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Brrrrrr….Riverhead Raceway Opening Night Starts Chilly, Ends Up COLD!!!!
May 4, Brentwood, NY--- Overcast skies, a constant breeze, and unseasonably low temperatures this past Saturday night were on the menu as Riverhead Raceway opened for the new season. The crowds, prompted most likely by a not too good weather forecast, and high gas prices, didn’t show, but a good amount of teams were on hand to get the 2008 season underway. While we encountered a sprinkle of rain at a few spots on the trip out to Riverhead, it never rained at the track. A few drivers wished it had, along with the fans in attendance, if only for the opportunity to have to leave and go to a warm place.
The evening’s events kicked off with the Super Pro Trucks, 19 vehicles strong in the pits. Unfortunately, 2 competitors, Anthony Daleo and Rich Giordano, didn’t make it out to start the race due to mechanical problems on their trucks. The #43 of Bobby Jones sat on the pole, with Erin Dumicich’s #95 on the outside for the start, but Jones lost his drive shaft during hot laps and had to go to the pits, which moved Erin’s dad, Frank, to the pole spot. Erin took off at the drop of the green to assume a commanding lead, and the battles shaped up behind her, as she dominated the event through the first 18 laps. On a restart after Dave Koenig and Frank Dumicich, Jr. caused the last caution of the race, Erin went into turn 2 a little on the hot side and spun on her own, allowing Lou Maestri to lead the final lap and take the win. Wayne Meyer, Mike Albasini, Shaun Gouldsbury, and Roger Turbush rounded out the top 5.
The Blunderbusts were next out, with Tom Sullivan and Mike Rommeney sharing the front row of the 17 car field. Sullivan led early, with Rommeney overtaking him on lap 3, but Tommy ‘The Wild Child’ Walkowiak shot by him to take the lead away before lap 3 was complete. The restart saw the field enter turn 1 three wide, but Walkowiak quickly pulled away as Ed Mistretta came to 2nd, and Rommeney dropped to 3rd. Rob Bader took 3rd on lap 7, as Scott Maliszewski took over 4th. Coming back from an earlier spin was Chris Busick to fight his way into the top 5. While Walkowiak, when he looked in his rearview mirror, saw some good racing happening, he just sailed on to take the opening night victory, as Ed Mistretta, Chris Busick, Scott Maliszewski, and Joe Pignatore rounded out the top 5.
The Chargers were next in the lineup, with a mere 13 cars on hand. Frank Scimeca, Jr. and Alan Reeves brought the field to the start, with Scimeca, Jr. taking the initial lead. On lap 4, Timmy Solomito got into Reeves from behind, locking their cars together, bringing out the yellow. On the restart, Daryn Miller jumped to the lead, with Chris McGuire up to 2nd, but a crash involving Frank Dumicich, Jr. and new comer Don Renalds brought out the caution again, and a complete restart took place. On that restart, Scimeca, Jr. took the lead, as Chris Turbush battled Miller for 2nd, but Turbush quickly overhauled both Miller and Scimeca, Jr. to take the lead, bringing Chris McGuire with him, as Miller held 3rd. Returning Charger driver Steve Ratti quickly worked his way to 5th, with Thore Foss following in 6th, when Miller got loose, and Scimeca, Ratti and Foss all got by him. Up front, Turbush and McGuire had checked out, running a two man race to the finish, with Turbush holding on for the win, as McGuire, Scimeca, Jr., Ratti and Foss rounded out the top 5.
The Late Models ran next, with only 11 cars on the track, as Peter’ Buzzy’ Eriksen had mechanical problems, as did Jarrod Hayes, and neither made the start. Doug Wholey, back to run full time for 2008, sat on the pole, with Roger ‘RJ’ Oxee on his out side. Things didn’t go well, as Kevin Metzger got loose at the start going into turn 1, and got into Mike Bologna, causing the rest of the field to attempt to avoid them, with the resulting pileup blocking the track in turn 1. All were able to resume on the restart, except for John Gloor IV. Oxee quickly jumped out into the lead, with Wholey and Metzger behind. All went fairly smoothly after that, as Oxee built a 5 car lead over Wholey, and on lap 10, Scott Kulesa started working on Metzger to take 3rd away, but Metzger battled back, setting up a 5 lap battle that culminated in both getting by Wholey on lap 15. Metzger now set his sights on Oxee, and lap by lap closed the gap until he was on Oxee’s rear bumper by lap 21, but lapped cars were now coming into play, and Oxee squeaked out the victory over Metzger, as Kulesa, Tom Rogers, Jr., and Doug Wholey rounded out the top 5.
Now it was the Modified’s turn, as 18 cars took to the track. Due to the cold weather, tack officials were giving each division 5 hot laps to warm up their tires, and during Modified hot laps, Dave Roys hit the wall hard going into turn 1, ending his night. John Fortin and Wayne Anderson made up the front row. At the drop of the green, Anderson crashed hard into the turn 1 wall, with an apparent stuck throttle, coming to a stop in turn 2. Wayne climbed out of the car on his own, but the 15 was done for the night. Unfortunately, the caution flag would get little rest through the rest of the feature. Fortin took the lead at the drop of the green over Chuck Steuer, but on lap 2, Dan Jivanelli spun, and yellow flew. With the race restarted, Fortin and Steuer continued their battle, joined by Chris Young, but Bill Park passed Young on lap 4 to take 3rd as Young faded, while JR Bertuccio and Mike Andrews moved up to 4th and 5th. On lap 12, Justin Bonsignore came to a stop in turn 2 with reported rear end troubles and was towed to the pits. On the restart, Fortin and Steuer ran side by side, but as Fortin washed up in turn 2, taking Steuer high, Andrews dove under coming out of the turn, with Fortin hitting him as he came by, and they ended up spinning down the back stretch, with Andrews coming to rest on top of Fortin mount, and yellow flew again. With 10 cars left for the restart, Steuer and Park sat on the front, and with the green out, Steuer took off, as Howie Brode and Dave Brigati followed. Steuer set a good pace, but Park stayed right with him, looking outside to pass, but never quite finding the chance to make it work, as Steuer remained in front to the Checkered flag. However, post race tech found Steuer’s car light, and Park was awarded the win, followed by Brode, Brigati, Jivanelli and Tom Rogers, Jr.
The last event of the evening was the Figure-8’s, as 11 cars took to the track. Before hot laps were done, Scott Pedersen’s #27 dropped out with smoking problems. Kenny Hyde and Tom Graff sat on the front row, with Hyde jumping out in front on the start, but Jessica Larsen spun at the X, and yellow was out immediately. On the restart, Hyde took the lead once more, as Graff, Carl Baxter and Paul Specht followed, while Roger Maynor and Tom Kraft trailed them. On lap 3, Maynor passed Kraft to take 4th spot, and then passed Baxter for 3rd on lap 6. Maynor now went to work on Graff for 2nd, and just as it seemed he had the pass made, Kraft and Baxter came together in turn2, with Baxter collecting Maynor and bringing out the caution. On the restart, Hyde held the lead as Kraft ran 2nd, and Maynor recovered quickly and worked his way to 3rd with 3 laps to go, as he and Kraft battled for 2nd. But Hyde held on for the win, with Kraft, Maynor, Arne Pedersen, and Graff rounding out the top 5.
News and Notes: Dan Turbush, after an early week kidney stone problem developed into further complications, had a kidney removed on Friday at Stony Brook University Medical Center, and is reported to be resting comfortably. His son Chris dedicated his Charger win to Dan in an emotional victory lane ceremony… Track Officials held a meeting with Modified drivers about new durometer tire rules. A few points brought up by competitors will send the Officials into a huddle this week, and another meeting will be held next time to clarify a few issues brought up this time around. Stay tuned…. Peter ‘Buzzy’ Eriksen unable to make the LM feature due to mechanical problems, but hopefully we’ll see more of him this year than in years past… Tom Ferrara wants to thank John Delavergne for giving him John’s #69 to compete in the Figure-8 feature after Tom’s 0x suffered mechanical problems coming off the trailer in the pits… Jon Ellwood, making his debut in his beautiful 71x Modified, suffered serious damage after spinning and hitting the turn 2 wall during his heat. With light car counts in nearly all divisions, only Modifieds ran qualifying heats…. Really sharp paint job on Chris Busick’s BB, among others. Looks like many competitors in all divisions found themselves with the time to put some great paint schemes together over the off season, and some are not done yet!… As mentioned earlier, overcast skies, possible rain in the forecast, and chilly, windy weather kept a lot of fans at home. We’d have to guess the high price of gas didn’t help things much either. Maybe we need a ‘car pool’ link for people to hook up to come to the races? We just hope for better temperatures and clearer skies for next week’s show (and maybe lower gas prices, too)… And finally, a big thanks to Bob Finan for providing race credentials for me to continue to bring all of you the reports each week on your favorite sport from Long Island’s only track, Riverhead Raceway. Stick with me throughout the season for these almost weekly reports…
Until next time, live well and be safe.
Walter Johnston may be contacted at wizgrand@gmail.com.
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