There's your two calls, one good, one bad. You be the judge. Click on the links at the beginning of each paragraph and watch video of both incidents. Video courtesy of Stephen "LaFo" LaFountaine

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       Mother Nature provided gusty winds the likes of which have never occurred before at the track last night, blowing dust across the track, blowing people’s belongings off the seats, and creating intermittent problems with the PA system. And we thought the water in the infield was a problem?! Add some great racing in the beginning, and some terrible driving at the end, and it was a very different night from what is typically expected at the track.

        Time trials for the Super Pro Trucks and Chargers kicked off the show at 4 PM, with 16 Super Pro Trucks taking time, and 12 Chargers, joined by 5 of the displaced Figure 8 drivers, also time trialing for starting positions, giving both very healthy starting fields for their races. We didn’t get the times on the Super Pro Trucks, but Chris McGuire set fast time in the Charger TT’s at 13.541. Since both divisions redrew for their starting spots, it changed where they started any way.

    The Super Pro Trucks started off the evenings features, with Dave Koenig and Roger Turbush on the front row for the 20 lap, double point affair. Before they could even get started, two trucks tangled and spun, but rejoined the race and continued on. Up front, Koenig had grabbed the lead as Roger Turbush followed closely on his bumper, with Mike Albasini running closely in 3rd, while Chris Turbush and Frank Dumicich, Jr. contended for 4th spot. On the 2nd lap, Erin Dumicich spun, but was also able to continue, as Koenig had Roger Turbush looking to the outside to make a pass for the lead. By lap 5, they had formed up single file throughout the field, but Roger Turbush continued to look for some way to get by Koenig for the lead. By lap 10, the leaders began to encounter lapped trucks, and Frank Dumicich, Jr. used the opportunity to get by Albasini to move into 3rd, and Frank Dumicich, Sr. and Lou Maestri also moved by Albasini, dropping him to 6th, while Koenig and R. Turbush continued to lead the pack around. R. Turbush passed Koenig for the lead a lap later, just as a caution for debris flew. R. Turbush led the field back to the green on the restart, pulling away with a clear track in front of him, as Frank Dumicich, Jr. passed Koenig to take 2nd spot. Maestri and C. Turbush now battled for 5th spot, with Maestri eventually gaining the advantage. Up front, R. Turbush now enjoyed a lead of over 5 truck lengths on Dumicich, Jr., as Koenig and Dumicich, Sr. ran nose to tail, while Maestri followed 2 truck lengths back in 5th. They remained that way right to the end, with Roger Turbush taking his 1st win of the season, followed by Frank Dumicich, Jr., Dave Koenig, Frank Dumicich, Sr. and Lou Maestri. 

      The Blunderbusts rolled out next, with Scott Sepe and Bill Portney, Sr. on the front row. At the drop of the green, Portney took off, with Sepe slowing and dropping back as they went down the back straight away, setting up a battle between Ray Shannon and Paul Parisi as they battled for 2nd, with Tim Mulqueen and Tom Sullivan following closely behind them, side by side. At the front, Portney was running the best race he’d had in a long time, enjoying sole possession of the lead while battles for position went on behind him. But back in the field, from his 10th starting spot, Tom Pickerell was starting to make the moves that would bring him nearer the front. A few cautions would give Pickerell opportunities to advance even further, until he found himself running 2nd. Pickerell then took advantage of a hole that Portney left to make the pass for the lead, and as Pickerell did so, Portney’s race went bad, as he spun sideways in turn 2, getting hit by numerous cars as he went around, and though he recovered to continue on, he was now solidly in last. The battle up front now involved Pickerell, who was now being chased by Scott Maleszewski, as Ray Shannon and Rob Bader, who’d started last, now battled for 3rd. Bader had worked his way quietly to the front, making all the right moves to avoid trouble, and he‘d been able to advance to the top 5 after the incident involving Portney‘s spin. Bader won the battle with Shannon for 3rd, as Pickerell was able to easily hold off Maleszewski as they ran way ahead of the pack to the finish. Tom Pickerell picked up his 1st win of the season, as Scott Maleszewski, Rob Bader, Jr., Ray Shannon and Tommy Walkowiak rounded out the top 5. 

