Sports

Auto Racing: Solomito doubles his pleasure with twin victories

RIVERHEAD RACEWAY ROUNDUP

Timmy Solomito came to Riverhead Raceway on Saturday afternoon as a driver on a mission. When the NASCAR Modified Twin 30s were completed, the Islip driver could proclaim mission accomplished.

Solomito dominated, drawing the pole position and leading all 60 laps of the two feature events.

The first 30-lap contest saw Solomito top David Roys of Coram at the finish while Howie Brode of East Islip crossed the line third, earning his Peter Clark Motorsports team the 2013 NASCAR Modified championship. Ryan Preece of Berlin, Conn., and Justin Bonsignore of West Islip completed the top five.

Solomito took first again in the nightcap. Bonsignore was second, Dave Sapienza of Riverhead placed third, Tom Rogers Jr. of Patchogue came in fourth and Ryan Preece took fifth.

Asked if the two victories would give him momentum going into this week’s 200 WMT race at Riverhead Raceway, Solomito quickly shot back, “I certainly hope so.”

In other races:

Ken Hyde of Medford celebrated his 21st birthday with his second consecutive Figure Eight feature event win and in the process finds himself as the new championship points leader going into the final points race on Sept. 21. Defending champion Mike Mujsce appeared headed for his first win of the season when, with just over two laps to go, his car spun out on its own. Hyde took the unexpected birthday gift to the finish line. John Vullo of Farmingville was second. Tom Ferrara of Patchogue returned from a Florida vacation just in time to finish third.

Hyde leads Arne Pedersen and Roger Maynor by 6 points heading into the final race.

It is safe to say the scheduled 20-lap Charger race wasn’t very pretty at times, but it also can be said that the caution-flag-filled race also provided some of the best side-by-side racing of the night. In the end, it was C. J. Lehmann of Shirley notching his second win of 2013. Jayson White of Hicksville drove a heads-up race to cross the line second. Ray Minieri of Bay Shore was third.

Going into the final point-paying race on Sept. 21, Chris Turbush leads Eric Zeh by 2 points.

It was hard to imagine that the all-time leading Blunderbust feature event winner, Tommy Walkowiak of Ridge, had not won since early in the 2012 season, but that was the case before Saturday when he posted his 52nd career victory. He finished ahead of the second-place Tom Puccia of Shirley and the third-place Brian Brown of Baiting Hollow.

A wild last-lap tangle saw Ron Langdon collide with championship contender Tom Pickerell off a turn. NASCAR officials disqualified Langdon from the race.

Fifteen-year-old Riverhead driver Mark Stewart continued his winning ways in the Super Pro Truck ranks, winning a 20-lap main event for his fourth win of the season. Dave Koenig of Freeport finished second. The points leader, Frank Dumicich Jr. of East Quogue, was third. Dumicich takes a 10-point lead over Mike Albasini of Flushing into the final points race Sept. 21.

Two tested tough 8-Cylinder Enduro veterans, Ed Brown Jr. of Mastic Beach and Dominick Ranieri of East Northport, waged a fierce battle during  a 75-lap feature event before Brown won. Ranieri was second, and third went to Don Carasiti of St. James.