8/5/2007
PAVEMENT NOTES:
RIVERHEAD RACEWAY FLASH EVENT
by Walt Stubbs
One thing they had plenty of during the running of the Miller Lite 140
lap Whelen Modified Tour event at Riverhead Saturday Night was icy cold
delicious Miller Lites. Too bad the track didn't have
enough of the other "lights" which caused a delay of up to one hour
before the Tour finally took the green flag. The "lights" we are
speaking about were a set of lights in turn one which weren't working up
to par, thanks to a thunderstorm that hit eastern Long Island the night
before, striking one of the light towers. With safety being an issue,
NASCAR officials waited until the Riverhead crew redirected the lighting
from another tower towards the darker area of the speedway before the
race could get underway. Of course, the question is why did it take so
long for anybody to realize the lights weren't up to par? The decision
to wait wasn't made until all of the drivers were buckled into there
race cars and sat on the front stretch waiting for the repairs to get
done. Not exactly the way to run a smooth program, don't you think, but
the way things have been going around NASCAR and the Modified Tour in
recent weeks, it's pretty much been the norm, which doesn't speak to
fondly of what those in Daytona think of its oldest division.
Much has happened on the Tour in recent weeks, mostly stuff
behind the scenes such as long time NASCAR PR man Mark Mockovak being
let go. While most of you reading this might not know who he is,
Mockovak is a guy who has loved modified racing since he was a kid going
to the old Danbury Fairgrounds. He was someone who held his position not
as a job, but as someone who loved the sport. Unfortunately, those at
NASCAR felt the job should be a full time position and let him go in the
middle of the season. This, after NASCAR couldn't find anyone for years
who would take the job as a full time job. Mockovak had no problem doing
the work, as it was more of a hobby than a job to him. It will be
interesting to see if NASCAR really needs someone to fill the job on a
full time basis and if that person, whoever it might be, cares about the
division as much as Mockovak did.
The other story making the rounds had to do with the poor
broadcast that Speed did on the recent Tour race up at New Hampshire. It
seems those who did the broadcast couldn't exactly get their facts right
when talking about drivers or get the pronunciation right on others. I
was always told in my Journalism class that the most important
part writing or telling a story was to get the facts straight and
everything else would fall into place. Or taking it one step further and
using the advice of my Dad, who told me, "If you're going to do
something half assed, that don't do it at all."
Once the light situation was corrected and they went green,
much of the lights and cameras were on Donny Lia. And why not? This year
has been a breakthrough for the Long Islander on the Tour, who has the
most wins this season on the Tour while also leading the points chase.
Plus, you add in
the fact the Lia was running in front of his many hometown fans while
also racing at the track that he got his start at while also collecting
his first Tour win at a few years earlier, and you can understand all
the attention.
To be honest, though, most of the eyes in the crowd, along
with the cameras and lights, were on Mike Stefanik and Ted Christopher,
who were waging a heated battle for the win for much of the race. It
seemed to start when Stefanik, who was leading, came up on the lapped
car of Rowan Pennink coming out of turn four. A decision had to be made,
go low or go high to get by Pennink. At that point Christopher dove low
and both Stefanik and Christopher came together, with one of the cars
(Christopher) actually getting airborn from the contact. Christopher,
though, was the winner in the short term as he took the lead from
Stefanik. At that point, the heat turned up a notch in the oven for
Stefanik, who stayed glued to Christopher's bumper and made it known to
all that he was going to do everything his experience could muster to
get back the lead. It all came to a head at Riverhead with less than
five laps to go when Stefanik came in contact with Christopher, spinning
Christopher and causing a right front flat for Stefanik.
That's all Lia needed to get his fifth victory in eight
starts this year. "You could see something was going to happen between
the 36 and 16 cars," said Lia afterwards. "The 36 has had a pretty
decent season while the 16 hasn't had a good season and everyone is real
hungry to win so you knew something was going to happen. I just wanted
to make sure that we were in the best position to take advantage of it
if something happened and it did." Lia also admitted, even before the
race, that its sometimes better to be lucky than good, and lo and
behold, it played out to form. "We definitely didn't have a first place
car tonight but it goes to show that even if we don't, we are still
competitive. That shows how strong this team is. Our other wins, we had
the car to beat and tonight we didn't. I'm surprised as much as anyone
on how quick we've come together as a team. It's something you just
can't explain. We just have a bunch of guys that are working hard all
for the same thing. I think we are in a good position because all the
tracks we are going into the coming weeks, we've pretty much figured out
how to run them. But like I said, you can have the perfect set up, know
the track and everything else but it won't make a difference unless you
have luck on your side. Hopefully, that will continue."
As for what happened between Stefanik and Christopher,
Christopher had this to say. "I don't know what Mike is all upset about.
I was racing for the lead and we came up on lapped traffic. I made a
move as did he. It was a quick decision we both had to make. We came in
contact. It's typical short track racing. Then, he just dumped me, which
I'm surprised he did because he wound up coming out worst in the deal
than I did. I'm not mad or anything because that's the way it is at a
place this tight. I just feel sorry for the fans because there were just
too many cautions and nobody
could get in any rhythm," said Christopher of the 66 laps of caution.
