Tom Rogers Jr. Double Dips With Riverhead Raceway NASCAR Modified And Cromarty Cup Figure Eight Victories Saturday
RIVERHEAD, NY — 
While six NASCAR Whelen All American Series events were run Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway the biggest race if the evening would be the one promoters Barbara & Jim Cromarty waged with mother nature as they attempted to beat the impending rain. It would be a race they’d win and Tom Rogers Jr. of Riverhead was sure glad they did as he topped both the 35-lap NASCAR Modified feature as well the annual Cromarty Cup 20 for the Figure Eights.
Tom Rogers Jr. topped the charts in NASCAR Modified qualifying with a lap of 11.902 and this time lady luck would shine on him when he drew the pole for the race with Ryan Preece picking the outside pole. At the throw of the green Rogers and Preece would go side by side for a lap or two before Tom edged out front with Ryan making his first start for Bill & Barbara Park tucking into second. While Preece was able to keep in step with Rogers over the remainder of the race and draw close at times the former NASCAR WMT champion was never really able to mount a serious challenge for the lead over the remainder of the race. Defending champion Howie Brode made his way to third at the start of the race and was hoping for some fireworks between the leaders but those fireworks never did materialize.
At the checker flag it was Tom Rogers Jr. scoring his 34th career NASCAR Modified win moving him into sole possession of third place on the all-time Riverhead Raceway win list behind Charlie Jarzombek (63) and Jim Malone Sr. (50). “The guys gave me a great car tonight” Rogers offered “there are no easy wins here and having Ryan to beat was a challenge but we got the job done”. Rogers had stated before the season started he’d only run the Modified when the Figure Eights ran due to his WMT schedule among other things. When pressed about next Saturday when the Figure Eights are off Tom admitted to a change of plans ” yeah we’ll be here with this car next week and we’ll test our WMT ride too”.
Ryan Preece of Berlin, Ct. was runner-up in the East West Marine Chevy for Team Park while Howie Brode of East Islip grabbed a much needed third place finish in his Petro Home Services Chevy. Shawn Solomito of East Moriches and John Fortin Sr. of Holtsville completed the top five.
In the 20-lap Cromarty Cup Figure Eight event Mike Mujsce of Quogue set a new track record in qualifying with a lap 13.876 but would redraw third for the race while the front row was grabbed by Bryan Quilliam and Scott Pedersen. Pedersen got the measure if Quilliam on the start of the race and led the first two laps before a caution flag waved for a minor spin. When the race restarted it was Tom Rogers Jr. working his way by Pedersen for the race lead with Roger Maynor one lap and one restart later coming to second. Rogers and Maynor staged a torrid fight for the lead in the 2014 Cromarty Cup and many were expecting the same one they came to the top two spots again this year. However this year Tom Rogers Jr. had Maynor and all other comers covered as he drove off to his 21st career Figure Eight triumph ranking him 7th on that all time win list. Roger Maynor of Bay Shore was second in the Edward Horton Builders entry while Tom Ferrara of Patchogue came back from a flat tire and spin to claim third in the Northeastern Office Equipment Chevy.
Chris Turbush of Wading River made it two Charger wins in a row as he topped their 20-lap main event for career win number 41. Greg Immerman broke out front when the race got underway with David Roys second. After three laps Roys car went away with engine woes dropping him through the field with Chris Turbush making his way to second. After spending two laps trying to catch up to Immerman the race leader Turbush caught a break when the yellow waved with five laps in the books. On the ensuing restart the former four time champion rode the outside lane to take the lead in his Golden Oak Builders Chevy with Eric Zeh moving to second on lap 6. While Zeh was able to keep pace with Turbush he never able to make a serious bid for the lead and when the race was over Chris Turbush had yet another victory lane trophy for his mantle. Eric Zeh of Centereach was runner-up in the S&P Carting Chevy while Owen Greenan of Glen Cove roared back from an early race mishap to finish third.
While no hats were thrown into the track at the conclusion of the 20-lap Blunderbust feature event Jack Handley Jr. of Medford indeed scored a hat trick with his third consecutive Blunderbust win to start the 2015 season. “Krazy” Ed Mistretta of Lindenhurst paced the race over the first three circuits before Handley came calling on lap four. With an outside pass while exiting the fourth turn to start that fourth lap Jack Handley Jr. put his Sims Steel Chevy out front. Mistretta would relinquish second to Joe Warren Jr. on lap 9 and three laps later Warren was overtaken by defending champion Tom Pickerell but it did not matter who ran second as Handley raced off to victory making him 3 for 3 in 2015. Tom Pickerell of Huntington was runner-up in the Premier Utility Service Chevy while Joe Warren of Ridge claimed third in the ZZZ Glass Chevy.
