Preece Wins Baldwin, Evans & Jarzombek Memorial 50
It was a special night at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday June 6th,
as the track celebrated the lives of three short track hero’s Richie
Evans, Tom Baldwin, and Charlie Jarzombek. The main event was a 50 lap
Modified feature that saw Ryan Preece fresh off a Whelen Modified Tour win
at Stafford; take the checkered flag.
After not being present last week to run the tour race, Tom Rogers Jr. set
fast time in time trials with an 11.930, he would re-draw 4th. John Fortin drew the pole with Jason
Agugliaro started to his outside. It didn’t take long for the caution flag
to fly in the feature as right after the green flag waved, Tom Rogers Jr.
and Howie Brode got together in Turn 3 sending the Jessup Landscaping
machine around and bringing out the yellow. Rogers and Brode both had flat
tires from the incident and would both rejoin the race after making pit
stops.
The next yellow came out on lap 3 when Brad Van Houten got sideways
off of Turn 2 and collected the right front of Ken Darch’s car. Darch
would suffer a flat tire and bring out the caution. John Fortin continued
to lead on the restart but Jason Agugliaro didn’t let him go by easily as
the two ran side-by-side for a lap before Ryan Preece slipped past
Agugliaro and moved into 2nd after starting 6th. Things would remain calm
until Lap 24 when Brad Van Houten looped his No.09 car again this time in
Turn 4.
On the restart Shawn Solomito was able to get by Preece and move
into second, Preece would slip back to fourth until Lap 31 when Vinny
Biondolillo and Shawn Solomito made contact off of Turn 4 and spun down
the front stretch. Solomito would suffer a flat left front tire and was
forced to pit; Biondolillo was moved to the back of the field.
The final yellow flag would wave on Lap 33 when Biondolillo and Ken Darch got
together coming off Turn 2 sending both cars into the wall and ending both
of their nights. On the restart Ryan Preece was able to get a good jump
and passed John Fortin for the lead coming off Turn 2. It was smooth
sailing from there for Preece as he was able to take down the win.
“I knew I had to get by John [Fortin] on the restart it seemed like
my car would fire for about a lap and a half then it would get loose”
Preece said, “I got a lot of respect for John after that one he could’ve
moved me about ten, twelve times but he didn’t.”
Dylan Slepian Takes Home his Second Career Win in the Legends
Two weeks after grabbing his first checkered flag, Dylan Slepian grabbed
win number two in a 30 lap Legend car feature. The field was set by Time
Trials with Slepian setting fast time with a 13.783; he would also grab
the pole in the re-draw, Allan Pedersen would start to his inside.
The feature would not be as smooth as some would have wanted as right after the
green waved; the caution came out when last week’s winner George Tomko Jr.
spun on the back stretch. Tomko would also be involved in the next caution
on the restart when he and Bill Fitzgerald got together going into Turn 1;
both cars would continue. Caution number 3 would come out one lap later
when Jerry Curran spun the No.82 in turn 4 and was unable to get out of
the way of the leaders in time. In a separate incident; Anthony Marsh and
John Fortin Jr. got together in Turn 2, all three cars would continue.
Slepian lead the field back for a restart and right off the bat Slepian
was being challenged for the lead by Kyle Ellwood. Ellwood would then slip
back to second and battle Brad Van Houten for that spot. Caution Number 4
waved on lap 8 When Mike Van Houten Jr. hit the wall in Turn 2, he was
able to continue but, had to pit to fix the front bumper.
When the green flew again two more cars spun on the front stretch, Michael Rutkoski and
Shawn Wanat both lost control of their cars however, no caution was waved.
On lap 13 the yellow finally came out when George Tomko Jr., Steve Hersey,
and Paul Dodorico all spun on the back stretch. The sixth yellow would
come out a lap later when Brad Van Houten and Artie Pedersen III got
together going into Turn 3 sending Van Houten’s car around. The officials
decided that the next restart would be a single file restart but, that
didn’t help as the caution waved again on the restart when Steve Hersey
got into the back of George Tomko Jr. in Turn 2, this also collected Brad
Van Houten. Tomko would be able to continue, Hersey was parked by the
officials and Van Houten did not rejoin the race. The final yellow came
out on Lap 21 when Mike Van Houten spun in Turn 3. On the restart Slepian
was able to pull away and hold off Kyle Ellwood to grab his second win.
