Thrilling Opening Night at Riverhead Raceway

It was a cold and wild night at Riverhead Raceway for the Opening Night of the 2013 season. Even though the air was cold the action on the track was hot, as were the tempers of a few drivers; all seven divisions were in action, and the Modifieds ran twin 30-lap feature events.

The night opened with a 20-lap feature for the Super Pro Trucks. Anthony Vecchio led the field of 14 to the green with Frank Dumicich Jr. to his outside. Dumicich Jr. immediately jumped into the lead on the exit of turn two on the first lap and didn’t look back. He led all 20 laps and scored the victory. There was a big crash on the front stretch on lap two when Erin Dumicich-Solomito made contact with Vecchio exiting turn four. She then spun into Lou Maestri. Maestri ended up going hard into the outside wall and was then plowed by Mark Stewart. A total of six trucks were involved in that crash. Dumicich Jr. led his father to the green on the restart followed by Michael Albasini and Roger Turbush. Dumicich Jr. once again jumped out front, but his lead was erased six laps later when Turbush blew a motor exiting turn two on lap eight. On the lap nine restart, Dumicich Jr. once again led his father to the green flag, followed by Albasini, David Koenig and Brian McElearney. But this time the race was able to run to the finish without another interruption. The top five finishers were Frank Dumicich Jr., Frank Dumicich Sr., David Koenig, Brian McElearney, and John Denniston.

The next race was the 20-lap Blunderbust feature that was led to the green flag by Bob Muller with Scott Maliszewski to his outside. Maliszewski captured the lead immediately while Muller dropped back. He fell from the lead to eighth in just the first five laps and continued to fall all the way to his finishing position of 14th. Maliszewski led almost the entire race, but he faced heavy pressure from Jack Handley Jr. Maliszewski blocked Handley all over the race track and almost ran him into the infield on a couple of occasions. Even though the race went caution free, it got wild on the final lap when Handley put the bumper to Maliszewski entering turn three. Maliszewski went up the track and started to spin. He went around, got hit, and lost one of his tires, which actually hit the roof of Justin Wahl’s car as he crossed the finish line. Handley beat Wahl to the line, but wasn’t awarded the victory. Handley was penalized for rough riding as a result of him spinning out Maliszewski. The win was taken away and handed to Wahl. Handley was scored in 15th. In the eyes of the fans in attendance, Jack Handley Jr. won that race. He was treated to a standing ovation when he drove back to the pits. Jim Schaefer went up to Handley in the pits and handed him money. It was the same amount that the winner of the race was supposed to be awarded. Schaefer said that Handley should have been awarded the win so he gave him the winner’s purse straight out of his own pocket. Schaefer channeled his inner Mike Stefanik and said that the finish “of that race was bull,” just like Stefanik said at the Battle at the Beach at Daytona back in February. The top five finishers were Justin Wahl, William A. Wegmann, Jimmy White Jr., Edward Mistretta, and Scott Maliszewski.

The 20-lap Legends feature was next on the schedule. 32 cars attempted to qualify, but only 27 cars made the race. The defending track champion, Kyle Ellwood set the fastest time in time trials with a lap of 13.739 seconds, but he would start seventh due to the re-draw of the top eight qualifiers. Kevin Nowak drew the top spot and led the field to the green flag with Paul Dodorico on his outside. Nowak led the race from start to finish but almost lost the race to Dodorico on the last lap. Nowak said he got too excited and started celebrating with his arm out the window of the car before he got to the finish line. Dodorico made a last-grasp charge but missed the win by about two car-lengths. The top five finishers were Kevin Nowak, Paul Dodorico, Kyle Ellwood, Jeffrey Goodale, and Brad Van Houten.

