8/26/2001

INTERCLUB RACING AT RIVERHEAD…
by Matthew Graff

            A beautiful day greeted both fans and drivers at the Riverhead Raceway for the Interclub Series this Sunday.  Many ages and skill levels were represented and in each race the competition was strong.

            Practice and qualifying heat races were held early followed by an intermission featuring some great stock cars from a bygone era.  It was a impressive sight watching these cars run parade laps around the track; their exhausts braaaaping away through the stands reminding us of the history of Long Island racing and that these cars are still strong, proud and well cared for.  Racecar drivers being as they are however it wasn’t long before a few of the drivers began to push a little harder and relive some of the competition that these cars were a part of during their heyday.

            After the intermission, the kart races began in earnest.  With over 15 classes of karts represented, fans and drivers were guaranteed a full day of racing.

MEDIUM
            The Medium Division started things off.  The starting grid was extensive with 14 karts making the field including: Neil Blatt in his 09 kart at the pole, Fred Vordermeier, Jr. in the 22 kart to the outside of pole, Brian Chin in the 45 kart, Ken Topping in the 4, Jim Byrne in the 47, Mike Nelson in kart number 83, Mike Eckhardt in the 88 kart, Sarah Petersen in the 3 kart, John Thompson in kart number 1, Chris Pelcher in the 44x, John Nelson in the 13, Pat Iovine in the 26, Mike Morrison in the 2 kart, and James Iovine in the 16 kart.
            The grid was bunched tightly on the warmup lap and as the karts accelerated to the green flag the number 13 of Nelson and the 44x of Pelcher got into each other spinning both karts out.  A Yellow flag ensued and as track workers cleaned up the spin and the grid retook the green flag without incident.  Blatt’s #09 took the lead at the first lap.  The race was well fought with both the 88 of Eckhardt and the 47 of Byrne fighting a spirited battle.  Both karts jockeyed back and forth for position.  At the checkered flag, Neil Blatt took first in the #09 with Fred Vordermeier coming in second with the #22 and Ken Topping finished third in the #4.

JUNIOR I
            Next up were the Junior Sportsman I Karts.  Taking the grid were the number 3 of Mike Johnson, the number 5 of Brian Searight, and the number 8 of John Gloor.  At the green flag Mike Johnson held onto his position to lead the first lap.  Brian Searight tried hard to get around the #3 kart but held onto second place with John Gloor and his #8 kart round out the third spot.  At the end the finish mirrored the start with Johnson in the #3 SPONSORS WANTED kart in first, Searight in the #5 SPONSORS WANTED kart in second, and Gloor in the #8 coming in third.

JUNIOR II
            The Junior Sportsman II raced next.  The starting grid had the 02 of Kevin Orlando at pole with the 27 kart of Eric Hersey starting outside.  In the third spot was the number 88 of Chris Labiento and in fourth, the number 3 of Ralph Tasso Jr.  As the grid came around to take the green, Hersey stuck with Orlando and managed to pass him to lead the first lap.  Orlando held onto his lead, taking the checkered flag in the #02 Outlaw Fabrication kart.  Hersey came in a close second in the #27 S&H Welding entry with Labiento’s #88 in third and Tasso Jr. in the #3 in forth.

STAR CHAMP
            The Star Champ Karts were next to take the track.  Starting at pole was the 36 of John Denniston.  Outside pole was the 88 of Mike Eckhardt and third was the 8x of Eddie Brunnhoelzl III.  At the end of the first lap, and after some close racing the running order was unchanged-Denniston in 1st followed by Eckhardt in 2nd and Brunnhoelzl in 3rd.  Unfortunately, roughly halfway into the race the 8x of Eddie Brunnhoelzl III spun out in turn 2 and subsequently retired.  This left Denniston in the #36 Trailer Transport/Myers Fabrication entry and Eckhardt in his #88 to finish their race in positions 1 and 2 respectively.

JUNIOR CHAMP
            Following the Star Champs were the Junior Champs.  The grid was made up of Jerry Solomito in the #7 kart at pole, Sean Corcoran in the #43 kart outside pole, and the 3 kart of E.J. Heim in the third spot.  The field took the green flag and the running order stayed unchanged at the end of the first lap-Solomito 1st, Corcoran 2nd, and Heim 3rd.  The karts ran a strong, clean race with the finishing order mirroring the start-Solomito in first with his #7, #43 entry of Sean Corcoran in second and Heim’s #3 in third.