“I was a lot less confident going into this one” Slepian said, “I kept
seeing Van Houten behind me sneaking his nose and [Allan] Pedersen but
they’re great to race against and it’s an honor to race against them.”
With the win Slepian now takes over the point lead.
John Baker Captures his Second Win of the Season
After a week off, the Chargers were back in action and John Baker was able
to capitalize on others bad luck to get his second win of the season. Greg
Immerman started the race from the pole with Rich Wilson to his outside.
His lead didn’t last long as on Lap 4 Cory Midgett was able to slip past
and grab the top spot. The first caution flag came out when Owen Grennan
got into the back of Immerman in Turn 1 and sent the Hometown Taxi Ford
around.
On the restart Grennan was on the charge as he and Midgett went
side-by-side for the lead until Lap 9 when both drivers got together and
went into the wall exiting Turn 2. Ray Minieri was also involved in the
crash. Both Grennan and Midgett were ok but, their cars were too damaged
to continue. John Baker inherited the lead after the caution and led the
field back to the green flag and held off point leader Eric Zeh to take
down the win.
Tom Ferrara in Victory Lane for the Figure 8’s
The Figure 8’s went 15 laps in their feature and it was Tom Ferrara who
found his way back into victory lane after taking a year off from the
sport.
Bryan Quilliam started on the pole with Ferrara to his outside.
Ferrara wasted no time grabbing the lead as he got by Quilliam in the
first turn. Tom Rogers Jr. was moving through the field quickly after
starting 8th, by Lap 4 the No.43 was battling for 3rd. On lap 7 the first
caution flag flew due to Tom Kraft in the No.10 being stopped on track.
The second caution came out on the restart when Mike Mujsce suffered a
broken right front suspension after contact. Somehow his team was able to
fix that car and get him back out before the restart. The final caution
came out with 3 to go when Artie Pedersen III spun his No.19; he was able
to drive away. Ferrara had to hold off Tom Rogers for three laps and he
did so taking down the win.
Dale Doherty won the 8 Cyl. Enduro.
Legends
1. Dylan Slepian (1)
2. Kyle Ellwood (3)
3. Richie Davidowitz (8)
4. Artie Pedersen III (6)
5. Allan Pedersen (2)
6. Kevin Nowak (13)
7. Tom Rogers Jr. (14)
8. Greg Harris (5)
9. Vinny Delany (10)
10. Eric Hersey (16)
11. Anthony Marsh (11)
12. Ray Fitzgerald (9)
13. Michael Rutkoski (17)
14. John Fortin Jr. (23)
15. George Tomko Jr. (21)
16. Kurt Kreiger (18)
17. Chris Rogers (7)
18. Mike Van Houten Jr. (19)
19. Bill Fitzgerald (25)
20. Jerry Curran (22)
21. Shawn Wanat (15)
22. Paul Dodorico (12)
23. Steve Hersey (24)
24. Brad Van Houten (4)
25. Gary Molnar (26)
26. Wally Davidowitz (20)
Figure 8’s
1. Tom Ferrara (2)
2. Tom Rogers Jr. (8)
3. Roger Maynor (7)
4. Ken Hyde Jr. (5)
5. Scot Pedersen (6)
6. Gary Fritz Jr. (4)
7. Mike Mujsce (3)
8. Artie Pedersen III (10)
9. Tom Kraft Jr. (9)
10. Bryan Quilliam (1)
Chargers
1. John Baker (6)
2. Eric Zeh (11)
3. CJ Lehmann (10)
4. Rich Wilson (2)
5. Ray Minieri (9)
6. David Roys (4)
7. Greg Immerman (1)
8. Jason Hansen (7)
9. Brian Midgett (13)
10. Steve Mastro (5)
11. Dennis Cunningham (14)
12. Owen Grennan (8)
Modifieds
1. Ryan Preece (6)
2. John Fortin Sr. (1)
3. Jason Agugliaro (2)
4. Jerry Solomito Jr. (10)
5. Brad Van Houten (11)
6. John Beatty Jr. (9)
7. Howie Brode (5)
8. Shawn Solomito (3)
9. Kyle Soper (8)
10. Fred Vordemeier Jr. (13)
11. Tom Rogers Jr. (4)
12. Ken Darch (12)
13. Vinny Biondolillo (7)
Source: Brenden Madonia/LongIslandJam.com