6/24/2001

SUNDAY #3 OF 2001
by Doug Watson

     The third weekend for the Enduros was cloudy with rain threatening all day.  But neither rain nor a red flag would fall creating a great day of racing.  First up were the Spectator Drags. The final battle was Ford against Pontiac with the Pontiac of Michael Chin taking the top prize.  3 cars were present for the Car Rollover Contest. When all the rolling was done it was “Slim Jim” Donaldson winning with a 7-point roll.

1ST 8-CYLINDER ENDURO

     The first Enduro of the day would be 99 cars for 100 laps.  The #35 Speed Racing Radio Oldsmobile of Jeff Bressler experienced problems in the pit and had to scratch for the day. Jeff will have to wait until July to try once again and scratch the paint on his all too pristine car. On the track, the race was pretty clean and fast much to the fan's enjoyment. The #18 of Sgt. Ed Scott from Lindenhurst had a great run going but would hit the wall after contact with some fresh fluid dumped by a crippled car.  From the drop of the green veteran Lil John Alway in the #1 Chevrolet Monte Carlo would take off and remain the leader for 92 of the 100 laps surrendering it to the #60 of Michael Mirando.  With the #1 and the #13 of Brian Brill from Selden nipping at his heels he would have to drive hard and he did, taking down his first win of 2001.  Also good finishes for Jason Carpenter in the #68 Advanced Towing Chevrolet taking 4^th and Peter Revvin in the #3 Al’s Affordables Oldsmobile landing 8^th.

4-CYLINDER ENDUROS

     The 4-cylinder cars took the track.  54 cars would battle for 75 laps.  The #1 of Craig Melville would take the early lead and hold it for 17 laps before being involved in an incident in turn 4. Taking over the lead was Blunderbust driver Russell Broy in the #2 machine, but an overheating problem would end his day on lap 30.  The next leader would be the #21 Higbie Collision auto of David Colon. Colon would go on to lead but with 10 laps to go the #57 Richard Gray of Copiague would start closing on the leader.  Lap traffic would play a role and the #21 of David Colon would go on to win his first Enduro race.

4/6-CYLINDER TRUCKS

     Always a fun race, the 4/6-cylinder trucks had 21 trucks on hand and would get to battle for 50-laps. The #1 of Joe McNulty would get a good early lead but the man to watch was Kevin Clarke in the #10 truck.  Clarke would pass 8 trucks in 6-laps to find himself in 2^nd.  Joe McNulty’s #1 was fast and the #10 truck couldn’t get a run on him.  On lap 38 the leader spun on the backstretch surrendering the lead to #10.  Despite a spin with 3 laps to go Kevin Clarke in the #10 East Coast Welldrilling machine took the checkers.

A look at the scorecards twice would create a stir but still determine Clarke the winner, taking 3 in a row in the Truck Enduro Division. Also good finishes from #14 of Will Duggan taking 2^nd and #7 of Neil Doyle rounding out the top 3.

2ND 8-CYLINDER ENDURO

     The 2^nd 8-cylinder Enduro had a high car count with 77 cars to go 100 laps making the days total of 325 laps of Enduro action. The race was a tough one with several veterans having trouble.  The #5 of Walter Stroud Jr. had early trouble and was out on lap 30.  The #50 of Blunderbust driver Tommy Walkowiak would take an early lead.  On lap 40 the #4 Local Cesspool Chevrolet of Dominic Ranieri would take over the lead but it was short lived as ten laps later the pace-setting #4 hit the wall hard ending his day. Walkowiak in the #50 would resume as the leader with the #35 Malverty Racing Chevrolet of Eugene Malverty, following close behind.  By lap 70 only 16 cars remained on the track. On lap 75 the #35 machine was done for the day.  Trouble would plague a leader again when #50 Tommy Walkowiak would cut down a right front tire on lap 76.  The #28 John Yagmin of Wethersfield, CT would take the lead only to lose it after hitting the turn 3 wall after a incident with the 2^nd place car #11 of Edward Brown Jr.  This paved the way for the 3^rd place car #19 Constant Performance Chevrolet of Bob Baker to take the lead and stay there grabbing his first Enduro Win.

  The next Enduro will be on July 22nd, so hold on tight and get set for Enduromania in less than 4 short weeks.  See ya there!

Sources:  Doug Watson/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:  June 25, 2001