     Now it was the Charger’s turn to run their 30 lap, double point feature. The redraw put Chris Turbush on the pole, with Dan Turbush to his outside. They were followed by Jeremy McDermott, Chris McGuire, Jay Henschel and Kevin Orlando. At the drop of the green, Chris Turbush moved into the lead, as McDermott challenged Dan Turbush for the 2nd spot, as McGuire followed. McDermott and Dan Turbush  battled side by side for 2nd, with McDermott able to pull ahead slightly as McGuire pushed from behind, but Dan Turbush held on a half car length back on the outside, while behind them, Henschel battled with Erin Dumicich for 5th, when suddenly, Henschel spun as Orlando shot around E. Dumicich to take 5th, while Henschel recovered to rejoin the field in the rear. But up front, it was all Chris Turbush leading McDermott, D. Turbush, McGuire and Orlando and Brian Doyle. Chris Turbush had McDermott right on his bumper by lap 10, as Dan Turbush followed him closely, while McGuire ran a few car lengths behind them while Orlando was about 5 car lengths behind McGuire. At the lap 12 mark, lapped traffic came into play, closing the top 3 into a bumper to bumper situation, allowing McGuire and Orlando to close in and tighten up the top 5. On lap 17, Dennis Scott and Daryn Miller came together coming off turn 2, bringing out the caution for the first time in the race.

    On the restart, Chris Turbush held the lead, but Dan Turbush got under McDermott for 2nd, while Frank Dumicich, Jr. got into a battle with McGuire for 4th. Dan Turbush and McDermott ran side by side for 2nd, with Turbush holding it by a nose, while McGuire, Orlando and Doyle all battled for 4th, as Dumicich Jr. had dropped back, with McGuire taking sole possession of 4th, with Orlando holding onto 5th. Up front, C. Turbush continued to lead, as D. Turbush took sole possession of 2nd, while McDermott hung onto 3rd. Doyle fought his way back to battle McGuire for 4th once more, but Doyle suddenly backed off, and Orlando moved right in to make a move on McGuire for 4th. C. Turbush had now stretched his lead to 5 car lengths, as D. Turbush had McDermott still pressuring him, riding his rear bumper, while Orlando took over 4th from McGuire. No changes took place after that,  as Chris Turbush took the victory, while Dan Turbush, Jeremy McDermott, Kevin Orlando and Chris McGuire rounded out the top 5. The highest finishing Figure 8 driver was Arne Pedersen in 9th place. 

    Now a slim field of 10 Late Models took to the track for their feature, led by Shawn Patrick and Chris LaSpisa on the front row. They took off side by side at the drop of the green, with Patrick jumping to the lead, as LaSpisa followed closely behind, with Renalds, RJ Oxee, and Artie Pedersen, Jr. rounding out the top 5. Patrick and LaSpisa pulled away from now 3rd place Oxee into a zone of their own, with Kevin Metzger and Mike Bologna taking 4th and 5th spots, as Renalds faded back. Patrick and LaSpisa continued to hold a wide margin over the rest of the field when, after getting bumped, Oxee slipped high, allowing Metzger and Bologna to get by into 3rd and 4th respectively. Oxee now had to battle Peter ‘Buzzy’ Eriksen for 5th and Patrick and LaSpisa ran nose to tail up front, a good 10 car lengths ahead of 3rd place Metzger. As the laps wore on, Metzger and Bologna began to close in on LaSpisa, who was still riding right on Patrick’s tail, and LaSpisa seemed content to ride behind Patrick and not look for a way around him. Meanwhile, Eriksen made his move, getting under Oxee to take 5th away, just as Patrick caught up to the slower car of Renalds, who had been ignoring the passing flag and radio calls from the officials to let the leaders pass. On lap 19, Renalds finally decided to go high in turn 3 as Patrick had picked that as the best way around him, and with disastrous results, as Patrick crashed and LaSpisa took over the lead as the caution flew. Renalds was shown the black flag to get off the track under the yellow, but after conferring with Co-Chief Steward Jim Maggio, he was allowed to stay out. On the restart, LaSpisa was able to hold off a challenge from 2nd place Metzger, with LaSpisa able to pull away enough for Bologna to make a challenge on Metzger for 2nd,  but Metzger held him off as LaSpisa continued to lead, even though he was loose coming off the turns each time. Bologna was able to get under him at one point, but suffered a flat, spinning in turn 3, as LaSpisa spun coming off turn 4 moments later, but the yellow flew for Bologna’s spin, preserving LaSpisa’s lead for the restart. On that restart, LaSpisa held his lead through the end, earning his first Late Model victory since 1997, with Kevin Metzger, Buzzy Eriksen, RJ Oxee and Artie Pedersen Jr. rounding out the top 5. 

     

     Now we get to the Modifieds. Chris Young was on the pole, with Timmy Solomito to his outside to lead the field of 24 cars to the green flag. At the drop of the green, Solomito pulled ahead of Young, who dove way down below the white line entering turn 1 to try and hold onto the top spot. They bumped some more as they circled the track for the first lap, and as they entered turn 1 to begin the 2nd lap, Chris Young pounded on Solomito to get him loose, and then without ever trying to make the left turn into turn 1, drove Solomito into the turn 1 wall, bringing out the yellow. As the small crowd booed at Young, NASCAR officials gave him the black flag and sent him to the pits, disqualifying him for the night, something he richly deserved for his unsportsmanlike conduct. 

