Timmy Solomito Scores Clean Sweep Of Angela’s House Night Twin 30’s At Riverhead Raceway
RIVERHEAD, NY — Timmy Solomito of Islip came to Riverhead Raceway on Saturday afternoon as a driver on a mission and when the NASCAR Modified Twin 30’s on Angela’s House night were completed “The Natural” could proclaim mission accomplished. Solomito dominated the event as he set fast time with a lap of 11.854, drew the pole and led all 60 laps of the two feature events.
The first 30 lap contest saw Timmy Solomito and David Roys bring the field to the green flag with Solomito quickly breaking our front while Roys was able to slide in front of Howie Brode for second. The first race went green to checker without a caution flag with Roys at first able to keep step with the race leader but after halfway Timmy was able to put some asphalt between himself and his nearest challenger, while Brode was very content to sit third.
At the finish it was the Eastport Feeds Chevy of Timmy Solomito topping the Angela’s House entry of David Roys of Coram while Howie Brode of East Islip crossed the line third earning the Peter Clark Motorsports team the 2013 NASCAR Modified championship. Ryan Preece of Berlin, Ct and Justin Bonsignore of West Islip completed the top five.
For the 30-lap nightcap the field lined-up double file and some position changes took place when the green light came on. Solomito again dashed out front but this time Brode was able to duck under David Roys for second and Justin Bonsignore saw the opening Brode created and he raced his way to third as the field exited turn two. A early race caution for John Fortin Jr.’s spin off turn two set-up another restart which saw Justin Bonsignore able to work his way under Brode for second with Dave Sapienza soon to come to third. Like Roys and Brode before him Bonsignore could only watch as Timmy Solomito turned in a convincing performance and in fact had to ward off Sapienza for second.
At the checker flag in the second 30-lapper it was Timmy Solomito in the L.I. Fuel Oil Accessories Chevy taking the win, Justin Bonsignore in the M3 Technology Chevy was runner-up while Dave Sapienza of Riverhead placed third in the Heller Construction Chevy. Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue and Ryan Preece completed the top five.
After receiving the PRC Industries/Angela’s House hardware in victory lane Timmy was quick to give credit where he felt the credit belonged, “I can’t thank Wayne & Joette Anderson enough for the opportunity and especially my dad Jerry, he got this thing right tonight”. When asked if the two victories would give him momentum going into this weeks Green Earth Technologies 200 WMT race at Riverhead, Solomito quickly shot back “I certainly hope so, we should be good”.
Ken Hyde of Medford celebrated his 21st Birthday with his second consecutive Figure Eight feature event win and in the process finds himself the new championship point leader going into the final points race September 21st. Defending champion Mike Mujsce jumped out to the early lead and would appear to be headed to his first triumph of 2013. However all summer long Mike has had a dark cloud of bad luck hovering over him and once again it rained down on him. With Ken Hyde Jr. several car lengths behind him and just three laps remaining suddenly Mujsce spun on his own just before he cam down to get the two to go signal. That gave Hyde a very special birthday gift as he was now the race leader and over the final two laps he’d drive his Northeastern Office Equipment Chevy to victory. John Vullo of Farmingville was runner-up in his Teddy Bear Graphics Cadillac while Tom Ferrara of Patchogue returned from a Florida vacation just in time to finish third in the K. Clement Landscaping entry. Hyde will lead the duo of Arne Pedersen and Roger Maynor by 6-points, 408 to 402 heading into the final race, Maynor and Pedersen got together on the final lap dropping them in the finish. They were running second and third at the time.
It is safe to say the scheduled 20-lap Charger race wasn’t very pretty at times but it also can be said that the caution flag filled race also provided some of the best side by side racing of the night. In the end it would be CJ Lehmann of Shirley notching his second win of 2013 and a hard fought win it would be. Cory Midgett paced the race over the first two laps before Tom Anderson took the lead on lap 3. One lap later CJ Lehmann came to second and soon he and leader Anderson were going side by side for the race lead. Chad Churilla came to third and on lap 10 he made a daring move going into the first turn trying to pass both Lehmann and Anderson in one inside pass. However Churilla ran out of real estate as he and Anderson got together in the first turn drawing a yellow flag. That moved Chris Turbush to second behind Lehmann who was the new race leader narrowly escaping the Churilla & Anderson incident. Once again CJ found himself going side by side, this time with the former four time champion in the class Turbush. The duo swapped paint as the diced for the race lead and win and soon rookie driver “Rocking” Rich Wilson would join the party. On lap 18 Wilson and Turbush got together as their cars got locked in turn two drawing what would be the final caution of the race due to the time limit. With the checker flag being displayed when the field was reset CJ Lehmann survived not one but two heated side by side duels to score the victory in his Lido Stone Chevy. Jayson White of Hicksville drove a heads-up race to cross the line second in his Gardner Specialty Auto Chevy while “Radiant” Ray Minieri of Bay Shore was third in his F&S Race Fuels machine. Going into the final point paying race on September 21st Chris Turbush will lead Eric Zeh by two points, 504 to 502.
