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Most Of The Show Gets In, But Rain Wins The Figure-8 Feature
June 15, Brentwood, NY--- What started out as a fine afternoon quickly turned as the predicted storms rolled across our area. A brief shower interrupted the program just before the Modified feature, but the track crew and tow truck drivers did an excellent job of keeping the track in good condition, allowing the Modifieds to run when the skies cleared briefly. But, as the Figure-8’s were rolling onto the track for their feature, the rain started again, lightly at first, but then it came down so hard and heavy the fans ran for cover and the track halted the remainder of the program. An announcement will be on Riverhead’s website about when the Figure-8 race will be rescheduled and run.
The first feature of the night was the Blunderbusts, with Tom Sullivan and Ray Shannon on the front row. Things did not go well, as Shannon crashed in turn 2 after contact with Joe Pingitore, necessitating a complete restart, minus Shannon. With Paul Parisi now to the outside, Sullivan took off at the drop of the green, with Pingitore passing Parisi immediately to move to 2nd, as Parisi and Ed Mistretta battled for 3rd. Pingitore got by Sullivan for the lead on lap 2, but Rob Bader’s car stopped against the wall in turn 2, and the yellow came out. On the restart, Pingitore maintained the lead, as Parisi got by Sullivan for 2nd 1 lap later. Pingitore built himself a 3 car lead by lap 8, while Tom Pickerell worked his way to 3rd and Chris Busick followed Pickerell to takeover 4th. The leaders spread out by lap 10, but Pingitore got enmeshed in lapped traffic, allowing Parisi, Pickerell and Busick to close the gap, and Parisi took the lead, as Pickerell and Busick followed him, with Pingitore dropping back to 4th. With the top 4 running bumper to bumper, Busick made his move, passing Pickerell and Parisi on lap 17 to take the lead, while Scott Maliszewski, coming all the way from his 13th starting position, took 2nd as Parisi and Pickerell battled for 4th. Once out front, Busick held his line as Maliszewski followed, while behind them, Pickerell won the battle for 3rd, as Bill Wegmann moved into 4th, and Tommy Walkowiak took over 5th as the race finished, with Busick claiming his 2nd win of the season.
Next out were the Super Pro Trucks, with 18 starting the 20 lap feature. With Anthony and P.J. Vecchio on the front row, the green came out, with P.J. taking the lead, as Frank Dumicich, Sr. and Kathleen Hallock moved into 2nd and 3rd. Hallock dropped back as Dave Koenig took over 3rd, with Erin Dumicich running in 5th. By lap 4, Frank Dumicich, Sr. passed Anthony Vecchio for 2nd, as Anthony dropped way back on the outside after contact ripped part of the body off his truck, causing officials to black flag him. He was able to continue after it fell off and it ended up high and out of the way on the track. Up front, Dumicich, Sr. was pressuring P.J. Vecchio for the lead, and took it on lap 8. Dumicich, Sr. pulled away as P. J. Vecchio now had to contend with Koenig and Erin Dumicich, while Mike Albasini and Wayne Meyer battled for 5th. On lap 17, Kathleen Hallock and Roger Turbush collided off turn 2 and spun into the infield bringing out the caution for the first time in the race. On the restart, Dumicich, Sr. took off with Koenig right on his bumper as they left Vecchio, Erin Dumicich and Wayne Meyer behind, with Frank Dumicich, Sr. holding off Koenig right to the checkers to take the win.
