(Press Release from Riverhead Raceway)
With summer like conditions greeting the Advance Auto Parts Weekly Series and NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour teams Saturday evening at Riverhead Raceway there was plenty of hot action on track too prior to the Miller Lite 200 WMT event. A total of 90 cars spread across four divisions joined the 26 WMT entrants pit side. Second generation driver Matt Brode scored his first win of 2021 when he won the 25-lap Eagle Auto Mall Crate Modified feature event.
Charles Macwhinnie and Terry Stiles brought the 23 car Eagle Auto Mall Crate Modified field to green with pole sitter Macwhinnie having a slight lead on lap 1. However just moments later the race was slowed by caution as the field ran lap 2 when Mark Wolf got into the front stretch wall. When the race resumed this time it would be Terry Stiles gaining the early race advantage with Matt Brode who started the race 4th quickly making his way to second behind Stiles. For a dozen laps Brode sized up Stiles for a pass and on lap 14 exiting the fourth turn to start the 15th lap Matt was able to sneak under Stiles for the race lead. Just one lap later with the inside lane already opened up under him Stiles would yield second to Sean Glennon who also made a pass to the inside exiting turn four. Glennon who started the race from 6th was able to stay in the tire tracks of the race leader but in the end Matt Brode, son of three time NASCAR Modified champion Howie Brode drove his Freightliner of Long Island Chevy to the winners circle. For Matt who is also an accomplished ice hockey player it was his 4th career win. Sean Glennon of Northport was runner-up in the R&R Brothers Electric Chevy while Terry Stiles of Rocky Point rounded out the podium in third with his O’Brien & O’Brien Law Firm entry.
It didn’t take defending INEX Legend Race Car champion Kevin Nowak of Medford long to find his way to victory lane when he topped the 26-car feature event field. The win moved Nowak into a three way tie for second on the all-time win list with Danny McNamara of Water Mill and Kyle Ellwood of Riverhead with all three earning 19 victories.When the green light winked on Ed Cheslak raced from the pole to the race lead but his stay at the front would be short lived as former champion Jim Sylvester quickly raced his way out front on lap 2 after starting 3rd. As the field was contesting the third lap Sean McElearney spun in turn two drawing a caution before the lap was completed. On the ensuing restart Sylvester stayed out front but Kevin Nowak was on the move making his way to second after starting 7th on the grid. Sylvester & Nowak two grizzled veterans and champions battled hard for the lead with Nowak ducking under Sylvester of the fourth turn to take over the lead as they started the 6th lap. Once out front there would be not stopping the JTEC Electric entry of Kevin Nowak as he posted his first win of 2021 and now sets his sights on Richie Davidowitz (25) for the top spot on the win list. Jim Sylvester of Massapequa was runner-up in the Benimax Trucking machine while “Blankets” Joey Braun of Manorville brought the Miller & Caggiano Attorneys at Law mount home third after starting 12th.
The Street Stocks ran their first leg of the Miller Lite Triple Crown Series Saturday with a 30-lap feature event won by defending champion Dave Antos of Lindenhurst. Chris Lescenski of Riverhead topped qualifying with a lap of 14.283 earning the pole for for the feature. When the race started Lescenski who finished second in the season opening May Meltdown two weeks ago broke to the early race lead with Antos who was second quick in qualifying (14.311) right behind him. With the event going green to checker drivers were not able to pick up positions on double file restarts but that didn’t stop Antos for making a bid for the lead a few laps before halfway. On lap 12 Antos in his EP Milling & Sweeping Monte Carlo saw an opening under Lescenski and seized the moment taking over the race lead off the fourth turn to start the 13th lap. Once in the lead Dave Antos never looked back and scored his first win of the year and 8th of his career moving him just one behind Eric Zeh of Selden on the all-time SS win list. Chris Lescenski for the second race in two weeks was runner-up in his TB Motorsports Chevy with Brian McCormack of Holbrook third in the Robo Car Wash Chevy.
Defending Mini Stock champion CJ Zukowski of Riverhead rebounded from a tough opening day at the May Meltdown by winning a non-stop 20-lap feature event. Armed with the pole after a heat race win Zukowski wasted no time in putting the Joe Warren Motorsports Cavalier out front at the throw of the green. Tom Puccia tucked into second behind Zukowski but with not a caution to be found and Zukowski motivated by his opening day misfortune there would be no stopping the driver who grew up less than a mile from Riverhead Raceway as he scored his third career win. Tom Puccia of Shirley was runner-up in the Ferrandino & Son Contracting racer while former Figure Eight racer Chris Elixson of Riverhead was third in the Mike’s Auto repair of Quogue entry.
Eagle Auto Mall Crate Modifieds: 1. Matt Brode 2. Sean Glennon 3. Terry Stiles 4. Charlie Macwhinnie 5. AJ DeSantis 6. Eric Hersey 7. Owen Grennan 8. Richie Davidowitz 9. Steve Ratti 10. Michael Berner 11. Chris Rogers 12. Alex Colasanto 13. Eddie Schutze 14. Mike Albasini 15. Mark Stewart 16. Lou Maestri 17. Stephen Coleman 18. Peter Bertuccio 19. Chase Grennan 20. Rich Gerbe 21. Dennis Krupski 22. Vinny Delaney 23. Mark Wolf
Legend Race Cars: 1. Kevin Nowak 2. Jim Sylvester 3. Joey Braun 4. Brad Van Houten 5. Jason Castaldo 6. Eric Hersey 7. Anthony Marsh 8. George Tomko Jr. 9. Riely O’Keefe 10. Jeff Otto Jr. 11. Allan Pedersen 12. Artie Pedersen III 13. Scott Cheslak 14. Pat Moore 15. Jeff Farruggia Jr. 16. Ray Fitzgerald 17. Mike Van Houten Jr. 18. Steve Woytsiak 19. Ron Henninger III 20. Frank Hodge 21. Dave Strohmeyer 22. Ed Cheslak 23. Chris Sinatro 24. Shawn Wanat 25. Sean McElearney 26. Mike Benton
Street Stocks: 1. Dave Antos 2. Chris Lescenski 3. Brian McCormack 4. Rhett Fogg 5. Brian Brown 6. Jay Henschel 7. Gerard Lawrence 8. Jimmy White Jr. 9. Danny Pizzo 10. James Pape Jr. 11. Alyssa Paprocky 12. Justin Ferreri 13. James Dipietro 14. Bill Brown 15. Robbie Blackmore 16. Roger Oxee
Mini Stocks: 1. CJ Zukowski 2. Tom Puccia 3. Chris Elixson 4. Mike Mujsce Jr. 5. Justin Squires 6. Andrew Farnham 7. Tony Collinsworth 8. Paul Wojcik 9. Jesse St. Clair 10. Scott Phillips 11. James O’Connell 12. Martin O’Connell 13. Nick Kocis DNS- Joe Cooke Jr. DQ-Ryan Warren
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