7/21/2001

HOWIE BRODE WINS MODIFIED GOLD…
by J.A. Ackley

BLUNDERBUSTS

            On the start, Chris McGuire and his purple #89x took off from his outside pole position with the #88 of Anthony Aiello right on his tail.  Anthony Aiello would try high and low around McGuire, but McGuire held on.  Lap 12, Aiello would grab the lead for a brief moment but caution would wave for the #34 of Bryan Sescila which spun in turn 2.

            On the restart, Chris McGuire would once again take off from the green but with Aiello hot on his tail once again.  The two would be in heated battle and on lap 15; the two would tangle bringing out the caution once again and ending the fine ride for the two.

            With both McGuire and Aiello in the back, ready to assume the lead was the #23 of Eugene Malverty in his maroon and white Buick.  The race would restart once again and Malverty would grab the lead with Bill Wegmann and his #79 right in his exhaust.  Bill Wegmann would try his all to pass the #23, even to the extent of nearly losing it on one occasion but Eugene Malverty would hold on and win his first feature of the year in the #23 SPONSORS WANTED Buick.

            Taking the runner-up money would be the green #79 Crackerjack Auto Stores Oldsmobile of Bill Wegmann.  Following Wegmann to take third would be a fine run for the #66 SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet Impala of Mark Wolf.  In fourth would be the #53 Firefighters Plus Chevrolet of Dale Arnold and rounding out the top five would be Jarrod Hayes in the #08 SPONSORS WANTED Cadillac.

SUPER PRO TRUCKS

            In perhaps the best race of the night, Enduro graduate and newcomer Mike Albasini would start from pole with Super Pro Truck veteran Peter Sparks on the outside.  On the start, Mike Albasini would take control of the lead but before he could stretch it out, caution would fly for the smoking #36 GrandSlamCollectibles.com Ford of Tony Giarraputo.

            On the restart the front row would look awfully familiar with Albasini on the inside and Sparks on the outside, however this time when the race went green, Sparks would take control of the lead.  Sparks would take a substantial lead but Albasini would close that up ever so slightly as each lap ticked away.  Also lurking the background would be the #7 Dodge of Rich Giordano ready to pounce on any mistake the leaders would make.  The battle would be decided on the last lap as Albasini and Giordano both tried desperately to grab the lead but Sparks would be the first to cross the checkers by a hair and grab his first win of 2001 in his #28 Sparks Brothers Racing Dodge.

            Following the red and black Dodge of Sparks would be tonight’s pleasant surprise, Mike Albasini in his #66 Ford.  Taking the third spot and second in points standing would be the #7 Millennium Theatre Systems Dodge of Rich Giordano.  In fourth, it would be the #97 Creative Trucking Equipment Chevrolet of “Dangerous” Dave Koening and rounding out the top 5 would be the #5 and 1997 Truck Champion, Frank Dumicich in the Teddy Bear Racing Ford.

CHARGERS

            In the Chargers, rookie Frank Bonsignore in the #98x Chevrolet Beretta would start pole with George Crockett on the outside in his #20 Pontiac.  On the start, George Crockett would rocket to the lead but before he could stretch the distance between his rear bumper and second place’s front bumper, caution would fly in an incident involving #43 of Ray Minieri, #56 of Tom St. Clair, #11x of Brian Schwarz, and the #7 of Darryl Baker which probably took the hardest hit of the bunch.

            After a brief cleanup, George Crockett would once again rocket to take the lead on the restart.  In the background however, would be the crafty veteran Rusty Turbush in his #17x Pontiac.  On lap 11, Rusty Turbush would try to take the lead and finally made an inside pass stick to grab the lead coming off turn 4.  But before Rusty Turbush could test out his car in clean air a horrific crash occurred in turn 3 where cars went airborne and sliding along the retaining fence.  Involved in the incident would be #8 of “Dynamite” Dan Turbush, #2 of Robin Vollmoeller, #11x of Brian Schwarz, and perhaps two of the most hard luck stricken drivers in the division, Rob Visconti in the #23 Chevrolet Monte Carlo and 2000 Charger Champion, Dave Brigati in his #1x Chevrolet Beretta.  After a brief scare, all drivers climbed out of their cars unscathed and at most only their feelings hurt and very hurt cars.  Brian Schwarz and his #11x wasn’t too badly bruised and returned to the track and “Dynamite” Dan Turbush would limp his badly damaged #8 back around the track as well.  However, the #23 of Rob Visconti and #1x of Dave Brigati would be too damaged to return to the track and if the damage looks as bad as it may be, the #23 of Rob Visconti and #1x of Dave Brigati’s seasons may be put to an end or at the very least put on hold for a couple of weeks.

            As time would wind down, racing would not resume for the time limit would expire due to the extensive cleanup and Rusty Turbush would find himself and his #17x Panasonic Document Imaging Pontiac in victory for the second time this year.

            1999 Charger champion, Ray Minieri would wheel his #43 ALP Computer Dynamics Pontiac to a second place.  Taking down third would be the #20 Ace Foreign Wreckers Pontiac of George Crockett.  In fourth, it would be the #48 Sunrise Toyota Pontiac of John Piazza and rounding out the top five would be Mike Bologna in his #00 Chevrolet.

MODIFIEDS

            In open-wheeled action, Chris Young would find himself and his #49 Chevrolet on the pole with J.R. Bertuccio and his #2 Chevrolet alongside him.

            On the start, Chris Young and J.R. Bertuccio would be side-by-side for a couple of laps until Chris Young finally grabbed the lead but caution would wave before Young could test out the lead for an incident in turn 2 involving the #96 of Howie Brode, #08 of Ken Heagy, and #41 of Gary Swanander, with Swanander getting the brunt of the blow.

            On the restart, Chris Young and Joe Hartmann would find themselves up front with Bertuccio diving into the pits with mechanical woes.  When the race turned green once again Young would grab the lead with Modified points leader Joe Hartmann in tow.  However, on lap 10, caution would fly again involving the leaders of Chris Young and Joe Hartmann.

            On the restart, Howie Brode would find himself up front but before he could defend his lead caution would fly again for the #09 of Bo Gunning would had stopped up in turn 3 with a flat tire.

            When the race went green again, Howie Brode would go side-by-side with the #08 of Ken Heagy.  After a lap, Heagy would tuck in behind Brode looking for any possible way to get around Brode to capture the lead.  However, Brode looked flawless up front and he would take down the win in the #96 Petro Fuel Oil Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

            Ken Heagy in the #08 TS Haulers Chevrolet Cavalier would have to settle for second tonight.  Following the runner-up would be the #11x Muratec Dodge Stealth of 1996 track champion, Chuck Steuer.  Taking fourth would be the red and white #15 Insula Dome Skylights Chevrolet Monte Carlo of 5-time track champion, Wayne Anderson and rounding out the top five would be Dan Jivanelli in the #12 SPONSORS WANTED Chevrolet Monte Carlo.

COMING NEXT WEEK

            Coming this upcoming Saturday will be a night once again full of action and excitement brought to you by Buzz Chew Chrysler-Dodge and Golden Auto Body.  The Late Models will return once again for their 25-lap feature where RJ Oxee will be looking to try to cut down on the 98 points that separates him and Buzzy Eriksen as well as championship glory.  The Figure 8’s will also be back this week with George Sprague, Tom Rogers, and Kenny Hyde all looking to try to take the points lead away from Figure 8 veteran Roger Maynor.  The Blunderbusts will have a 30-lap Double Point feature where it could present an excellent opportunity for Bobby Gardner, Neal Feola Jr., and/or Dale Arnold to capitalize on any bad luck that may strike point leader Chris Chirico, or may present the opportunity for Chirico to take away in the point battle once again.  Along with the aforementioned events, the Modifieds as well as the Super Pro Trucks will also be in attendance to fill a very full card of racing action.

Sources:  J.A. Ackley/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:  July 22, 2001