After a break in the racing action for an exhibition by the EEKR, the Late Models rolled out to run their 50 lap, double point race, with Scott Kulesa, who set fast time at 12.566 in time trials, on the pole, with Ken Alfano, who turned a 12.664, second fastest, on the outside. At the drop of the green, Kulesa took off, but Alfano spun off turn 1 (no caution) , as Roger Oxee took over 2nd, with Buzzy Eriksen 3rd, and Kevin Metzger in 4th. Kulesa held a 2 car length lead over Oxee, who led Eriksen by 6 car lengths at that point. Lapped traffic became a problem early, as Kulesa made contact with Kyle Harvell trying to get by on the low side going into turn 1, with Harvell spinning, and the caution came out for the first time. On the restart, Oxee stayed right with Kulesa for a lap, until Kulesa pulled out front, as Eriksen continued to watch from 3rd spot. Kulesa had Oxee glued to his bumper, but after a few laps opened a gap as the laps clicked off, eventually pulling away to a 3 car length margin, with Oxee holding the same advantage over Eriksen. The battle for 4th was the most interesting at this point, as Shawn Patrick had a mirror full of Jarrod Hayes, and Hayes was trying to hold off Mike Coll, while Tom Rogers and Kevin Metzger behind them as they ran ion a tight pack. On lap 22, Alfano spun again in turn 2, bringing out another caution and closing up the field. On the restart, Kulesa took off once more, with Oxee right on his bumper, but Shawn Patrick spun down the front stretch and into turn 1, collecting Eriksen, Hayes, Doug Wholey, Artie Pedersen, and John Gloor IV, as the caution flew again quickly. Hayes suffered the worst damage, which is sad for this team in need of a sponsor, as their bad luck continues. On the next restart, Kulesa pulled out front immediately, while Oxee had to now battle with Tom Rogers, who’d moved up to third by virtue of missing the previous crash. Rogers was on a mission, as he battled with Oxee, passing him a lap later. Mike Coll had moved up to 4th, with Kevin Metzger pursuing him in 5th. Rogers now set his sights on Kulesa, who seemed to be fading a bit as the laps ticked off, as Rogers caught up to him by lap 30, and Rogers passed Kulesa for the lead on lap 32 with an inside move, and then proceeded to pull away. Oxee was now catching up to Kulesa, as the top 3 were running a race of their own, with 4th place Coll a ½ lap behind the trio. Oxee had his work cut out for him, as Kulesa tried everything to hold Oxee off, but Oxee finally managed to make the pass and take 2nd back on lap 42. Rogers by this time was catching up to some lapped cars, but he weaved his way through and continued his domination of the race, sailing home for victory as Oxee, Kulesa, Metzger and Eriksen rounded out the top 5.
The Modifieds were next out, though as mentioned earlier, they didn’t come out until after a brief and light shower passed over the area. With Mike Andrews on the pole, and Rusty Turbush to his outside, Andrews took off, as Chris Young got under Turbush to take 2nd spot, with Howie Brode also coming under for 3rd. On lap 3, Wayne Anderson spun in turn 2, bottling up the field and causing a pile-up behind him. Dave Brigati and Rob McCormick both got the worst of it, coming in contact with the wall, and needing to be towed away, while mostly all of the others involved drove off to continue racing. On the restart, Andrews jumped out front once more, while Young and Brode continued battling for 2nd, with Brode taking the spot, while Turbush and Bonsignore rounded out the top 5. The field was running a perfect single file by now, with no challenges happening anywhere on the track, except at the very back of the field, where Tom Rogers and Chuck Steuer, both of whom obviously missed the set up on this night, battled for last! They soon caught up to Jimmy Blewett, whose car was also not up to par, and it became a brief 3 car battle until Blewett and Rogers got together in turn 2, with Rogers ending up hitting the wall and having to have his car towed off. He had a brief, but apparently polite conversation with Blewett before walking off to the pits. When the race resumed, Andrews took off with Brode in pursuit, but Young spun going into turn 1, and caution was out again. On the next restart, Andrews took off once more with Brode right on his bumper, as they pulled away from Turbush and Anderson in 3rd and 4th. They stayed that way right to the end, with Dan Jivanelli coming across in 5th at the finish.
The figure-8’s were to be next, but the rain started again as they pulled out onto the track, lightly at first, but suddenly, it got very heavy, and it was apparent to everyone that the night of racing was over.
*****
News and Notes: Michael Specht, son of Karen and Paul Specht, and crew chief on their #63 Figure-8, was honored to hold the American Flag during the National Anthem in the Volkswagen pace car at the opening of the show, as the track honored his upcoming graduation from BOCES and the fact that he has been awarded two scholarships for his achievements in school. Way to go Michael!…. Figure-8 crews left to load up in the downpour, as most other divisions had already loaded up in anticipation of bad weather to come. The exodus from the pits was continuous right after the show was called, and strangely enough, a few minutes later the rain stopped for about 5 minutes before coming down once more. The Tom Rogers crew worked very hard under a borrowed E-Z Up to fix the right front damage on Tommy’s car before it could be loaded up for the trip home. A big thanks to Roger Oxee & Co. for their help and the E-Z up.… Some penalties should be forthcoming this week to deal with incidents which occurred during the evening. Chief Stewards Jim Maggio and Mike Cappiello are making it clear that bad behavior will cost you, so watch out. They can‘t catch everything that happens, but they are looking and taking action, so that‘s a good start… Until next week, live well and be safe.
Walter Johnston may be contacted at wizgrand@gmail.com.
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