Riverhead Raceway: Double the fun for Rogers

Saturday’s racing was double the fun for Tom Rogers Jr. of Riverhead. In front of a near capacity crowd at Riverhead Raceway, Rogers won both the 35-lap modified and 15-lap figure eight feature events, bringing his career total for modified victories to 35.

It was his 22nd career figure eight win.

In the modified race, Rogers had to get past the early leader, Kyle Soper, who had started the race in the third position. After a restart, Rogers tried to pass on the outside for several laps, with Soper unwilling to give up any ground. Rogers altered his strategy, backing off and executing a crossover move to propel himself into the lead.

Once Rogers took the lead, he never looked back.

The win propelled Rogers into the modified standings point lead with 218, just ahead of John Fortin’s 213.

“Kyle ran a good race,” Rogers said after the race. “When I was outside of him he’d run my up a bit, which is OK but my car got too tight out there.”

Soper, of Manorville, and Vinny Biondolillo of Farmingivlle finished second and third, respectively. Howie Brode of East Islip and John Fortin of Holtsville rounded out the top five.

Rogers raced to a comfortable win in the figure eight race as an intense battle for second place unfolded behind him. A trio of drivers battled for second in close quarters. Ken Hyde Jr. of Mastic Beach settled for the second-place finish and Roger Maynor of Bay Shore took third.

In the charger event, Cory Midgett of East Hampton won for the second straight week. It was his third career victory. David Roys of Coram was the runner-up and Ray Minieri of Bay Shore was third.

Richie Davidowitz of East Moriches won the 20-lap legend race car main event. George Tomko Jr. of Aquebogue was the runner-up and points leader Dylan Slepian of Dix Hills was third.

Joe Warren Jr. of Ridge dominated in the 4/6-cylinder car enduro, topping the 75-lap race for his second win in a row. George Davis of Patchogue got out to the early lead until Warren charged into first on the 21st lap. Warren held the lead for a convincing win. Brandon Esposito of Farmingville was second and George Davis was third.

The school bus demolition derby turned into a family affair as brothers Michael Rommeney of Bohemia and Kevin Rommeney were the last two standing. Michael outlasted his younger brother for the win.