Ron Silk Wins Richie Evans NASCAR Hall Of Fame 100 At Riverhead Raceway And Earns $3,560
RIVERHEAD, NY — Defending NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour champion Ron Silk of Norwalk, Ct topped a 26-car field to win the Richie Evans NASCAR Hall of Fame 100 for the NASCAR Modifieds Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway to become the first repeat winner of the race since its inception. The win was worth $3,560 to Silk and his TS Haulers team as they earned a $1,000 bonus for both the race win as well as for being the first WMT regular across the line in bonus money raised by Jim Schaefer, aka the LI Mod Maniac.
Shawn Solomito of Islip set fast time of the 29-cars that were on hand with a lap of 11.765 to earn a $100 bonus from Brigandi Brothers Automotive. With the help of some of Schaefer’s students from Reilly Avenue School in Riverhead, Solomito chose the pole after he chose a re-draw among the top six; Howie Brode pulled the outside pole for the second straight week.
At the throw of Mike Boken’s green flag Solomito quickly put his SS Motorsports entry out front and began to collect the lap money that was available to the leading Riverhead Raceway regular per-lap while John Fortin quickly hustled under Howie Brode for second. The race was run relatively caution free early on and lapped traffic would play an early role a quarter way through the century grind. On lap 28 Fortin became a victim of that congestion as Ron Silk was able to catch John in traffic and take over second and set his sights on leader Solomito. Just two laps after moving to second Silk was again able to use a lapped car as a pick to race his way into the lead on lap 30 using the outside lane to make the pass of Solomito who now also had Ted Christopher to deal with.
Christopher used a lap 33 double file restart to slip under Solomito for second and over the following 27 laps it would be Silk and Christopher running one-two with Solomito third. As the race progressed the handle started to go away on Teddy’s machine and soon he was back in the clutches of Solomito who would reclaim second on lap 72, leaving him some 28-laps to try and catch and then pass leader Silk. Some late race caution flags did wave allowing Shawn to pull-up to Ron’s rear spoiler. Solomito along with third place runner Justin Bonsignore had extra incentive as both wanted to win this race for the Trinca family just months after their devastating loss in October.
However it was not to be as Ron Silk, driving for Ed & Connie Partridge would take the checker flag first for his second win in the Richie Evans NASCAR Hall of Fame 100. “I’ve said it before, driving for this team is a dream come true” Silk boasted in victory lane. “I have to thank the Grasso Brothers and the entire team for putting a great piece under me every time we race”.
Shawn Solomito was runner-up in the American Tent Chevy and in the process collected all the lap leader bonus money for the top Riverhead car per-lap worth $2,275 and after his fast time money and purse money he’d earn exactly as much as the race winner, $3,560. Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville was third in the M3 Technologies Chevy and after the race had the recovering “Freshie” Trinca pull out a winning ticket number for two baseball tickets the Long Island Ducks that were part of a fundraiser for the Trinca family which were won by a member of Bill Park’s team. Howie Brode of E. Islip took over the Riverhead points lead with his 4th place finish, while Ted Christopher of Plainville, Ct. completed the top five in Wayne Anderson’s famed ride.
Young Figure Eight talent Ken Hyde Jr. of Medford scored the biggest win of his budding career as he won the Cromarty Cup 20 leading all the way in doing so. Ken vaulted right into the lead when the green lights winked on with “The Alter Boy” Tom Ferrara giving chase. A early race incident involving “Downtown” George Brown and Tim Mulqueen slowed the race and set-up a double file restart among the leaders, a restart that Hyde handled to perfection to continue in the lead. Ferrara stayed right with the race leader and later in the extra distance tilt thought he might have a shot at Hyde with traffic at the “X”. However nothing was going to stop Ken Hyde Jr. in the Maples Bar & Grill entry as he drove to victory and the 2012 Cromarty Cup which is run in honor of Barbara Cromarty’s birthday. Tom Ferrara of Patchogue was runner-up in the Bill Beener Tree Service Chevy, while his car owner and teammate Mike Mujsce of Westhampton Beach was third in the K. Clement Landscaping racer.
Bill Wegmann Sr. of N. Bellmore was proclaimed the winner of the 20-lap Blunderbust feature after Rob Bader of Holtsville was moved back 2 spots for passing under the yellow line. Joe Seeger led the first five laps of the race before he was over taken by Bader but in the estimation of the NASCAR Officials Rob’s pass was under the yellow line and therefore after the checker waved in the non-stop race he was moved back. This awarded “The Racing Grandfather” Bill Wegmann Sr. the win in his Cracker Jack Auto Stores Oldsmobile, a car by the way that he built in 1989! Joe Seeger of Oceanside was second in his JC Automotive Chevy while Rob Bader took home third place money in the Total Dental Care family Plan Chevy.
