NOTEBOOK: Riverhead Modified Tradition
Baldwin Evans Jarzombek 77 A Tribute To Track’s History
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. – It may have been a trio of 20-somethings that dominated the day on the track, but the Baldwin Evans Jarzombek Memorial 77 was all about celebrating the history of NASCAR Modified racing at Riverhead Raceway.
Present-day standouts supplied the competitive highlights Saturday night as 22-year-old Long Islander Timmy Solomito earned the pole, 29-year-old and defending 77 winner Ron Silk looked strong in leading the field early, and 21-year-old Ryan Preece turned out to be the class of the show and took the checkered flag. But it was the vintage cars and fond memories of days gone by that carried the day.
The venerable quarter-mile in eastern Long Island has been a Modified racing hotbed throughout its existence, which dates back to 1949, the second year of NASCAR racing. The annual 77-lapper, contested Saturday night, pays homage to three legendary Modified drivers who had strong ties to the bullring.
NASCAR Competition Administrator Jerry Cook makes it a point to annually attend the tribute to three of his contemporaries – Tom Baldwin Sr., Richie Evans and Charlie Jarzombek.
“Those three names – they’re all champions and winners, and of course, have all passed on,” Cook said. “I’ve been coming up to this race for quite a few years. It’s a fun deal. There’s usually some different cars show up, so it’s a good race, and there’s a lot of people that come here that you don’t normally see at the other races.”
A six-time NASCAR Modified national champion driver himself, Cook remains well-entrenched in the Modified community, and enjoys opportunities like the 77 to see some familiar faces, especially longtime track owners Jim and Barbara Cromarty.
“Riverhead is one of the few race tracks left that still runs Modifieds by the [Whelen Modified] Tour rulebook rules every Saturday night, just like Bowman Gray Stadium,” Cook said. “The Cromartys have run Riverhead for well over 30 years. In fact, they owned Riverhead and Islip when I still raced, so they have a long, long history with NASCAR.”
The 77 also carries extra meaning for current and past competitors. A four-time track champion driver, Bill Park now enters his car in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action every Saturday night at Riverhead with Preece behind the wheel. Prior to celebrating in Victory Lane later in the evening, Park talked about competing with the late “Tiger” Tom Baldwin.
“He was a hard racer, a tough guy to race with,” Park said of Baldwin. “He always raced you clean. He was a good guy to race with and was a tough competitor.”
With little room to race on the tight bullring, Park and Baldwin had their share of clashes, but the respect between competitors always won out.
“We had our battles – good ones, bad ones. Sometimes he’d come out ahead, sometimes I’d come out ahead,” Park said. “I’d guess we had more than one disagreement over the course of many years we raced together, but the next week – that generation – we could put last week behind us and start with a new week.”
The barnstorming Evans, who became the first primarily-Modified competitor to be inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame earlier this year, is widely considered the greatest driver in the history of Modified competition. There are no shortage of stories and fond memories of the “Rapid Roman,” and five-time Riverhead titlist Don Howe recalls how the late Evans supplied equipment and support to help launch his own success.
“Richie would do anything to help us,” Howe said. “Richie was a great driver and really at the top level as far as what he was doing, but he took care of the little guy too. He wouldn’t ignore you. His head wasn’t up in the clouds like some of these guys get.”
Howe has recently started racing again after taking 15 years off. Although he wasn’t competing Saturday night, Howe enjoyed the reminiscent atmosphere of the Baldwin Evans Jarzombek 77.
“I still miss those guys,” Howe said. “I raced against all three of them, it’s a shame. But it’s nice to come to the track and see some of the old faces and share some of the stories from back when we were racing together.”
The owner of the No. 6 TS Haulers Racing Chevrolet that captured the 2011 NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour championship with Silk behind the wheel, Ed Partridge also brings his cars out to Riverhead on a part-time basis. They captured the 77 victory a year ago, a special moment for Partridge, who was a crew member for the late “Chargin” Charlie Jarzombek for nearly 20 years.
“Charlie was a hard-charger,” Partridge says of Jarzombek. “He was one of the guys that always started in the back – he got handicapped because he always finished good – and he used to go to the outside. He used to pass a lot of people on the outside. It was tremendous races here, fans were on their feet all the time.”
A veteran of many years of Modified racing on Long Island as both a crew member and car owner, Partridge has many fond memories of the great competition at Riverhead, especially of the three racers that had their name on Saturday night’s headliner.
“We all raced here – Tommy Baldwin raced here at Riverhead all the time, and at Islip,” Partridge said. “Richie Evans used to come here all the time as an “invader,” and they used to have some absolute great races here.”
Saturday’s special Whelen All-American Series program will be followed up by another big event for Riverhead on Saturday, July 28. The Whelen Modified Tour will make its annual trek to the quarter-mile for the Riverhead 200, an event that Long Islander Justin Bonsignore is the defending winner.
Fittingly, Riverhead’s relationship with the Whelen Modified Tour goes back to the beginning. It’s one of just two tracks that has played host to the Tour in each of its now 28 years of competition.
COMPLETE INTERVIEW AUDIO:
BILL PARK | DON HOWE | ED PARTRIDGE