The next race on the schedule was the 20-lap feature for the Chargers, this was the wildest race of the night. Jayson White led the field to the green with Ray Minieri on his outside. It appeared that White spun his tires on the start, which let Minieri take the lead before exiting turn two. White fell back to fourth by lap four. The caution came out on lap six when Cory Midgett crashed hard into the wall at the end of the front stretch. Midgett had to be towed off, but did return. Minieri led Chris Turbush to the next restart. Just two laps later the caution came out once again when CJ Lehmann spun out Chad Churilla. Lehmann was then sent to the rear of the field for rough riding. On the very next restart, Turbush spun out Minieri in turn one while battling for the lead. Eric Zeh and John Baker were also involved. Baker’s 07 machine took the most damage. On lap 14 things got really wild when Lehmann turned White into the turn three wall. White’s 45 car took a lot of damage, and the hood even flew off his car. Lehmann immediately hopped out of his car and started throwing punches at White through the right side window of White’s car. Track officials quickly intervened, and Lehmann walked back to the pits fuming. The race restarted with Turbush in the lead with only three other cars behind him. Turbush held on for the final six laps to take his 34th career feature win. Only four cars finished the race.

Kevin Metzger led the Late Models to the green flag for their 25-lap feature with Buzzy Eriksen alongside. Metzger held the lead until the eighth lap when he was spun out. Shawn Patrick got into Eriksen while battling for second and Eriksen ended up tangling with Metzger; causing all three drivers to spin out in turn one. Scott Kulesa led the field to the restart on lap nine. However, Jeremy McDermott went from third to the lead in turn four on the restart by making a daring three-wide pass. McDermott took off and led the rest of the way. He beat Eriksen to the finish by over a straightaway. The top five finishers were Jeremy McDermott, Buzzy Eriksen, Mike Bologna, Scott Kulesa, and Kevin Metzger.

The Modifieds took to the track next for their twin 30-lap features. Timmy Solomito set fast time during time trails posting a fast lap of 11.761 seconds. The Modifieds did a re-draw of the top eight and Solomito re-drew seventh. His brother, and defending track champion Shawn Solomito won the draw and started the race on the pole with John Beatty Jr. on his outside. 2011 track champion Justin Bonsignore drew third with Dave Brigati, fourth and Eric Goodale, fifth. Bonsignore quickly went to second on the start of the race going past Beatty. Bonsignore set his sights on Solomito, but the caution came out on the third lap when the 26 of David Roys spun out and hit the 69 of Jason Agugliaro in turn two. On the next restart, Beatty used the inside line to his advantage and went past Bonsignore for second place. The caution came out again on lap 22 when Agugliaro’s left-front tire went flat going down the backstretch. Solomito led Beatty and Bonsignore to the restart on lap 23. Solomito took off and once again Bonsignore got by Beatty for second before the caution came out on lap 26. Chris McGuire spun in turn four to bring out the yellow flag. Bonsignore had major issues on the next restart on lap 27. He dropped all the way to last on the track from second place. Solomito was able to hold off Beatty for the victory in the first 30 laps. Bonsignore left the racetrack and didn’t return for the second 30-lap race. He said afterwards that the team wasn’t sure exactly what the issue was, but that they were hoping it was a clutch issue. The next 30-lap race started the same way the previous race finished, but this time all restarts were single-file. The first caution came out 17 laps in when McGuire spun out in turn one. Solomito restarted with Beatty right behind him, followed by Dave Brigati, Eric Goodale, and Timmy Solomito. Three laps after the restart Ryan Preece got by Timmy Solomito for fifth place. One lap later Timmy Solomito was in the wall. Tom Rogers Jr. dove underneath Solomito entering turn one. Solomito hopped the right-front tire of Rogers and both went up and into the outside wall. Rogers was able to drive back to the pits, but Solomito was taken off by a Brigandi Brothers Tow Vehicle. On the next restart, Shawn Solomito held onto the lead and maintained it all the way to the finish, keeping the Solomito Opening Night Win Streak. He led all 60 laps over the course of both 30-lap races. Going into the final lap, exiting turn two, John Beatty’s No. 14 lost power on the back straight causing everyone behind him to scatter in order to avoid him. Resulting in a top five which include: Shawn Solomito, Dave Brigati, Eric Goodale, Ryan Preece and Howie Brode.