JUNIOR SPORTSMAN CHAMP "A"
            The Junior Sportsman Champs A ran next.  The starting order was Eric Hersey in the 27 kart at pole, Timmy Solomito in the 99 kart outside pole, Joe Jasinski in the78 kart starting inside second row, and Kathleen Hallock in her 9 kart outside second row.  Hersey managed to stay in the lead at the end of the first lap but Solomito was all over the back of the 27 kart, pushing hard to get past and take the first spot away.  But this was not the only battle on the track as Hallock and Jasinski were busy regularly swapping positions and fighting hard for third spot.  Solomito took the white flag and seemed to own the race but Hersey, in the #27 S&H Welding entry with a surprise late pass, took the checkered flag and the win.  Solomito took second in the #99 with #78’s Jasinski third and Hallock fourth in the #9 Goodfellow East Auto & Marine Paint & Supply entry.

JUNIOR SPORTSMAN CHAMP "B"
            The Junior Sportsman Champ B raced next with Jim Smith in kart 4 taking pole; Jessica Larsen in kart 23 outside pole; Tommy Doelger in kart number 6 inside second row; Jill Grennan in kart 35 outside row 2 and Joseph Burns in the 53 kart starting 5^th inside third row.  The field had a clean but spirited start with Grennan getting busy early and passing Doelger for 3rd. at the end of the first lap.  Grennan in her #35 continued her charge through the field to take the first spot away from the #23 Trailer Transport kart of Jessica Larsen who fell to second.  Joseph Burns in the #53 John’s Auto Repair entry took a strong third and Doelger and Smith unfortunately collected each other with Smith being scored fourth in the #4 and Doelger fifth in the #6.

HEAVY/CLAIMER
            Race 8 combined the Heavy Class and one Claimer kart class.  The starting grid had the 26 kart of Pat Iovine at the pole.  Richard Davidowitz was lined up outside pole in his 25 kart and Jimmy Iovine was set at third in his 16 kart.  Mike Godat in his Claimer class kart was at the fourth spot.  The drivers made a clean start and Pat Iovine held the lead with Jimmy Iovine in his #16 kart getting past Davidowitz for second.  Davidowitz stayed in third and Godat brought up the fourth spot.  The drivers fought hard and drove their lines with precision but the finishing order mirrored the running order at the end of the first lap with Pat Iovine’s #26 in first, Jimmy Iovine and his #16 in second, Davidowitz and his #25 in third and #3’s Godat in fourth.

AMATEUR
            Next up was the Amateur Class.  This hotly contested division did not fail to produce some serious competition.  The grid was set with Rocky Novia in his #4 kart at pole.  Outside of him was Mike Ervin in the 8x kart.  Second row inside was Shawn Carmody in his 81 kart and Chris Schraner in kart number 59 lined up on the outside of row two.  The karts fought hard on the first lap with Novia staying in first, Ervin swapping places with Carmody and Schraner maintaining station at fourth.  Ervin and Carmody fought hard for second position for most of the race with Ervin with some great side-by-side racing.  Ervin finally got by Carmody for good and took the fight to Novia.  With 2 to go Ervin got below Novia in turn 2 and pushed wide getting Novia crossed up and off his line.  Ervin went on to take the win in the #8x Combined Auto Collision kart with Carmody’s #81 Roger & J.P.’s New Morning Show entry in second, Novia and his #4 kart in third and Schraner’s #59 Commack Towing entry in fourth.

SENIOR CHAMP
            The Senior Champs took the track next.  The starting grid swelled to 15 karts with Doug Ogiejko in the #55 kart on the pole.  Next to him, Ken Vogel in the #25 kart took the outside pole.  Positions 3-15 are as follows: Michael Engstrom in the 81 kart; Jonathan Steiger in the 91 kart; Billy Englehart in the 13 kart; Jason Agugliaro in the 69 kart; Pat Wahl in the 01 kart; Crystal Fisher in the 14 kart; John Denniston in the 36 kart; Joe Larsen Jr. in the 37 kart; James Pape in the 18 kart; Luke Ferland in the 02 kart; James Wahl in the 07 kart; Leon Jasinski in the 78 kart and Joe Englehart in the 13 kart.
            All karts took the green flag with a clean start and Vogel quickly passed Ogiejko to lead the first lap.  The field gradually spread out, the first pack of five racing hard for the lead with Vogel and Ogiejko leading the way and swapping places seemingly on a regular basis.  In the second pack positions 6-10 were also hotly contested until the 14 and 25 kart got together in turn 4.  Both drivers were unhurt and the race resumed with 2 laps to go and a single file start.  The restart order was as follows:  Ogiejko, Steiger, Engstrom, Larsen Jr., Agugliaro, Ferland, Pape, J. Wahl, B. Englehart, P. Wahl, Jasinski, and J. Englehart.  The restart was clean with all drivers getting through the green flag.  Unfortunately, the 81 of Mike Engstrom and the 91 of Jonathan Steiger got together on the last lap just before the checkered flag.  Doug Ogiejko and his #55 Chesterfield Association kart would wind up 1st, followed by the #37 Trailer Transport entry of Joe Larsen, Jr.  Crossing the line in third would be the #02 of Luke Ferland.  Coming in at 4th would be the #18 SPONSORS WANTED entry of James Pape Jr. and rounding out the top 5 would be the #07 of James Wahl.

