8/18/2001
ED
BRUNNHOELZL JR. SCORES SNAP-ON VICTORY…
Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr. of Levittown used
his wealth of driving experience to his advantage this past Saturday night
when he scored the win in the Snap-on Tools 35 NASCAR Modified feature at
Riverhead Raceway. The win, which was much needed by the veteran driver and
his team to salvage what has been a rough campaign, was worth $1,500 on
Donaldson's Volkswagen night.
On the start of the race on the outside line of the 20-car
grid Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr. raced from the outside pole to the early lead while Ed
Densieski raced from fourth to second heading into the first corner. Densieski
ran second until a 7th lap double file restart when Joe Hartmann was able to
sneak under him on lap 8 to wrestle the position away. For the following 27
laps Brunnhoelzl and Hartmann proceeded to play a high-speed game of cat and
mouse.
For every move that Hartmann thought about trying on leader
Brunnhoelzl, the latter had an answer. At first Hartmann was looking to
pitch his car off the corner to the inside of Brunnhoelzl, but Ed was able to
slow the pace of the race just enough to thwart that challenge. After looking
low Joe then started peeking to the outside and at times it looked as though
he'd get a run on Ed, but never could complete the move. Waiting in the wings
while this was unfolding and frankly hoping the two leader made an error was
third place Ed Densieski, who threw his hat into the ring testing Hartmann on
occasion for second.
At the checker Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr. scored his 21st career
victory in the Jamaica Brake & Clutch and after the race when asked if he
thought the win might get the monkey off his back Ed quipped, "that was a
gorilla not a monkey". Brunnhoelzl then got serious "we've had a
tough year but our team has stuck together and I can't thank them enough. Big
Sal's Racing Engines gave us the power and our sponsors, Jamaica Brake &
Clutch, Dormer King, KT Motorsports, C&T Container and Redbone Inc all
helped out."
Joe Hartmann of Riverhead after doing all he could to try
and take the victory had to be content with runner-up money in the T.S.
Haulers Chevy, which now puts him back into the point lead by two points. Ed
Densieski of Riverhead was third in the J.A.D. Carpet Showcase entry, while
Bill Park of Manorville and John Fortin of Holtsville completed the top five.
Fortin now trails Hartmann 690 to 688 with three point races remaining in
2001.
Greg Kleila of Lindenhurst notched his second win of the
2001 season when he won the Harley-Davidson of Hempstead 25 Late Model
feature. At the outset Shawn Patrick moved out front at the drop of the green
with Greg Kleila in tow. The duo ran the first half of the race in that order
before Kleila made his bid for the lead on lap 12. Exiting turn 2 Greg dove
under Shawn for the lead and Roger oxee followed that opening for second.
Much like the Modified feature another game of high-speed chess would unfold
in this race as well. For the second half of the race Oxee would spend his
time trying to find a way around Kleila for the lead, but Greg would be equal
to each and every challenge that Roger threw his way. At the checker it was
Greg Kleila taking the win in the Parts Plus Auto Stores Pontiac over Roger
Oxee of Peconic in the Helman Group Pontiac in what was a classic short track
duel. Shawn Patrick of West Islip had his best outing of the year with a solid
third place performance in the Cookie Bear entry.
Mike Mujsce of Hampton Bays dominated the Snap-on Tools 25
for the Figure Eight division to take home his second win of the season. Bill
Steen jumped out front early in this contest leading the first three laps
before Mike Mujsce raced by for the top spot racing toward turn one. Steen
then spent the next 17 laps chasing Mujsce before disaster struck on the 20th
lap for the defending class champion. Going into the first corner Steen's
upper hose broke sending him backwards into the wall, Bill was shaken and
later taken to the hospital for tests but was expected to be released later in
the night. This moved Tom Rogers to second and gave him five laps of green
flag racing to see if he had anything for Mujsce, but there was no catching
the leader on this night. At the conclusion Mike Mujsce in the Pro Tech
Automotive Chevy scored the win, while Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue was second
in the Rooms Unlimited Ford. Third went to Roger Maynor of Bay Shore in the
Winkiel Roofing entry.
In the Snap-on Tools 30 for the Charger class it would be a
clean sweep for Rusty Turbush of Manorville, who at first set fast time in
time trials, drew the pole and then lead all 30 circuits of the tilt. After
clocking at 13.310 in time trials Rusty Turbush then raced directly from his
pole starting position to the race lead, with fellow local veteran Robin
Vollmoeller in hot pursuit. Vollmoeller was able to get close to Turbush right
from the start and stayed with Rusty for the entire distance. However this was
to be Rusty Turbush's night as he was able to keep enough of a cushion over
Vollmoeller, even in late race lapped traffic to score his third win of the
year in the Panasonic Document Imaging Pontiac. Robin Vollmoeller of Riverhead
took home runner-up honors in the Water Mill Lumber entry and moved to within
two points of Ray Minieri for the championship 732 to 730. Minieri was fourth
in the race. Coming home third would be Dave Eichner of Ridge in his
unsponsored car in just his second start of the year.
In another wire-to-wire performance Dale Rina of Mastic
scored the win in the 20 lap Snap-on Tools Blunderbust main event. Rina was
quick to jump into the lead when Bruce Noll dropped the green flag on the
field for what would be a caution free event. Newcomer Henry Cuesta
followed Rina for the first two laps before Bryan Sescila, who passed Henry to
the inside in the third turn, over took him. Over the next 17 laps Sescila,
who is sponsored by TCB Snap-on Tools and looking to do well in front of his
sponsor, tested leader Rina lap after lap. More often than not Sescila looked
to make a run to the inside of Rina off the corners with Dale ready to thwart
those efforts every time. However Dale Rina was determined to score the
victory trying to salvage what has been a tough year, which even saw Dale
sidelined earlier in the campaign due to illness. At the finish Dale Rina
collected the much needed win in the Fal-Ken Heating and Air Conditioning
Cadillac. After the win Dale said it could very well be his last as he
might retire after 10 years of driving. Bryan Sescila of Baldwin was runner-up
testing Rina all the way until the checkers, while Russell Broy of Bethpage
was third in the Island Trees Automotive car.
John Denniston of Westbury collected his second win of the
year when he triumphed in the Snap-on Tools 20 Super Pro Truck feature event
on Wesemann's Sand & Mason Supplies night. Frank Dumicich broke out front
early in this contest with Dave Koenig giving chase for the first two laps
before he got caught up in a multi truck tangle off turn four. Also involved
were Ron Humes, Kevin Scharfenberg and Rich Giordano. This moved John
Denniston to second for the ensuing double file restart alongside leader
Dumicich and when the green reappeared Denniston moved out front with Dumicich
now second. Dumicich's night would get worse just a lap later when he spun off
the fourth corner handing second over to Larry Costa who now had the task of
trying to reel in Denniston, who opened a comfortable cushion. As the race
closed in on its final lap Costa was indeed able to close in on Denniston, but
that would be about all he could muster. At the checker the Dormer King entry
of John Denniston scored the victory, while Larry Costa of College Point took
home second place money in the New York Metro Peterbilt Dodge. Costa takes
over point lead from Humes and now leads the defending champion by 10 markers,
466 to 456.In for third would be Lou Maestri of Deer Park in the Schwing
Electric entry, Lou jumps to third in points with that finish at 440.
Sources:
Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR
Posted: August 20, 2001
