Long Island Invitational Drill at Lindenhurst held on June 2, 2012

by John Lewis

With a shaky weather forecast looming, seventeen Firematic Drill teams from Nassau and Suffolk Counties eagerly awaited the beginning of the 2012 Firematic Drill Season. The smell of Cam2 fuel and burning rubber had been absent since the West Sayville Flying Dutchmen waltzed away with the New York State Championship last August. After the early morning storms made parts of the track in Lindenhurst look like a water hazard, the sun had come out to shine on Long Island’s Bravest.

Before the drill was the parade, a tradition as old as our sport. At the beginning of the 7th Division a special guest rode in a replica of the 7-time State Champion  Rough Riders B-Truck*. The special guest was Will Jakubowski, an Elmont fireman who was injured in practice last summer. The course was lined with members of every team who clapped as he rode through waving. The fans in the stands stood and also gave a nice round of applause as he rode by.

This is the first drill where the new helmet rule is in effect: all team members participating must adorn a DOT certified helmet. It was interesting to see the how the different teams approached this new rule. Some teams had skull type helmets and others utilized a larger helmet. There were a few Great Gazoo helmets out there but it's all good because everyone is now safer.

As teams lined up for the drill it appeared to me that that there was going to be an excellent opportunity for some different teams to score some points as only seventeen teams made the trip to Lindenhurst to compete. Not attending were four teams that were highly competitive last year: the Copiague Yellowbirds, Westbury Turtles, East Islip Guzzlers and the Hempstead Yellow Hornets. Things seemed business as usual as the Dutchmen and Hoboes placed first and second in 3-Man Ladder. The Roslyn Highlanders put up a time of 6.56 for third place and appear to be on track for a season full of top five finishes. The Wolves put up a real nice time of 6.73 without the help of veteran Billy Moon. The Port Washington Road Runners took fifth place for their first 3-Man ladder points in a Nassau/Suffolk mixed drill in some time.

B-Ladder saw West Sayville taking first place with the ever present Bay Shore Redskins hot on their heels finishing second. The Islip Wolves took third place and the North Lindenhurst Piston Knockers followed them. The Sayville Blue Jays christened their “new to them” B-truck with a trophy by running a 5.90 giving them fifth place honors. The Roslyn Highlanders who had received 3 points in 3-Man Ladder hit a bit of a snafu when Official Tom Leggio asked to see the inspection certificate for their B-Truck. This led to thrower Mike McCann running to the Highlanders camp to retrieve the certificate. The crowd hooted and hollered as Mike made his way back to the starting line. Unfortunately, the one minute time limit that was implemented years ago to keep drills moving along had expired and they were disqualified for taking too much time on the line. Roslyn took it like gentlemen and moved on. Rules are rules for a reason.

Only a handful of C-Trucks lined up for C-Ladder with the Redskins taking home the first place trophy with a 9.17 and Roslyn taking second place with a 9.38. The Dutchmen and Wolves followed and took the third and fourth place trophies. The Road Runners anxiously waited for the last teams to run before they celebrated their second top five finish. This was the first drill for the new C-Truck rules regarding hubs and tire size. All eleven teams that ran their C-Trucks did not seem to have any problems.

The ladder events were now concluded with the Flying Shoes possessing 13 out of a possible 15 points as they began to run way from the pack. The 'Skins were still in striking distance with Roslyn and Islip not far behind with 7 points each. The water test was conducted and a time of 4.65 was announced as the fans rushed back to their seats after hitting up the food and drink booths. The Dutchmen came down the track and put up a solid 12.49 to win the contest. The Piston Knockers were right behind them putting up a time of 12.52 which came after their first run was negated because of a digital error. The rising St. James Wildcats ran a 12.58 making it three teams to finish in the mid 12's. Not bad considering this was the first drill since last year’s State Drill and the first of 2012.

The B-Hose contest began with a bang as the Lindenhurst Snails looked anything but Snail-like as they put up the first sub-8 run with a 7.99. The Dutchmen again showed that they have been practicing with a 7.84 walking way with another first place trophy and giving them 23 out of a possible 25 points. Roslyn finished third, just a couple of ticks shy of a 7 as Stan and the Crew put up an 8.01. Rounding out the top five in B-Hose were the Knockers and the Brentwood Tigers. The Tigers seemed to have picked up where they left off last year running an 8.69 to tie C.I for 5th place.

The Efficiency contest times for the day were pretty much as expected as it doesn't seem that the water at the Lindenhurst track is conducive to good Efficiency numbers. The Central Islip Hoboes would take home the first place trophy with a 9.30 and nobody really challenged that as second place North Lindenhurst put up a 9.53. The Wildcats came in third giving them their second third-place finish on the day. Bay Shore hung onto fifth place with a 10.33. With this event done everyone saw that going into Motor Pump West Sayville had already clinched first place in the drill, so now the rest of the teams were locked into a dogfight for positions two through five.

Motor Pump once again saw the Dutchmen winning with a time of 5.66 with North Lindenhurst right on their heels with a 5.71. St. James again finished in third place as they continue to improve and become a well rounded team. The Selden Slowpokes posted a 6.74 with a nice smooth run obtaining their first points of the day. Sayville continued to show off the truck that was purchased from Melville with a fifth place run.

Buckets began with West Sayville once again showing they aren’t going to slack off even with drill already won. They put up a 21.30. Behind them there was a lot at stake with a handful of teams in the mix: North Lindenhurst had 16 points, Roslyn had 12, Bay Shore had 11, Central Islip had 9.5 and St. James had 9. Central Islip took second place followed by St. James. Port Washington came to the line with a new lifter and a new man on the bottom of the ladder and put it together for a nice fourth place run of 23.88. Bay Shore took fifth place in the contest and our first motorized drill was officially in the books.

Final Results of the Drill:

The West Sayville Flying Dutchmen having shifted a few positions around scored 35 out of a possible 40 points. Not new to the sport, but new to the driver's seat, Frank Miller Jr. looked like he had been driving for years and did an excellent job for his first drill behind the wheel.

North Lindenhurst did not lose a step from last year despite a new home for their practice endeavors. Maybe this was the change they needed? They scored in five events and took home the second place trophy.

The Central Islip Hoboes placed in four events and compiled 13.5 points. They continue to show that they can run Efficiency.

Bay Shore, Roslyn and St. James rounded out the top five with a three way tie with each team having 12 points. St. James looks poised to have a really good season and you can never count out the Redskins in any event with the veteran presence they have on their team. The Roslyn Highlanders looked really good all day and will no doubt continue their climb to the top all season long.

Overall the drill ran incredibly smooth with no delays or problems. There was a small amount of teams in attendance but the stands were full at several times throughout the day. It was a great day to be at the track and the 2012 racing season got off to a nice running start.

All stats and times courtesy of NYSDrillTeams.com.
* This sentence was changed to correct an error. Good eye, old fart.