October 4, 2020
DAVE ANTOS & JOE WARREN JR. SHARE SUNDAY SPOTLIGHT AT RIVERHEAD RACEWAY
By Bob Finan
 
A perfect fall afternoon greeted the Fall Foliage Enduro program Sunday at Riverhead Raceway and when all the racing was completed Dave Antos of Lindenhurst had earned his third Street Stock win of 2020 while defending Mini Stock champion Joe "Bam Bam" Warren of Ridge scored his first win of the season after having won seven times in '19.
 
Just hours after being inducted onto the Cromarty Wall of Champions Saturday evening for his track leading 64 Late Model wins Roger Oxee won his Street Stock heat and earned the pole for the 30-lap main event. Oxee and James Pape Jr. brought the field down to the green flag with Oxee moving out front while Pape fell to third as David White slipped under the outside pole sitter at the start. A fast moving Brian Brown made his way from the 5th starting spot to pass White for second on lap 2 with an inside pass off turn four. Once to second Brown glued himself to Oxee's rear spoiler in an effort to pass the 2005 LM champion. Suddenly on lap 11 Oxee slowed dramatically off the fourth turn with Brown having nowhere to go but into Roger spinning him to the infield. Officials put Brown to the rear of the field during the caution but it was later revealed Oxee broke a motor when he got back to the gas.
 
The restart lined up Dave Antos who had been running third and White who faded to fourth alongside at the front of the field and when the green light winked on Antos in his EP Milling & Sweeping Monte Carlo broke to the race lead and proceeded to open a comfortable lead that he'd enjoy until the checker. White seemingly was headed to c career best second place tally but the rear end on the Shirley drivers Chevy gave up on the final lap moving Rhett Fogg of Westhampton into the runner-up slot in his Accu-Rhett Chevy. Brian McCormack of Holbrook was third in the Robo Car Wash entry.
 
Defending Mini Stock champion Joe Warren Jr. of Ridge took full advantage of a rare pole starting berth breaking out to the Mini Stock lead at the throw of the green. Joe Cooke Jr. chased him for the first lap before Andrew Farnham moved into second on lap 2. Farnham would chase Warren nearly the remainder of the race until a lap 23 caution waved for a stalled CJ Zukowski in turn four. With the field lined-up for one final double file restart Joe Warren Jr. held serve in the Warren Motorsports Cavalier and led the final 7-laps of the contest for his 8th career victory. Former champion Paul Wojcik of Centereach was able to race into second on the lap 23 restart and would finish there in the Energy Kinetics machine while Justin Squires of Flanders completed the podium in third in his CRC Video Surveillance racer.
 
After working through the night until 2:00 am to fix his sister Mariah's damaged truck veteran racer Woot Lawrence of Southampton lead all 40-laps of the Truck Enduro to score his first win of 2020. Lawrence drew the pole upon entering the track and that's all the driver of the Gregor Well Drilling Chevy needed as he broke to an early lead, a lead he'd build upon lap after lap. The only glitch came in the final laps when Lawrence's truck started to lose power in the corners. Luckily he had built enough of a lead that he could nurse to the checkers. Justin McGrady of Stony Brook was second in his HP Landscaping machine while Mariah Lawrence of Southampton with a huge assist from her race winning brother was third.
 
Second generation driver Ricky Carman of Ridge recovered from a Labor Day weekend crash that destroyed his primary car to win the 40-lap 8-Cylinder Enduro Sunday. After he and his Dad, former Charger standout Richie Carman built a new car for the remainder of 2020 Ricky wasted no time breaking out to the race lead at the throw of the green. Despite massive amounts of lapped traffic the young driver of the United Exhaust Shops Chevy was able to negotiate it like a seasoned pro and drive to his first career win. Carmine Ragusa of Coram had a stellar showing with a career best runner-up in the Travers Chevy while former champion Brian "Hot Rod" Halsey of Southampton was third in the PC Truck Repair mount.
 
For the third time this season John Palmeri of Lindenhurst won the 50-lap 4/6-Cylinder Gut & Go Enduro but this win was not an easy one as he had to survive a late race challenge from veteran Peter Verwys Jr. of East Rockaway. After starting 24th on the field Palmeri in the JP Automotive Acura bobbed and weaved his way to the race lead and started to open a comfortable gap. However Bob Haeger who started 17th and Verwys who began the race from 23rd quickly caught race leader Palmeri. Over the closing laps Verwys glued himself to Palmeri's rear bumper as the leader was steadfast on protecting the inside lane. At the finish Palmeri held on for the win over Verwys in his self funded car with Bob Haeger of Hampton Bays third in the 27 Dollar Band entry.
 
Street Stocks: 1. Dave Antos 2. Rhett Fogg 3. Brian McCormack 4. Jay Henschel 5. Gerard Lawrence 6. Justin Ferreri 7. James Pape Jr. 8. Brian Brown 9. David White 10. Danny Pizzo 11. James Dipietro 12. Chris Mancz 13. Roger Oxee 14. Chris Lescenski
 
Mini Stocks: 1. Joe Warren Jr. 2. Paul Wojcik 3. Justin Squires 4. Andrew Farnham 5. James O'Connell 6. CJ Zukowski 7. Joe Cooke Jr. 8. Chris Elixson 9. Brandon Esposito 10. Scott Phillips 11. Martin O'Connell 12. Jesse St. Clair 13. Tony Collingsworth 14. Mike Mujsce Sr.
 
Truck Enduro: 1. Woot Lawrence 2. Justin McGrady 3. Mariah Lawrence 4. Dusty Cole 5. Brian Dean 6. Kerry Botts 7. Danielle Cohen 8. John Schultze 9. Jackie Germuth 10. Jarrett Campbell 11. Emily Hubbard 12. Gary Voight 13. Doug Tittle 14. Joey Villatoro 15. Amber Weiss 16. Gene Burbol 17. Joe Brodman 18. Bryan Moore
 
8-Cylinder Enduro: 1. Ricky Carman 2. Carmine Ragusa 3. Brian Halsey 4. Greg Harris 5. Joe Boccia 6. Eric Germuth 7. Stacy Halsey 8. Pat Collins 9. Jared Halsey 10. Michael Asdahl 11. Roger Tramm 12. Dennis Jones 13. Vinny Poharski 14. James Muench 15. Christian Kalbfleish 16. Steve Jones 17. Kal Buckley 18. Will Ebert 19. Andy Denninger 20. David Verbeeck 21. Jennifer Hohwiesner 22. Kevin Coyle 23. Sean Fitzpatrick 24. Al DeCesare
 
4/6-Cylinder Enduro: 1. John Palmeri 2. Peter Verwys Jr. 3. Bob Haeger 4. Mike Mujsce Jr. 5. David Cohen 6. Franky Abbatiello 7. Jack Tessa 8. Michael Brinat 9. Patrick Collins 10. Steve Collins 11. Michael Montano 12. Chris Constantine 13. Michael Bianco 14. Rich Baulch 15. Cutter Gera 16. Sara Collingsworth 17. Ed Primavera 18. Cole Trickle 19. James Grandl 20. Chris Olivari 21. Zach Tyler 22. Anthony Paretta 23. Michael Campbell 24. Mark Raynor 25. Chris Olsen 26. Ray Stulz 27. Paul Bateman 28. Chloe Phillips 29. Jason Savoy 30. Frank Raynor 31. Joshua Flynn 32. David Olivari 33. Joey Palmeri Jr. 34. Jeffrey Michaels 35. Kim Hyde 36. Dege Russell