JUNIOR STOCK
            Junior Stock was next.  The starting grid, substantially smaller than Senior Champs, was lead by the 99 kart of Eric Goodale.  On the outside pole was Amanda Sperling in the #96 kart.  Row two had Shawn Solomito on the inside spot in his 24 kart and Mark Meyer on the outside in the 22 kart.  At row three, Kevin Schmiemann in the #15 kart lined up on the inside with Bryan Johnson in the 29 to his outside.  At the green flags all the karts turned it up a notch and ran hard with the 99 of Goodale managing to fend off all attacks and hold onto the lead for the first lap.  Goodale was not going to have it easy however as Solomito took his 24 kart past Sperling and finally to the lead.  Meyer, capitalizing on the shakeup of position, also moved ahead to third position and finished there as the karts came by to take the checkered flag.  When the dust settled, Shawn Solomito and his #24 would wind up first.  Coming in second would be the #99 of Eric Goodale.  Third would be the #22 of Mark Meyer.  In fourth position would be the #96 J.A.D. Carpet Showcase entry of Amanda Sperling.  In fifth would be the #29 SPONSORS WANTED entry of Bryan Johnson and rounding out the field would be the #15 of Kevin Schmiemann.

SENIOR CHAMP OVER 35
            Next up was the Over Thirty-Five Senior Champs.  The starting grid had Fred Card on pole with John VanGastern outside pole.  Brett Ferland was inside row two and Richie Strube took the outside slot.  Mike Wahl took the inside spot in row three and Jim Rocks was to the outside.  All the karts took the green and ran hard to lead the first lap.  VanGastern won that battle taking 1st at the end of lap 1 but it wouldn’t last.  Card, in a perfectly executed pass went low in turn 3 and outbraked VanGastern for the lead spot.  The rest of the field was hardly stationary however and Rocks in his 01 kart was pushing hard and managed to improve by 3 positions to take third at the checkered flag.

            Coming across the line for the checkers would be the #25 One Stop Market entry of Fred Card.  In second, would be the #43 of John VanGastern.  Coming in third would be the #01 of Jim Rocks.  In fourth would be the #02 of Brett Ferland.  Rounding out the top five, would be the #12 Splatterhouse Graphics entry of Richie Strube and rounding out the field would be the #7 of Mike Wahl.

NOVICE
            The final Race was for the Novice Class.  The starting grid had Richard Davidowitz in his #25 kart at pole.  Next to him was the Chris Kiefer in his #4 kart.  In row two Kerri Larsen was on the inside and Brian Hansen in his #8 kart was on the outside.  As they took the green flag Kiefer worked hard on Davidowitz to get that lead spot as Hansen pushed hard to get by Larsen.  Both drivers were successful in their passes and as they finished the first lap the running order had switched to Kiefer in 1st followed by Davidowitz, Hansen and Larsen.  Each driver ran hard and displayed excellent talent taking the optimum line through the turns and as the checkered flag waved, Kiefer hung on to first place in his #4 with Davidowitz coming in second with his #25 followed by Hansen’s #8 and the #23 of Kerri Larsen.

KID KARTS
            The last karts out belonged to the Kid Cadet Karts.  Brian Grennan in the 1 kart, Buddy Salzman in the 94 kart and Andrew Reeves in the 45 kart.  Each took to the track to run some laps and practice their lines.  All drivers did exceptionally well displaying driving talents that will no doubt bring them to the head of the pack in the future.

            It was a great day at the Riverhead Raceway with all the drivers competing at the highest level and enjoying themselves to boot.  It was also a pleasure to watch the future and consider that any one of these fine racers could be the next Jeff Gordon or Michael Schumacher.  Make sure to get yourself out to a kart race this year - the schedule runs into the fall - the competition and action is definitely tight and top notch.

Special Note:  My sincerest thanks to Theresa Holmberg, Tammy Slotkin and Marie Mion for their kindness and patience, without which this rookie reporter would have been lost.

Sources:  Matthew Graff/LongIslandJam.com
Posted:  August 29, 2001