The final race of the night was the world famous Figure Eights. Only nine cars started the 15-lap race after Brian Hansen had issues and left the track before the green flag was thrown. The race was interrupted only once when Gary Fritz spun out on lap nine in order to avoid collision from the intersection of the eight. Ferrara held off Roger Maynor and led all 15 laps. The top five finishers were Tom Ferrara, Roger Maynor, Arne Pedersen, George Brown, and Kenneth Hyde Jr.

 

Photos available from Opening Night at http://www.racerhub.com/photos/index.php?cat=2112

 

Results

Super Pro Trucks:

1. Frank Dumicich Jr.

2. Frank Dumicich Sr.

3. David Koenig

4. Brian McElearney

5. John Denniston

6. Rob Bader

7. Michael Albasini

8. Mark Stewart

9. Matt Odwazny

10. Roger Turbush

11. Erin Dumicich-Solomito

12. Anthony Vecchio

13. Lou Maestri

Blunderbust:

1. Justin Wahl

2. William A. Wegmann

3. Jimmy White Jr.

4. Edwards Mistretta

5. Scott Maliszewski

6. Tommy Walkowiak

7. Tom Pickerell

8. Thomas Puccia

9. Tim Mulqueen

10. Brian Brown

11. William J. Wegmann

12. Paul Parisi

13. Joe Seeger

14. Bob Muller

15. Jack Handley Jr.

16. Brandon Hubbard

17. Tom Sullivan

18. Bryan Quilliam

Legends:

1. Kevin Nowak

2. Paul Dodorico

3. Kyle Ellwood

4. Jeffrey Goodale

5. Brad Van Houten

6. Brendon Bock

7. Johnnie Gloor IV

8. Justin Strumpf

9. Kyle Soper

10. Christian Conklin

11. Tom Sherman

12. Frank Scimeca Jr.

13. Gregory Harris

14. Dylan Slepian

15. Richard Davidowitz

16. Chris Rogers

17. Anthony Marsh

18. Vincent Colletti

19. Tommy Walkowiak

20. Shawn Wanat

21. George Baker Jr.

22. Michael Rommeney

23. Vinny Delaney

24. Bryan Kelly

25. Joe Sedotto

26. Eric Hersey

27. Jim Byrne

Chargers:

1. Chris Turbush

2. Tom Anderson

3. Eric Zeh

4. Ray Minieri

5. Jayson White

6. Carl Lehmann Jr.

7. Chad Churilla

8. John Baker

9. Cory Osland

Late Models:

1. Jeremy McDermott

2. Buzzy Eriksen

3. Mike Bologna

4. Scott Kulesa

5. Kevin Metzger

6. Chris La Spisa

7. Roger Oxee

8. Shawn Patrick

9. Arne Pedersen

10. Jack Handley Jr.

11. Kevin Orlando

12. Kenneth Alfano

Modifieds:

1. Shawn Solomito

2. Dave Brigati

3. Eric Goodale

4. Ryan Preece

5. Howie Brode

6. Kevin Orlando

7. David Roys

8. David Sapienza

9. Ed Brunnhoelzl III

10. Vinny Biondolillo

11. Chris McGuire

12. Tom Rogers Jr.

13. Jason Agugliaro

14. Glenn Logan

15. Timmy Solomito

16. Justin Bonsignore

17. Jerry Solomito

18. Marisa Niederauer

Figure Eights:

1. Tom Ferrara

2. Roger Maynor

3. Arne Pedersen

4. George Brown

5. Kenneth Hyde Jr.

6. George Seus

7. Scott Pedersen

8. Gary Fritze Jr.

9. Mike Mujsce Sr.

10. Brian Hansen

 

Source: Rob Blount/LongIslandJam.com