As for Stefanik, he was visibly upset at the proceedings and
did not want to talk until he had cooled a bit. (See race story for
his comments) Unfortunately, Stefanik, after changing, made a quick
exit out of the Riverhead pits for his home in Rhode Island.
The Park name has been synonymous with modified racing for
four decades in modified racing. Brothers Bob and Bill started the
success and later Steve would take the torch up to Nextel Cup. While Bob
is now retired and living down south and Steve is looking for a secure
ride in the Trucks, Cup or Busch, Bill is now in his 37th year of racing
a modified. In his earlier years Park would make the occasional trek to
New Egypt, Stafford, Thompson and the Race of Champions at Pocono but in
the last decade or so has concentrated his efforts solely on Riverhead.
A track championship has
ensued and Park this year once again finds himself in position for yet
another Riverhead track championship.
But as Park remarked after his second place finish, "I hate
running for championships. I never have raced with a championship in
mind and then it winds up happening." Park always looks forward to when
the Tour visits Riverhead, and as he stated afterward, "If I ever
win a Tour race, I'll retire," said Park, who then quipped, "I still
feel I can compete and I feel great, even after running 150 laps in the
heat so why stop?" Park made his point with his fine second place and
also showed a respect that's sometimes been lacking with other drivers
on the Tour. "I race clean and a few weeks ago Donny (Lia) came and ran
here in a race and we raced clean and I won. There was no way I was
going to dump him or anything like that because he showed me the same
respect. I do think
that if we had a few more green laps, I had something for him though."
While Park showed the Tour regulars that a Long Island
veteran is someone they still had to contend with, Justin Bonsignore
showed the Tour that he might be someone they will have to contend with
in the years to come. Both he and Tour regular Ronnie Silk impressed
everyone with there fourth and third place finished respectively. As
Bonsignore joked with Jimmy Blewett afterward, "Thanks for opening
up all the holes for me to follow." It was more than that that led to
Bonsignore's fine showing. As for Blewett, a flat right tire on a
restart cost him a lap in the pits, and he wound up12th in the final
tally. "We had a car capable of winning but I knew something was wrong
right before the restart and sure enough, it was the tire. We were able
to get it fixed, which shows how great these guys are. We might be a bit
understaffed but the guys we have more than make up for it," said
Blewett.
RIVERHEAD STOPS:
When the Tour schedule was released over the
winter, Danny Sammons circled the Riverhead date. That's because Sammons
failed to make the show last year in his first ever appearance at the
Long Island track. Knowing that he needed to get laps around the tricky
1/4 mile, Sammons came to Riverhead a few weeks back to get that
experience and the trip proved worthwhile for he and car owner Ralph
Solhem. Sammons used that knowledge, plus a few other tips, to get a
hard fought sixth place finish Saturday Night. "I knew we had to get lap
time here and that helped," revealed Sammons afterward. "It's been a
tough season. We run on a limited budget but I also realized I had to
quit being so nice on the track and be more aggressive. We did that
tonight and it worked out great," said Sammons....
One of the nice guys on the Tour has always been Tony
Ferrante. Ferrante now only runs a few races a year and the one he looks
forward to the most is the race at Riverhead. Much of that has to do
with the fact that he is from Long Island and has many friends. He also
always seems to run well at Riverhead and Saturday was no
different. Ferrante was one of the top seven in time and was started the
feature on the outside pole. Ferrante had his good run end when he spun
out in turn two after Jerry Marquis made contact with the rear bumper of
Ferrante. Always the gentlemen, Ferrante did not blame Marquis. "It was
just short track racing," said Ferrante. "It's just frustrating because
we had such a good car. I was just feeling my way, going five laps hard,
and then taking it easy for five laps, just getting my rhythm. It's just
frustrating because on one hand you feel good because I went out there
and didn't miss a beat and was running well and then all of a sudden,
you're day is done." Ferrante, by the way, still has the best post party
in the pits of all of the teams. The spread once again this year had
plenty for everybody who came on by....
Riverhead was the last of the Flash Races of the season. Once
again, a few tweaks were made for the 140 lap race after the two 25 lap
qualifying races were completed. All yellow counted during the race,
which wasn't the case in prior Flash races. Will the Flash concept be
back in 2008? Who knows, some even wonder if there will even be a Tour
all together.
Mike Ewanitsko was in the pits taking in the action.
Ewanitsko has the most wins in Tour history at Riverhead (11). Ewanitsko
is waiting to get a kidney transplant, and his a donor in his
girlfriend. The procedure is to take place in the winter and here's to a
healthy Ewanitsko, who is missed on the Tour.
It's always fun to make the trek to Riverhead and listen to
Bob Finan in the announcer tower. He's among the best in his trade.
The Series heads to Stafford this Friday Night.
Next weekend is also when John Blewett III will be racing a
supermodified for the first time.
And, as we finish this Week's edition, we wonder whatever
happened to Don Howe?
And Finally This Week's Quote of the Week comes from one of
the scorers, after hearing an announcement that a pick up truck in the
parking lot had it's lights on, "They should move the truck to turn one
so we can get some lights on the track."
All views and news can reach me at 2 Constitution Court Unit
501, Hoboken, N.J. 07030.........
Source: Walt
Stubbs/TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
August 5, 2007 |