Hard to imagine that the all-time leading Blunderbust feature event winner Tommy “The Wildchild” Walkowiak of Ridge had not won since very early in the 2012 season but indeed that was the case, that is until this Saturday when he posted his 52nd career victory. Rising talent Tom Puccia grabbed the race lead at the drop of the green and in fact would pace the race for the first 11-laps. Justin Wahl chased Puccia over the first 4 laps before Walkowiak came calling to take over second on lap 5. Over the next half a dozen laps Walkowiak kept the pressure on Puccia, who was seeking his first ever win in the class. Lap 12 found Walkowiak dipping to the inside of Puccia who left the door open slightly which was all Tommy needed. Once out front Tommy Walkowiak would lead the remainder of the race in his Blaze Fuel Oil Caprice. Tom Puccia of Shirley stayed with the eventual race winner and rove to a solid runner-up finish in the Ferrandino & Sons Construction racer. Brian Brown of Baiting Hollow was third in the Wilson Distributors entry. A wild last lap tangle saw Ron Langdon get into championship contender Tom Pickerell off turn four, NASCAR Officials disqualified Langdon from the race for his actions.
Mark Stewart of Riverhead continued his winning ways in the Super Pro Truck ranks as he won their 20-lap main event for his fourth win of 2013. “Dangerous” Dave Koenig raced out front when the race got underway with defending champion Roger Turbush alongside in a side by side battle. On lap 3 Turbush would take the race lead from Koenig and lead the race until the halfway mark when once again lady luck frowned on Roger as he suddenly slowed. That turn of events put Koenig back out front with Mark Stewart hot on his heels in second. Koenig, who happens to also own Stewart’s truck did all he could to keep the 15-year old freshman driver at bay, while Frank Dumicich Jr. looked on from third. Dumicich actually passed Stewart for second from lap 17 to 19 but then the fourth generation driver made his winning move working his way by both Dumicich and Koenig on the final lap of the race. As the race concluded it was another popular victory for Mark Stewart in the Angela’s House Chevy. Dave Koenig of Freeport finished second in his Nelson’s Auto Salvage Chevy with point leader Frank Dumicich Jr. of E. Quogue third in his Sea-Level Construction Chevy. Frank will take a 10-point lead over Mike Albasini of Flushing into the final point race September 21st.
Two tested tough 8-Cylinder Enduro veterans Ed Brown Jr. of Mastic Beach and Dominick Ranieri of East Northport waged a fierce battle of their own during the 75-lap feature event for the class. The talented tandem swapped the lead several times during the race before Brown in his United Exhaust Shop Caprice took down the win. Ranieri was second in his Westhampton Auto Salvage Chevy, with Don Carasiti of St. James third in his IRIE Riding Stables entry.
NASCAR Modified 1st Twin 30: 1. Timmy Solomito 2. David Roys 3. Howie Brode 4. Ryan Preece 5. Justin Bonsignore 6. Tom Rogers Jr. 7. Dave Sapienza 8. Jason Agugliaro 9. Dave Brigati 10. John Beatty Jr. 11. Kevin Orlando 12. Vinny Biondolillo 13. John Fortin Sr. 14. Kyle Ellwood 15. John Fortin Jr. 16. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 17. Ken Darch 18. Shawn Solomito
NASCAR Modified 2nd Twin 30: 1. Timmy Solomito 2. Justin Bonsignore 3. Dave Sapienza 4. Tom Rogers Jr. 5. Ryan Preece 6. Howie Brode 7. David Roys 8. Vinny Biondolillo 9. Kyle Ellwood 10. Dave Brigati 11. John Fortin Sr. 12. Kevin Orlando 13. John Beatty Jr. 14. Eddie Brunnhoelzl III 15. Jason Agugliaro 16. Shawn Solomito 17. Ken Darch 18. John Fortin Jr.
Figure Eights: 1. Ken Hyde Jr. 2. John Vullo 3. Tom Ferrara 4. CJ Lehmann 5. Roger Maynor 6. Mike Mujsce 7. Gary Fritz Jr. 8. Arne Pedersen 9. Brian Hansen 10. Scott Lehmann 11. Ron Langdon 12. Scott Pedersen
Chargers: 1. CJ Lehmann 2. Jayson White 3. Ray Minieri 4. Tom Anderson 5. Chris Turbush 6. Rich Wilson 7. Chad Churilla 8. Eric Zeh 9. Cory Midgett
Blunderbusts: 1. Tommy Walkowiak 2. Tom Puccia 3. Brian Brown 4. Scott Maliszewski 5. Tim Mulqueen 6. Bill Wegmann Sr. 7. Justin Wahl 8. Jack Handley Jr. 9. Richie Hubbard 10. Tom Sullivan 11. Bryan Quilliam 12. Tom Pickerell 13. Jessica Cohan 14. Bob Muller 15. Robert Duffus Jr. 16. Bill Wegmann Jr. 17. Rob Bader 18. CJ Zurkowski 19. Jimmy White Jr. 20. Paul Parisi DQ-Ron Langdon
Super Pro Trucks: 1. Mark Stewart 2. Dave Koenig 3. Frank Dumicich Jr. 4. Mike Albasini 5. Rob Bader 6. Frank Dumicich Sr. 7. Anthony Vecchio 8. Brian McElearney 9. Mike Mujsce 10. Lou Maestri 11. Erin Dumicich-Solomito 12. Roger Turbush 13. Rich Campo
8-Cylinder Enduro (top five): 1. Ed Brown Jr. 2. Dominick Ranieri 3. Don Carasiti 4. Spiro Germanakos 5. Donald Lawrence
Sources: Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR