerell was able to steer his USIC Utility Locating Chevy to victory lane, the 18th career win for “Slick Pick”. Tim Mulqueen of Levittown was runner-up in the Equine Hay Products Cadillac while Eric Zeh in his Purple Turtle Kids Consignment Boutique racer placed third. Zeh and his team gave away a Bicycle to a lucky children’s ticket holder after the races.

It would be the never say quit attitude of former multi time Super Pro Truck champion Roger Turbush of Riverhead that propelled the current championship leader to his 26th career win after topping the 20-lap main event. Young lions Jack Handley and Owen Grennan moved into the top two spot at the throw of the green but after two laps of racing the yellow waved for Roger Turbush who spun off the fourth turn with a flat tire. When the race resumed the Handley and Grennan tussle resumed too with veteran Dave Brigati moving to third joining the race for the lead. Lap 5 found Brigati making his way to the lead on a restart with Handley now in the role of challenger. For several laps Brigati and Handley raced side by side with Jack riding the outside lane. After picking his way back through the field Roger Turbush was back in the mix for the race win moving to third. Lap 18 found Roger making an inside bid on his father-in-lap Brigati for the race lead and with Handley still on the outside of Dave they raced three wide under the starters stand. Handley would be the odd man out catching the wall entering the first turn while Brigati was moved to the rear of the field by track officials for his role in the incident. The wild turn of events would find Roger Turbush in the Baldwin Automotive Chevy the new race leader and after all he endured to get back up front Roger was not going to surrender the lead and win in the final two laps. Owen Grennan of Glen Cove was second in the Merkenti Construction Chevy with Dave Brigati third in the Quest Machining entry. Lou Maestri of Deer Park and Frank Dumicich Jr. of Quogue were both moved to the final two positions of the finishing order as both came up a few pounds light at the scales after the race.

NASCAR Modifieds: 1. Tom Rogers Jr. 2. Dave Brigati 3. Shawn Solomito 4. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 5. John Fortin Jr. 6. John Fortin Sr. 7. Kyle Soper 8. Ken Darch 9. Vinny Biondolillo 10. Dillon Steuer 11. Cory Midgett 12. Howie Brode 13. John Baker

Late Models: 1. Eric Zeh 2. Kevin Metzger 3/ Chris Turbush 4. Jeremy McDermott 5. David Roys 6. Ray Minieri 7. Mike Bologna 8. Shawn Patrick 9. Scott Kulesa 10. Chris Lescenski 11. Steve Mastro 12. Tom Rogers Jr. 13. Owen Grennan 14. Kyle Ellwood 15. Roger Oxee 16. Rusty Turbush

Figure Eights:  1. Tom Rogers Jr. 2. Scott Pedersen 3. Tom Ferrara 4. Ken Hyde Jr. 5. Chris Elixson 6. Bob Dalke 7. Mike Mujsce 8. Roger Maynor 9. Conner Aquirre 10. Gary Fritz Jr. 11. CJ Lehmann 12. Johnny Bush 13. Brian Hansen

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

Super Pro Trucks: 1. Roger Turbush 2. Owen Grennan 3. Dave Brigati 4. Frank Dumicich Sr. 5. Mike Albasini 6. Sean Glennon 7. Rob McCormick 8. Jimmy Rennick Jr. 9. Dennis Cunningham 10. Jack Handley Jr. 11. Dan Turbush 12. Mike Mujsce 13. Tommy Walkowiak 14. Kevin Scharfenberg 15. Lou Maestri 16. Frank Dumicich Jr.

INEX legend Race Cars: 1. Vinny Delaney 2. Richie Davidowitz 3. John Beatty Jr. 4. Bryan Kelly 5. Dylan Slepian 6. Ray Fitzgerald 7. Paul Dodorico 8. Jim Sylvester 9. Eric Hersey 10. George Tomko Jr. 11. Jeff Otto Jr. 12. Kevin Nowak 13. Chris Rogers 14. Anthony Marsh 15. Michael Rutkoski 16. Mike Van Houten Jr. 17. Andrew Molleur 18. Ed Cheslak 19. Kyle Kwasna 20. Will Hiscock 21. Bill Fitzgerald 22. Steve Bolland 23. Wally Davidowitz 24. Kyle Ellwood DNQ- Silas Hiscock Sr., Jerry Curran, John Mackie & Don Conradis

Source: Bob Finan/RR PR