Sports

Riverhead Raceway: Slepian holds off Rogers in 50 laps

When the dust settled in a 50-lap NASCAR Modified race Saturday night at Riverhead Raceway, Dylan Slepian of Dix Hills sat victorious in the winners circle for the second time in three weeks. Before claiming his third career win, Slepian had to fend off hard-pressing championship leader Tom Rogers Jr. in the closing laps.

In his postrace interview, Slepian revealed some of his strategy in warding off Rogers, a 60-time career winner.

“I’ve watched Tommy a long time here and I used some of his tricks in trying to keep him behind me,” Slepian said. “It is always great to win, but to hold a modern day legend for that win makes [it] even more special.”

Rogers of Riverhead was second. Kyle Soper of Manorville, the defending NASCAR Modified champion, took third. C.J. Lehmann of Lake Grove was fourth for his best finish of 2020, with Chris Young of Calverton completing the top five.

Jeremy McDermott of Riverhead continues to dominate the Late Model division, scoring his fourth win in five races in a 25-lap affair. Chris Turbush of Wading River claimed second place. Chris McGuire of Selden was third.

After a week’s work to repair damage to his car, rookie driver Michael Berner rewarded his team with their second win of 2020. The 25-lap race saw A.J. DeSantis of Yaphank take the runner-up spot, ahead of Eric Hersey of Commack.

Tom Ferrara of Patchogue was victorious in his second straight 15-lap Figure Eight feature event. It was his 16th career win. Joey Warren of Ridge was second and Scott Pedersen of Shirley third.

In a 20-lap Super Pro Truck race, Jack Handley Jr. of  Medford scored his ninth career win. A wild scramble over the final laps saw Max Handley of Medford finish second and Jimmy Rennick Jr. of Howard Beach third.

The Legend Race Cars were slated for a 30-lap event on the night, but a marathon broke out instead and officials deeming the race official after a 26th-lap yellow flag waved. With yellow-flag fever running rampant, Kevin Nowak of Medford mastered multiple restarts to win his second race in a row and 16th of his career. Mike Alcaro of Newton, N.J., was second, one place ahead of Allan Pedersen of Center Moriches.

C.J. Zukowski of Riverhead notched his second straight Mini Stock win in a 20-lapper. Paul Wojcik of Centereach made a late-race charge for second. Johnny Cricchio of Port Jefferson was third.

Michael Asdahl of East Meadow won a 50-lap Eight-Cylinder Enduro. The next two finishers were Brian Halsey of Southampton and Joe Boccia of Northport.