Sports

Auto Racing: Preece pounces late to win Cromarty Cup

RIVERHEAD RACEWAY

Ryan Preece of Berlin, Conn., raced to his second straight Cromarty Cup Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway in front of a big crowd on hand for the annual fireworks show. 

Preece watched from the third and fourth position for most of the race as Jason Agugliaro and Timmy Solomito battled for first place. Following a yellow flag after Lap 31, Tom Rogers Jr. made a move into second place ahead of Agugliaro, who slowed in the closing laps. With Preece sitting in third, Solomito slid to the inside to make a pass on Rogers. But his momentum carried him up a groove and the two were side by side, leaning on each other, which allowed Preece to drive underneath from third to take the lead with four laps remaining. He led the remainder of the race to capture his second win of the season.

Shawn Solomito of Islip ended up crossing second and current point leader Howie Brode of East Islip grabbed third. Vinny Biondolillo of Farmingville and Eddie Brunnhoelzl of Levittown rounded out the top five. Rogers ended up eighth and Solomito settled for 11th.

In the 15-lap Figure Eight, Roger Maynor of Bay Shore recorded his first win of 2014. Maynor moved into the race lead after a yellow flag on Lap 4. He maintained the lead throughout the rest of the race. Ken Hyde Jr. of Mastic Beach took second and Rogers was third.

Chris Turbush of Wading River won for the fourth time in eight events this season with his Charger victory. It was his 39th career win, putting him 13 wins back of his father, Dan, on the all-time win list. John Baker of Brookhaven finished second for his best finish of the season and Eric Zeh of Selden finished third.

In the 20-lap Blunderbust, Terry Stiles emerged the winner thanks to the helping hand of Sal Accardi Jr. On the Fourth of July, Stiles needed assistance with his car and enlisted help on Facebook. Accardi agreed to spend half his day helping Stiles at his Rocky Point home, even though the two had never met in person. Stiles went on to win the race Saturday, followed by Tom Pickerell of Huntington and Jack Handley Jr. of Medford.

In the Legends race, Brad Van Houten of Wading River picked up his second win of the season in the 20-lap main event. Artie Pedersen III of Center Moriches finished second and Paul Dodorico of Miller Place was third.

In the Demolition Derby, Jimmy White Jr. of Southampton won the 8-cylinder event for the second straight time.