Mother Nature Joins 5 Divisions and 2 Summer Entertainment Events at Riverhead

    June 29, Riverhead, NY--- Mother Nature entered the show at Riverhead last night to add a rain feature to the program, interrupting the show just before the Modifieds were to run their 35 lap feature event, but a little rearrangement in the schedule allowed the complete show to run.  As the light shower forced the track to run tow trucks and drag tires to dry the track, the rain tapered off enough for the Rollover Contest to be held before the Modified Feature, and by the time it was completed, the track was dry enough for the Modified feature to run. But I‘m getting ahead of myself here, so let’s go to the beginning….. 

     The Legends Feature started the program under sunny skies, with Silas Hiscock, Sr. on the pole, and Jim Byrne to his outside. Hiscock took the lead at the drop of the green, with his son, Silas Hiscock, Jr. coming quickly up to 2^nd, while Kevin Nowak followed into 3^rd. Hiscock, Jr. got by his father on lap 2, just before a quick caution slowed the race after John Rigney and Malcolm Campbell got together in turn 3. On the restart, Hiscock, Jr. took off, with Nowak getting 2^nd, and Timmy Solomito moving up to 3^rd. Nowak and Solomito put on a battle for the 2^nd spot for 3 laps, with Solomito taking the spot on lap 6, as John Beatty and Jim Byrne rounded out the top 5. Solomito, meanwhile, had set his sights on Hiscock, Jr., catching up to him by lap 12, and looking for a way to get past him. On lap 15, Joe Sedetto came to a stop in turn 3, bringing out the caution. On the restart, Solomito got under Hiscock, Jr. going down the backstretch. But Hiscock, Jr. was able to hold him off momentarily, pulling away by a car length. But on lap 18, Hiscock, Jr. went high through turn 2, and Solomito took advantage, staying low and passing Hiscock, Jr. as they took the white flag, with Solomito holding on to take the victory. Hiscock, Jr., Nowak, Beatty, and Mike Malone rounded out the top 5. 

       The Super Pro Trucks were next, with Erin Dumicich on the pole, and P.J. Vecchio to the outside. At the drop of the green, Keith Rotzi and Bobby Jones came together going through turn 4, spinning and bringing out an immediate caution. The next attempt at the start saw Erin Dumicich and Shaun Gouldsbury running side by side through turn 4, until Dumicich took the lead, as her brother, Frank Dumicich, Jr. challenged Gouldsbury for 2^nd. On lap 4, Gil Smith hit the turn 2 wall hard, ending his night and bringing out another caution. On the restart, Erin Dumicich and Gouldsbury ran side by side again, with Erin taking the lead off turn 4 once more, but on lap 5, ‘Dangerous’ Dave Koenig spun into the infield, and yet another caution waved. On the next restart, Frank Dumicich, Jr. took the lead briefly from his sister, but Erin battled back, until yet another caution had to be thrown for Keith Rotzi’s stalled truck. On the next restart, Frank, Jr. and Erin battled side by side once more. But Mike Power hit the turn-2 wall very, very hard, and caution flew once more. Power, fortunately, was okay, but his truck was done for the night. On the next restart, Frank, Jr. got out front once more, but a collision involving Peter Rotzi and Dave Koenig brought the yellow out again. When green flew once more, Frank, Jr. took the lead, as Erin Dumicich, Shaun Gouldsbury, Roger Turbush and Lou Maestri rounded out the top 5, but yellow flew again on lap 9 as Peter Rotzi and Kathleen Hallock crashed. Dumicich, Jr. immediately shot out front on the next restart, as Gouldsbury pressured Erin Dumicich for 2^nd, finally getting by a few laps later, as Roger Turbush followed him through to take 3^rd spot one lap later. Maestri and John Denniston also got by the fading Erin Dumicich. Up front, Frank Dumicich, Jr. was stretching his lead over Gouldsbury, as Roger Turbush settled into 3^rd, and Denniston got by Maestri to takeover 4^th, as Frank Dumicich, Jr. took the victory in the caution plagued race.  

         The Chargers ran their feature next, as Tom Anderson and Frank Scimeca, Jr. lead the 12 car field to the green. They ran side by side for the first 2 laps, until Anderson finally pulled away a bit as Daryn Miller and Scimeca, Jr. were beating and banging on each other in the battle for 2^nd spot, with Miller finally taking that spot away. On lap 6, Miller got by Anderson to take the lead, as Chris Turbush now pressured Anderson for 2^nd, taking that spot on lap 12. Turbush then set his sights on Miller, who had about a 5 car length lead. But Turbush closed in on that and took the lead from Miller on lap 17, pulling away and holding on for Turbush’s 4^th Charger win off the season, as Miller, Scimeca, Jr., Anderson, and Steve Ratti rounded out the top 5.  

      The Late Models were next, led by Chris LaSpisa and Artie Pedersen.  LaSpisa took the lead at the drop of the green, as Ken Alfano moved into 2^nd, with Kevin Metzger and Roger Oxee following him. Metzger took a look on the outside to pass Alfano, but Alfano held on and Metzger moved back into line as the 12 car field ran single file through lap 7, when Doug Wholey spun, going up across Pedersen hood, and ripping of the nose and right front fender of Pedersen’s car, bringing out the 1^st caution of the race. On the restart, Alfano passed LaSpisa to take the lead going into turn 1, as LaSpisa spun into the infield, and Oxee, Wholey and Shawn Patrick collided coming off turn 4 later in the lap, bringing out another yellow. Metzger was placed in the rear for rough riding for that incident. On the next restart, Alfano took off with Tom Rogers in pursuit, but Scott Kulesa got by Rogers to take 2^nd, as Mike Bologna and Artie Pedersen followed. On lap 13, Kulesa braked going into turn 1 sooner than Rogers, resulting in Rogers smacking Kulesa in the rear, causing Kulesa’s car to hit Alfano’s, as Kulesa and Alfano spun wildly into turn 1, bringing out another yellow. On the Restart, Rogers, now the leader of the race, took off with Bologna in pursuit, as Pedersen tried his best to hold off Wholey, but Wholey gets by, along with Oxee, as a caution comes out for debris in turn 4, negating all the position changes on that incomplete lap. On the next restart, Rogers took off once more, but Wholey gets together with Pedersen as he attempted to pass him, with Pedersen spinning, and yellow came out again. During the yellow, track officials decided there was too much time and too many collisions, and decided to end the race. Not knowing this, Roger Oxee gave up 3^rd place and pitted as the yellow/checker waved over the remainder of the field as they crossed the finish line. 

        While the Modifieds lined up for their race, rain began to fall, and track officials postponed the beginning of the Modified race and sent the tow trucks out on the track in an effort to keep it as dry as possible. While the rain never came down hard it was steady, but the gamble paid off, and as it lightened up, the ramp was put in place for the rollover contest. 6 contestants came out, with Jason Savoy starting it off, and when all had completed their 3 passes at the ramp, Joe Marco and ‘Slim’ Jim Donaldson ended up in a tie for 1^st spot, as Dennis Scott, Jason Savoy, Chris ‘Crispy’ Kimlinger and Nick Herzberg finished in that order. 

       With the track finally dry, the Modifieds came out for their 19 car feature, with Dave Roys on the pole, and Rusty Turbush to the outside, but after hot laps, Turbush nursed his car around the track and finally pitted with a broken right rear axle, out of the race, moving Dan Jivanelli up to the outside pole. At the start, Roys took off, with Jivanelli in tow, and Dave Sapienza 3^rd. Jivanelli gave Roys all he could handle, but Roys stayed low and held him off as Sapienza, Mike Andrews and Dave Brigati watched from behind. While the field ran single file at this point, Jivanelli was looking for a chance to pass, but Roys never provided an opening, as the top 3 pulled away from the rest of the field, as they all stayed within a car length of each other. Roys eventually stretched his lead to about 5 car lengths as they worked the 33^rd lap, and held on to take his first ever Modified win, with Jivanelli, Sapienza, Andrews and Brigati rounding out the top 5 at the finish.  

       After the Modified feature, a full-sized school bus race was held with 6 busses. It turned into a battle between ‘Slim’ Jim Donaldson and Mike ‘Cheesebox’ Rommeney, until Slim Jim got involved in a crash near the X, and Rommeney sailed home with the win. It was one of the more exciting events for this specialty group of racers, and of course, the kids in the crowd loved it.

*****

        News And Notes: More than a few unhappy Late Model drivers after their shortened feature, with many expressing disappointment over the way it was handled and questioning the ‘time‘ aspect of it. With threatening weather approaching the track, it was a tough call for the officials…  The Legends are running better now, putting on a good race. Hopefully, a rash of early season crashes taught all to drive with a little more respect for each other…  I got a view of Rusty Turbush’s twisted right rear axle after the races. Apparently, it was weakened in last week’s crash, but held up for him to do well in his heat race, failing only after hot laps before the feature… Next week, Modifieds time trail for the 50 lap Cromarty Cup race and with the WMT off, maybe a few cars will come to shake down their mounts before the Evans/Jarzombek/Baldwin Memorial race in 3 weeks… Tommy Rogers atop the LM points in a car they originally didn’t even plan to run full time. After the early season results for the Unique Golf/Jim Wincher owned team, their plans have changed… We heard today that photographer Kevin Green, the track photographer at Mountain Speedway, was injured by a Modified car in the infield last night on lap 19 of their race. Reports have it that he is going to recover and is resting comfortably in Lehigh Valley Hospital today after being treated for his injuries. This acts as further proof that photographing races is a dangerous job, and we should never forget the danger all these people put themselves into get us racing photos. Get well soon, Kevin, we wish you a speedy recovery… A big ’thanks’ goes out to the ’fan’ who hit my car in the front parking lot, scratching up the door and knocking the mirror off. May that sort of ’LUCK’ befall you soon!   

That’s it for this week, until next time, live well and be safe.

    Walter Johnston may be contacted at wizgrand@gmail.com.   

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