     Now with 22 cars left, and Eddie Brunnhoelzl on the pole, with Wayne Anderson to his outside, the race resumed, with Brunnhoelzl taking the lead as Brigati got alongside Anderson to challenge for 2nd, taking the spot, while Mike Andrews, Jr. then challenged Anderson for 3rd. Bill Park, Chuck Steuer, Justin Bonsignore, and John Fortin rounded out the top 8 at that point. Andrews took 3rd away from Anderson on the next lap, as Brunnhoelzl held a car length lead over Brigati at the front as the field now ran single file through the top 15. Brunnhoelzl stretched his lead a bit to 2 car lengths as the field started to string out a bit, as Bill Park had worked his way by Anderson to take over 4th by lap 10. With slower lapped cars a factor, the field remained single file for many laps afterwards, until Brigati got bumped and lost a few spots as he recovered, with Andrews, Park, Anderson and Bonsignore all advancing a position. Andrews looked to pass Brunnhoelzl on the outside, but lapped cars prevents him from completing the move, but it did allow Park to get alongside Andrews in a battle for 2nd, with Park moving up, just as Anderson bumped Andrews on lap 22, with both spinning, and bringing out the caution once more as Bonsignore moved up into 3rd, with Fortin moving up to 4th spot, and moving Brigati back to 5th.  

     When the green came back out, Brunnhoelzl held the lead, going a bit high into turns 1 & 2, taking Park up with him, as Fortin spun behind them, and Bonsignore shot by on the bottom in the clear, but it stacked up the rest of the field and the caution was out immediately. NASCAR officials ruled that Bonsignore had been ‘overly aggressive’ on the previous restart, and moved him to the rear of the field, behind 2 cars that had pitted and returned (don’t know why?), yet a 3rd car that had pitted was placed behind him. 

    Another try at racing then occurred, with Brunnhoelzl and Fortin up front, and Brunnhoelzl slipped slightly on the start, handing the lead to Fortin, while Tom Rogers, Jr. slipped by Brunnhoelzl to takeover 2nd, as Steuer and Al Ermmarino rounded out the top 5. Once out front, Fortin took off as Rogers followed with Brunnhoelzl digging hard to stay ahead of Steuer and Ermmarino as they hit lap 24. Rogers took a look to Fortin’s outside to pass, but lapped cars prevented it and he had to tuck in behind Fortin once more. Rogers looked again, both high and low, a few laps later, but no opening was available as lapped cars were spread around the raceway, so he remained in 2nd as Fortin remained glued to the bottom in the turns. Rogers was still looking as the white flag waved, but John Fortin held on to take his first victory of the season. Rogers crossed the line in 2nd, but was DQ’ed by officials as being too light in tech, handing 2nd to Brunnhoelzl, with Chuck Steuer, Al Ermmarino and Howie Brode rounding out the top 5.

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News and notes: I’ve never seen a crowd unhappier with a driver’s actions than the reaction over all to Chris Young’s blatant dumping of Timmy Solomito so early in the Modified Featiure. Many expressed hope that Young would be penalized further with a suspension. He was nowhere to be found for comment after the races, having packed up and left quickly after being black flagged for his actions on the track…  Grand Enduro race was run with 19 cars, and was a very exciting event. I can’t comment further as I have no driver roster to refer to for driver’s names. All drove a good clean race and put on a great show for the sparsely remaining crowd, as most left after the modified feature, missing one of the cleanest and best contested races of the night. Sorry about the report, guys…  Rookie Mod drivers are going to have to speed it up a bit, as most are a hazard to the veterans out there…  Heard talk in the pits after the races about at least one driver ( I won’t name him here) racing ‘under the influence’, a normal habit for him, I’m told. Maybe it’s time to conduct sobriety tests at random before someone gets hurt…  Good to see Terry Stiles in his newly re-skinned BB out there this week. He told me he missed last week’s Blunderbust TT 30 lapper because he was opening a new business…  If not for the wind contributing to the chill in the air, it would have been a great night for spectating. Good call by the track to start the first 3 weeks a little earlier, saving all in the stands from turning into popsicles….  The infield can’t dry up soon enough for me, as I want to see a good old fashioned Figure-8 race, as I’m sure many others do… If you want to see some great race cars and hotrods, make plans to be at the car show being held on Sunday, May 16th, just off Wicks Rd (LIE Exit 53) in Brentwood. We're told Marty Himes will have some of his race cars there, and that alone makes the visit worthwhile. The show starts at 9 AM....   That’s all for this week, running late due to Mother’s Day obligations. Hope all you Mom’s were treated well today and had enjoyable experiences. Until next week, when the track hosts the Hall of Fame 100 for modifieds, with Jim LIMODMANIAC Schaefer’s extra $1500 added to the purse, takes place, live well and be safe.