RIVERHEAD RACEWAY ROUNDUP
Following family tradition, to victory lane
RIVERHEAD--The newest member of one of Long Island's most well-known auto racing families achieved a first at Riverhead Raceway on Saturday.
Eddie Brunnhoelzl III of Levittown scored his first career NASCAR modified victory, winning a 35-lap race.
Brunnhoelzl, the son of 22-time Riverhead Raceway winner Ed Brunnhoelzl Jr., held off his friend, Justin Bonsignore of Holtsville, who took second.
"It's great to be back here at Riverhead and to win in front of family and friends," Brunnhoelzl said. "We went out of state two years back to get a change of scenery and maybe change our luck, and it worked."
Mike Andrews Jr. of Quogue placed third, Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue was fourth and J. R. Bertuccio of Centereach fifth.
With one race to go in the season, Bill Park leads John Fortin by 50 points for the championship, with Dave Brigati third, 56 points behind Park.
With a third-place finish, Chris Turbush of Riverhead became the 2008 charger champion, his first career title. The 2007 charger champion, John Ellwood of Riverhead, scored his first charger victory of 2008 when he topped the field in a 20-lap affair. Jay Henschel of Levittown was second in the race.
Although Bill Wegmann of North Bellmore was the third driver to cross the finish line in a blunderbust 20-lap feature, he was eventually declared the winner. Chris Busick was the first to finish, and Tommy Walkowiak the second. However, in a post-race inspection, Busick was disqualified for a ride height violation. Then Walkowiak was found with a chassis height infraction, and he was disqualified as well, moving Wegmann into victory lane for his first win of the year. Ed Mistretta of New Hyde Park was bumped up to second, and Ray Shannon ended up third.
With two races left, Walkowiak holds a 14-point lead atop the division over both Busick and Scott Maliszewski.
Shaun Gouldsbury of Commack scored his first career super pro truck victory when he topped a 20-truck field in a 20-lap contest. John Denniston of Westbury took second, and Mike Albasini of Flushing was third. Lou Maestri leads Wayne Meyer by 28 points in the chase for the division championship.
A 16-YEAR-OLD CHAMPION John Beatty of Valley Stream scored his second win of the year in legend race cars on Sunday while 16-year-old sensation Timmy Solomito of Islip won the division championship. Donny Oliver of Riverhead captured his first win of the season in a 60-lap grand enduro.
In the legend race car finale, Paul Dodorico of Miller Place was second, and Max Zachen of Preston, Conn., third in his first-ever visit to Riverhead.