The closest race and finish of the night truly belonged to the Super Pro Trucks with Roger Turbush of Riverhead in a photo finish beating out Brian McElearney of North Babylon by mere inches. When the race took the green flag it was McElearney breaking out front from the outside pole while Mike Albasini made a bold first lap move to come from his fourth starting spot to second. The duo would run in that order over the first half of the race before Roger Turbush burst on the scene from his 6th starting spot. Roger made an outside pass of Albasini for second exiting the fourth turn to start the 11th lap and over the final half of the race tested leader McElearney entering and exiting every turn. It all boiled down to a side by side duel off turn four with the checker flag waving in the damp air and by less than a foot Roger Turbush earned every bit of his 22nd career win. Brian McElearney in his State Materials Chevy would have to be content with second while Lou Maestri of Deer Park watched it all from third in his Star Car Collision Repair Center Chevy.
“Big Money” Richie Davidowitz of East Moriches scored his second Legend Race Car victory of 2015 and this time he got an assist from some lapped traffic. Dylan Slepian raced out to the lead at the throw of the green with George Tomko Jr. giving chase over the first three laps. Lap 4 found Davidowitz making an inside pass of Tomko for second setting the stage for what was to come later. Over the seven laps the Slepian led Davidowitz the challenger drew alongside Dylan once or twice but the race leader seemed to have Richie covered. However on lap 12 while trying to work lapped traffic a car moved into Slepian’s lane allowing Davidowitz to slip underneath for the race lead. With his rhythm broken Dylan also surrendered second to Tomko in that same sequence entering the first turn. Once Richie Davidowitz had his RPM Performance entry out front he was on his way to victory lane. George Tomko Jr. of Aquebogue was second in the Lewin Medical Supply racer while Dylan Slepian of Dix Hills placed third in the Hurricane Grill & Wings of Manorville entry.
NASCAR Modifieds:
1. Tom Rogers Jr. 2. Ryan Preece 3. Howie Brode 4. Shawn Solomito 5. John Fortin Sr. 6. John Beatty Jr. 7. Kyle Soper 8. Vinny Biondolillo 9. Jason Agugliaro 10. Jerry Solomito Jr. 11. Dave Brigati 12. Ken Darch
Cromarty Cup Figure Eights:
1. Tom Rogers Jr. 2. Roger Maynor 3. Tom Ferrara 4. Scott Pedersen 5. Gary Fritz Jr. 6. Ken Hyde Jr. 7. Bryan Quilliam 8. Tom Kraft Jr. 9. Brian Hansen 10. Mike Mujsce
Chargers:
1. Chris Turbush 2. Eric Zeh 3. Owen Grennan 4. Steve Mastro 5. Cory Midgett 6. Jason Hansen 7. Greg Immerman 8. CJ Lehmann 9. David Roys 10. John Baker 11. Rich Wilson 12. Ray Minieri
Blunderbusts:
1. Jack Handley Jr. 2. Tom Pickerell 3. Joe Warren Jr. 4. Ed Mistretta 5. Scott Maliszewski 6. Tom Sullivan 7. Derek Wegmann 8. Terry Stiles 9. Tim Mulqueen 10. Bill Wegmann Jr. 11. Dennis Scott 12. Tom Puccia 13. Jim Laird Jr.
Super Pro Trucks:
1. Roger Turbush 2. Brian McElearney 3. Lou Maestri 4. Dave Brigati 5. Mike Albasini 6. Dan Turbush 7. Jerry Giordano Jr. 8. Kevin Scharfenberg 9. Jimmy Rennick Jr. 10. Anthony Vecchio 11. Amanda Anderson 12. Mark Stewart
Legend Race Cars:
1. Richie Davidowitz 2. George Tomko Jr. 3. Dylan Slepian 4. Michael Rutkoski 5. Jim Sylvester 6. Ray Fitzgerald 7. Bryan Kelly 8. Allan Pedersen 9. Mike Van Houten Jr. 10. Chris Rogers 11. Kevin Nowak 12. Ed Cheslak 13. Kurt Krieger 14. Shawn Wanat 15. Kyle Ellwood 16. Vinny Delaney 17. John Beatty Jr. 18. Michael Rommeney 19. Jerry Curran 20. Steve Hersey 21. Bill Fitzgerald 22. Wally Davidowitz 23. Eric Hersey 24. Bobby Jones 25. Gary Molnar DNS- Artie Pedersen III
Sources: Bob Finan/Riverhead Raceway PR