Chris Young of Calverton notched his second Legend Race Car win of 2012 as he topped their 20-lap main event just hours removed from his Senior Prom. Chris Rogers took the early lead and showed the way for the first six laps of the race until Young wheeling his Ray the Plumber machine worked his way by on lap 7. Rogers stayed second until a quick turn four spin cost him several positions but did not draw a yellow and that moved Kevin Nowak to second setting-up a fight for the lead among the two most recent champions in the class. Chris, the current defending champion was able to keep a comfortable enough lead over the second half of the race to post another popular win over Kevin Nowak of Medford who settled for second in his sponsor wanted racer. Brendon Bock of Franklin Square has truly come into his own as he enjoyed yet another top five finish with a third in his un-sponsored machine.
Dege Russell of Rocky Point passed Dominic Ranieri just laps after the halfway mark of the 75-lap 8-Cylinder Enduro to score the win in his Kelley Russell Realty Chevy. Early on it was a classic battle among three of the best in the business as Russell and Ranieri were fighting for the lead with Anthony Pizzo. However once Russell got out front he’d pull away to claim the win as he seemed to be able to get through lapped traffic better than most. Dominic Ranieri of E. Northport was second in the Spare Parts Racing Chevy, while Anthony Pizzo of Lake Ronkonkoma placed third in the United Exhaust Shop entry.
Evans NASCAR Hall Of Fame 100 Modifieds: 1. Ron Silk 2. Shawn Solomito 3. Justin Bonsignore 4. Howie Brode 5. Ted Christopher 6. John Fortin 7. Dave Brigati 8. Dave Sapienza 9. Jon McKennedy 10. Ed Brunnhoelzl III 11. Rich Pallai Jr. 12. Eric Goodale 13. Jerry Solomito Jr. 14. Tom Rogers Jr. 15. John Beatty Jr. 16. Kevin Orlando 17. Don Howe 18. Jason Agugliaro 19. Amber Fortin 20. John Fortin Jr. 21. Frank Vigliarolo Jr. 22. Ryan Preece 23. Timmy Solomito 24. David Roys 25. Brad Van Houten 26. Chris McGuire DNQ- Ken Darch, Al Ermmarino, Vincent Biondolillo
Cromarty Cup 20 Figure Eights: 1. Ken Hyde Jr. 2. Tom Ferrara 3. Mike Mujsce 4. Arne Pedersen 5. Roger Maynor 6. Dennis Scott 7. George Brown 8. Bill Farrell 9. Steve Stadler 10. Tim Mulqueen 11. Rick Swanson 12. George Seus
Blunderbusts 20-laps: 1. Bill Wegmann Sr. 2. Joe Seeger 3. Rob Bader 4. Fred Nolan 5. Paul Parisi 6. Tom Pickerell 7. Jack Handley Jr. 8. Tim Mulqueen 9. Ed Mistretta 10. Tommy Walkowiak 11. Jimmy White Jr. 12. Justin Wahl 13. Bill Portney Sr. 14. Bryan Quilliam 15. Bob Muller 16. Scott Sepe 17. Mike Accordino 18. Tom Sullivan 19. Ray Shannon 20. Scott Maliszewski 21. Thomas Puccia Jr. 22. Jessica Cohan
Legends 20-laps: 1. Chris Young 2. Kevin Nowak 3. Brendon Bock 4. Kyle Soper 5. Kyle Ellwood 6. Jay Sendlewski 7. Paul Dodorico 8. Jeffrey Goodale 9. Jim Byrne 10. Chris Rogers 11. Shawn Wanat 12. Mike Smith 13. Jim Sylvester 14. Artie Pedersen III 15. Joe Scibelli 16. Bill Hiscock 17. Christian Conklin 18. Silas Hiscock Sr. 19. Vinny Delaney 20. Bryan Kelly 21. Alex Urbina 22. Fred Card 23. Anthony Marsh 24. Dylan Slepian 25. Tom Sherman 26. George Baker Jr. 27. Richie Davidowitz
8-Cylinder Enduro 75-laps (top five): 1. Dege Russell 2. Dominic Ranieri 3. Anthony Pizzo 4. Jess Martines 5. Chris Mayer
Sources: Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR