2013 Season Preview Series: Frank Dumicich Sr., Chris Rogers and More
LongIslandJam.com’s next installment of its 2013 Season Preview series includes Modified driver Kevin Orlando; Charger driver Ray Minieri; Super Pro Truck driver Frank Dumicich Sr.; former Blunderbust driver Rob Bader Jr.; and Legend drivers Chris Rogers and Dylan Slepian.
In 2012, Kevin Orlando, driver of the No. 09 Modified, mostly used Riverhead Raceway for practice, however, he said he will run the full season this year. “They are allowing the SK’s to run with the Modifieds at Riverhead as long as all the safety meets NASCAR specs,” Orlando said. “Being that I’m 100 horsepower down from the Tour Modifieds, I want to at least hold my position and stay consistent throughout the season. Since every race [qualifies through] time trials, I’m hoping to lay some good qualifying efforts down.” Orlando said he is currently looking for sponsorship for this season. “We’ve been running in Pennsylvania for the last couple of years,” said Orlando, “so I haven’t had any local sponsors for Riverhead. I’m working on a few possibilities though.”
Ray Minieri finished the 2012 season sixth in the Charger points ,with two victories. He hopes for the better results in 2013. “I’m just hoping to build off of the success that we had,” said Minieri. “I’m hoping to go out and race hard and win some races.” Presently Minieri has three sponsors already lined up for this season – Sunrise Chiropractic, Freeport Collision, and F&S Race Fuels.
Frank Dumicich Sr., driver of the Teddy Bear Graphics No. 5 Super Pro Truck, doesn’t have many major plans in store for 2013. “I just plan on making a left at the end of the every straightaway,” said Dumicich. He is always looking for new sponsors and looks forward to racing alongside his son, Frank, driver of the No. 42 Super Pro Truck, and his daughter, Erin, driver of the No. 95 Super Pro Truck once again. He would also like to thank his lovely wife, Joyce, for all her love, support, and for also putting up with him after all of these years.
Rob Bader Jr. takes a step back from the Blunderbust division and dives head first into the Super Pro Trucks. “I recently sold my Blunderbust but I would love to race a few shows here and there if someone would let me drive their car,” said Bader. “I am looking for a sponsor for my Super Pro Truck so that I can race a full season.” Bader said that he plans on taking his recognizable No. 19 with him to the new division. His schedule also includes the World Series at Thompson (Conn.) International Speedway and a few races at Connecticut’s Stafford Motor Speedway. “I would like to thank Chris McGuire for helping put this whole deal together; Frank Scimeca, Johnny, and Christian for all their continued help and support,” said Bader.
Chris Rogers, driver of the No. 00 Legend, finished sixth in points in 2012. For 2013, Rogers has plenty of plans in store. “I’m looking for that first win at Riverhead,” said Rogers, “and I’m looking to run for the championship.” Besides his endeavors at Riverhead, Rogers is looking forward to racing at Bethel (N.Y.) Motor Speedway on off weeks. He also plans on attending Bethel’s LegendStock 2013, which is an INEX national qualifier. Lending Rogers a hand in the pits is his crew chief, car owner, and father, Steve Rogers, along with his brother, Ryan, and his mother, Diane. Supporting Rogers in 2013 are Maggio Sanitation, S&P Carting Services, Steven’s 112 Ford and Lincoln, Ford and Lincoln of Smithtown, A&W Tax Services, Huntington Bay Dental, Albert Lee Music, Ronnie’s Deli along with his new sponsors, Oakdale Automotive and J Signs and Advertising, who letters the car.
Dylan Slepian, driver of the No. 63 Legend, had a short-lived 2012 season. On a restart on June 2, 2012, Slepian got caught in a crash in turn one, which resulted in a broken left wrist, rendering him unable to race for most of the season. “I broke it in the June 2nd race while I was running top five and I returned in August,” said Slepian. “Since August, I believe I only finished two or three races unscathed.” Besides his wrist being completely healed, Slepian is very excited for the new season. “I hope to compete as well as I did last May,” said Slepian. After discovering that his chassis was bent in a number of places, Slepian recently gotten it straightened out. “After our extremely rough and unlucky season, we took the car to the chassis man who found it was bent in a number of places, but it is once again straight for the start of the season, which will hopefully fix some of the handling issues we were experiencing at the end of last season,” said Slepian. Slepian will race a full season at Riverhead and will pay additional visits to Mountain Speedway in Pennsylvania, Bethel Motor Speedway, and Wall (N.J.) Stadium Speedway.
Source: Danielle McCormack/Rob Blount/LongIslandJam.com