At the Races: August 25

Hello race fans, and welcome to another edition of “AT THE RACES.”

This week the rain gods spared us, and we had a full card of racing as well as a full-size school bus demolition derby, and fireworks on “I Love America Night” here at Riverhead Raceway.

The stands were at full capacity, with adults and children alike looking forward to an exciting evening of racing. So lets get to it …

The Late Models finally finished their race from the Aug. 11 program which had been rained out after three laps. With a pole start, Peter “Buzzy” Eriksen in the #68 car jumped out to a quick start. By the third lap, Eriksen had the likes of Mike Bologna, in the #00 car, and Chris LaSpisa in the #7 car close behind. With no caution flags out for the remainder of the 22 laps, Peter “Buzzy” Eriksen, in the Harley Davidson of Nassau County Chevy, would grab his first win of 2012, and his 46th career trip to victory lane.

First race: a 20-lap, 14-car Charger feature. At the drop of the green, “Radiant” Ray Minieri, in the #43 car, and CJ Lehmann, in the #1 car burst out to the front with Jeremy McDermott, in the #5 car third. As the race progressed, McDermott passed Lehmann in lap four with a nifty inside move. He then set his sights on race leader Minieri over the next 11 laps. McDermott finally passed Minieri with six laps remaining, as Eric Zeh, in the #34 car battled with Minieri as to who owned second place. Things got up close, and personal as Zeh bumped Minieri, sending him into a spin and losing the cars roof and wind screen. On the caution, Zeh was moved to the rear of the pack for rough riding, which put Lehmann back into second place. But in the end, Jeremy McDermott, in his Suffolk Precast car would grab his sixth career win, and bolster his points lead in the Charger Division.

Second race: a 20-lap, 27-car Legends feature. At the green, Vinny Delaney, in the #17 car, quickly grabbed the lead from Frank Sciemeca Jr, in the #9 car, with the likes of veterans Kevin Nowak, in the #53 car, and Chris Young, in the #49 car a close second. Nowak ran second to Delaney until Young moved under Nowak, and grabbed second place. With his sights set on race leader Delaney, Young pulled a daring move on lap eight, as he passed Delaney coming out of turn four, and grabbed the lead, as Delaney and Nowak fought for second place rights. When the checkers waved, it was Chris Young, in the Ray the Plumber car grabbing his fourth win of the season. On a side note, Chris Young took a 4 am flight from Purdue University, where he just started college a week ago, to make this race.

Third race: a 15-lap, nine-car Figure Eight race. At the wink of the green, Mike Mujsce, in the #13 car, and Ken Hyde Jr., in the #58 would vault out front, with Mujsce taking the lead, and Hyde Jr. a close second. It was a toe-to-toe race for the first 12 laps as Mujsce thwarted every attempt Hyde Jr. made to grab the lead, but that would all end as the pair would get too close coming out of turn four, and send each other into a spin, drawing a yellow caution. Arne Pedersen, in the 34 car, who was battling for third with his brother Scott Pedersen, in the #27 car, became the new race leader. Arne Pedersen, in the BNR Home Improvement Dodge, would grab the checkered square for his second win, and in doing so, become the new points leader in the Figure Eight Division.

Fourth Race: a 35-lap, 22-car Donaldson’s VW-Subaru NASCAR Whelen Modified Feature. As the light winked green, John Fortin, in the #48 Car, a three-time track champion, vaulted into the lead, with Shawn Solomito, in the #66 car second. But by lap two, Justin Bonsignore, in the #51 car, worked his way by Solomito, and was now looking for the leader Fortin. Over the next nine laps, Bonsignore would follow Fortin, looking for a way to grab the lead. On lap 11, after a double-file restart, Bonsignore and Fotin would be even until they both entered turn three, as Bonsignore made the move inside, and grabbed the lead from Fortin. Moments later, Fortin would spin-out in turn four, opening up second to Howie Brode, in the #96 car. After another double-file restart, Solomito would overtake Brode for second, and Ted Christopher, in the #15 car, would take third. For the remainder of the race, Bonsignore opened up a sizable lead, and never looked back as he grabbed the checkers for his eighth career victory. Like Legends driver Chris Young, Justin Bonsignore received a late night text from his cars owner, as Bonsignore, who was grabbing a late dinner in North Carolina asking him to get back north ASAP for this race. Both good decisions on the driver’s part.

By now the kids in the stands were yearning for some fireworks, followed by a side of School Bus Demolition Derby. The fireworks went off without a hitch, a good blend of pyrotechnics brought out a lot of ooh’s and aah’s from the crowd. But by now, the kids were salivating for some destruction of the big yellow boxes with wheels. As the buses made their way to the infield, you could cut the anticipation with a knife. Once things got going, metal bending, windows breaking, and fluid of every caliber known to mankind spraying everywhere, this was a real hoot. In the end, Paul Fox, in the FU Trucking Bus, outlasted Kevin “Ralph Kramden” Rommeney for the victory. Paul is the nephew of popular school bus racer Don “Don Don” Fox of Riverhead, who passed away this summer after a serious car accident. We here at “AT THE RACES” wish the Fox family nothing but best wishes.

Well motorheads, that about does it for this weeks edition of “AT THE RACES”. A big thank you to the Long Island Blue Jays Marching band for their excellent rendition of the Star Spangled Banner — well done — and to the Cub Scouts: keep up the good work. Another great job by Track Services. Thanks to Barbara and Jim Cromarty for the excellent night of racing: great venue. Brigandi Brothers, another job well done. Thanks to all the people who read and hopefully enjoy the photos I provide every week on this great website. Wendy at the VIP window, my wife JoAnn for keeping me informed with her notes. Let’s thanks our armed forces for our freedom, and the right to live in this great country. I’m gonna call it a day, find my old bus pass, and rip it up. Get the radiator flushed, and check the struts. Till we meet again next week, have a great week, and be safe. I will see you again…”AT THE RACES”

RiverheadLOCAL photos by George Faella.
Click thumbnails to enlarge images
To order prints, please contact the photographer directly. Click here to send him an email.
{gallery}cssgallery/2012_0826_races{/gallery}