August 9, 2020
KYLE SOPER IN RIGHT PLACE AT RIGHT TIME TO CAPTURE NASCAR MODIFIED FEATURE SATURDAY NIGHT AT FANLESS RIVERHEAD RACEWAY

​Bob Finan PR
 
In another first in the 70-year history at Riverhead Raceway Saturday night Kyle Soper of Manorville scored his 17th career NASCAR Modified victory by being in the right place at the right time when the first and second place car came together with just three laps to go in the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Racing Series 50-lap feature event. What made the night historic was the seven division program was run off without and fans in the general admission seating due to Covid-19 restrictions. The race however was streamed on RiverheadRaceway.TV as a pay per view and the early returns were very positive in the joint venture with Speed Sport.
 
At the throw of the green flag Chris Young bolted from the pole to take the race lead on the first lap over John Baker however a quick yellow waved as the field was ready to start the second lap when CJ Lehmann, John Beatty Jr., Dylan Slepian and Vinny Delaney tangled in the third and fourth turn with Delaney done for the race. On the ensuing restart Baker would make a power move to the outside to wrestle the lead away from Young in the third and fourth turn on lap 2. After the early mishap the race settled in for an extended green flag run with Young riding Baker's rear spoiler trying to figure a way to reclaim the lead. On lap 32 Young was able to sneak under Baker to take the lead but John was having none of it as he again powered his way back to the lead on lap 33 to the outside of Young. The leading tandem were soon joined by defending NASCAR Modified champion Kyle Soper who raced his way from 9th to third.
 
As the laps dwindled down Young's game plan became evident as he would enter the turns up high trying to set up for a crossover move to attempt an inside pass on Baker but John was wise to the tactic and was able to stay out front with Soper now directly in the mix in third as well as Dave Brigati who was fourth. The tussle for the lead would get too close with three laps to go as entering the first turn Baker and Young tangled with Baker spinning and Young stopping after the contact. Also stopping was Kyle Soper who had nowhere to go when the Baker/Young tango took place and much to the delight of Kyle Soper's team and the dismay of Dave Brigati's crew NASCAR officials deemed Soper stopped due to the track being blocked and was able to keep his position which now was as the race leader with Dave Brigati second.
 
With the race now set for a green, white, checker Kyle Soper was able to keep his Eastport Feeds Chevy out front to score the win and reflecting on the wild late race turn of events afterwards, "I started to put pressure on Chris hoping to make something happen and low and behold it did" Kyle admitted. "Can't thank Wayne & Joette Anderson enough along with Doug & Mora Corwin of Eastport Feeds for the opportunity' Kyle added, "of course my dad Tom, he tried something new today set-up wise, he is always thinking and working at getting us better and it shows".
 
Dave Brigati of Calverton was runner-up in the JDL Environmental Chevy admittedly disappointed with the late race call by officials but in typical Brigati fashion put a positive spin on the chain of events later in the pit area, "hey it is what it is, in racing sometimes the calls go your way, other times they don't. I'm still happy and we rolled the car into the trailer with no damage".  Dave's son-in-law Roger Turbush of Riverhead turned in a solid third place effort in the Kennedy Long Island Realty Chevy while Howie Brode of East Islip and Michael Rutkoski of Mattituck were fourth and fifth.
 
The Late Models contested a 40-lap main event using time trials for qualifying and when it was all said and done defending champion Jeremy McDermott of Riverhead dominated the day scoring a clean sweep setting fast time in route to notching his 19th career win. After clicking off a lap of 12.417  McDermott would sit on the pole joined by Jarrod Hayes who toured the quarter mile at 12.623 in qualifying. At the throw of the green McDermott and Hayes raced door to door for the race lead with Hayes credited with leading the first lap. McDermott however was able to use the inside groove to his advantage to take control of the race on the second lap and take control he would. For the second week in a row the race went non-stop and that was music to McDermott's ears as he once again pulled away in the Eastport Feeds Pontiac owned by Rob Pelis for the popular win. Jarrod Hayes of Calverton would settle for second in his Beach Auto Collision entry while veteran Chris McGuire of Selden had a solid race coming home third in the C-Ya Apparel machine.
 
In the 25-lap Eagle Auto Mall Crate Modified feature Matt Brode of East Islip earned his third career win the old fashioned way by riding the outside lane to make of pass of Mike Albasini for the race lead with just four laps left in the tilt. When the race got underway Albasini blasted into the lead from the outside pole with Charles Macwhinnie chasing Mike from second. Macwhinnie showed well of himself early chasing race leader Albasini but that would all change on a 12th lap double file restart. When the race resumed after a multi car turn four incident Albasini was able to remain out front with Sean Glennon racing his way under Macwhinnie to come to second. In racing what a double file restart can give you it can take from you just as quick as another multi car incident on lap 14 off turn two set-up another restart. Once again Albasini held serve with Matt Brode slipping under Glennon to race his way into the challenger’s role. After riding the rear bumper of Albasini for five laps Brode knew he had to make a move soon and the leader was not giving him the bottom. On lap 20 Matt switched strategies moving to the outside as he and Mike raced down the backstretch and powered his way to the race lead as they exited the fourth turn to start the 21st lap. Over the final four laps Matt Brode in the Milro Environmental Chevy hot his marks and drove to the hard earned victory. Mike Albasini of Flushing was runner-up in the Hollis Court Collision entry while rookie Richie Davidowitz drove from a 12th place starting berth to come home third in the Benimax Trucking Chevy.
 
Sean Glennon of Northport made a bold inside pass of Frank Dumicih Sr. of East Quogue on lap 12 entering the first turn to secure his 3rd career Super Pro Truck victory in their 20-lap main event. At the start of the race outside pole sitter Jimmy Rennick Jr. rode the outside line to lead the first lap but it would be Frank Dumicich Sr. coming to the lead on the second circuit Rennick chased Dumicich for five laps before he was overtaken by Sean Glennon on lap 6. After chasing and pressuring Dumicich for five laps Glennon went for broke on lap 12 tossing his truck to the extreme inside of Dumicich entering the first turn to take the race lead Once out front Glennon in the LTE Drainage entry was able to get away as Dumicich was now concerned with Rennick who was pressuring for the second spot. Jimmy was able to make his way by Frank with two laps remaining. At the checker Sean Glennon was first across the line with Jimmy Rennick Jr. of Howard Beach runner-up in the Metropolitan Recycling Chevy while "Mad" Max Handley of Medford making his first career SPT start drove from eight to finish third in the Hollis Court Collision Chevy. 
 
Ray Fitzgerald of Manorville collected his third career INEX Legend Race Car win when he survived multiple double file restarts to win their 20-lap main event. After Eric Hersey paced the race for the first lap Ray Fitzgerald made his way by Hersey who now ran second. Hersey chased Fitzgerald until the 8th lap as George Tomko Jr. now took over the challenger’s role. Tomko moved right in on Fitzgerald and was turning up the heat on the race leader as the laps clicked off. However Tomko's undoing would come on a 18th lap double file restart when he suddenly spun moving Allan Pedersen, who had flipped one week earlier to second. Pedersen hoping to reward his had working team for a week of burning the midnight oil was hoping to make a late race pass for the win but it was not to be as Ray Fitzgerald drove the Benimax Trucking machine to victory lane. Pedersen of Center Moriches was second wheeling The Boiler Guy racer while Riely O'Keefe of Manorville came from deep in the field to finish third in the Mil-Aero Solutions coupe.
 
Andrew Farnham of Baldwin recovered from an opening day crash in late July to score a clean sweep in the 30-lap Mini Stock event. Farnham the third to last car to take time in qualifying set down the fastest lap at 14.600 earning him the pole. Right from the drop of the green Farnham served notice he was the car to beat taking the race lead over Justin Squires of Flanders winner of the first Mini Stock race of 2020. In that opening day race Farnham had the entire left side of his car's body work ripped off in a front stretch crash rewarded his crew with a dominating performance that led to his second career win in his self-funded car. Squires in the Madden's Auto Body Honda was second with CJ Zurkowski of Riverhead brought the Warren Motorsports mount home third.
 
The 50-lap 8-Cylinder Enduro contest saw Dennis Jones of Calverton notch his second career win in his On The Docks Waterfront Bar & Grill Chevy. Jones started on the pole and broke to the early race lead over his brother Steve who started from the outside pole. Opening day winner Sean Fitzpatrick made his way to second and was trying to erase the lead Dennis had built but his race ended with a flat tire. Former champion Brian "Hot Rod" Halsey raced his way to second later in the race but time ran out as Dennis Jones was long gone by the time Halsey got to second in his PC Truck Repair entry. Michael Asdahl of East Meadow was third in his self-funded Chevy.
 
NASCAR Modifieds: 1. Kyle Soper 2. Dave Brigati 3. Roger Turbush 4. Howie Brode 5. Michael Rutkoski 6. Tom Rogers Jr. 7. Dylan Slepian 8. Cory Midgett 9. John Beatty Jr. 10. John Baker 11. Chris Young 12. Justin Brown 13. Dave Sapienza 14. Ken Heagy 15. CL Lehmann 16. Vinny Delaney
 
Late Models: 1. Jeremy McDermott 2. Jarrod Hayes 3. Chris McGuire 4. Chris Turbush 5. Ray Minieri 6. Kevin Metzger 7. Brandon Turbush 8. Brian Doyle 9. Shawn Patrick
 
Crate Modifieds: 1. Matt Brode 2. Mike Albasini 3. Richie Davidowitz 4. AJ DeSantis 5. Owen Grennan 6. Gerard Lawrence 7. Lou Maestri 8. Steve Ratti 9. Charles Macwhinnie 10. Eddie Schutze 11. Dennis Krupski 12. Sean Glennon 13. Terry Stiles 14. Michael Berner 15. Kenny Southard 16. Alex Colasanto 17. Peter Bertuccio 18. Jason Hansen 19. Eric Hersey
 
Super Pro Trucks: 1. Sean Glennon 2. Jimmy Rennick Jr. 3. Max Handley 4. Jack Handley Jr. 5. Lou Maestri 6. Ethan Brown 7. Mark Stewart 8. Joe Cerabino 9. Frank Dumicich Jr. 10. Daniel Creegan DQ-Frank Dumicich Sr.
 
INEX Legend Race Cars: 1. Ray Fitzgerald 2. Allan Pedersen 3. Riely O'Keefe 4. Colin Hoeffner 5. Jason Castaldo 6. Jim Sylvetser 7. Scott Cheslak 8. Mike Benton 9. Anthony Colandro Jr. 10. Alex Morabito 11. Charlie Hodge 12. Jeff Farriuggia Jr. 13. George Tomko Jr. 14. Mike Van Houten Jr. 15. Kevin Nowak 16. Frank Hodge 17. Jeff Otto Jr. 18. Chase Grennan 19. Shawn Wanat 20. Pat Moore 21. Rich Braun 22. Eric Hersey 23. Ed Cheslak 24. David Strohmeyer 25. Joey Braun 26. Michael Metcalf
 
Mini Stocks: 1. Andrew Farnham 2. Justin Squires 3. CJ Zurkowski 4. Joe Warren Jr. 5. Paul Wojcik 6. Johnny Cricchio 7. Chris Elixson 8. Joe Cooke Jr. 9. Jamie Meyer 10. Jesse St. Clair 11. James O'Connell 12. John Messing 13. Martin O'Connell 14. Scott Phillips DNS- Tom Cacozza
 
8-Cylinder Enduro-  1. Dennis Jones 2. Brian Halsey 3. Michael Asdahl 4. Eric Germuth 5. Carmine Deredita 6. Steve Jones 7. Ken Hyde Jr. 8. Preston Prydatko 9. Joe Boccia 10. Roger Tramm 11. Kevin Feeny 12. Dale Doherty 13. Dwayne Sipila 14. Robert Savoy 15. Stacy Halsey 16. Nicholas Montanino 17. Jimmy Muench 18. Sean Fitzpatrick 19. Ricky Carman 20. Will Ebert 21. Pat Collins 22. Blake Drinkwater 23. Mike Decesar 24. Jennifer Hahwiaser 25. David White 26. David Verbeeck 27. Christian Kalbfleish 28. Kevin Coyle 29. Steve Marchese 30. Jason Savoy 31. Kris Dane