Riverhead, NY: If there is any such thing as a good day to have a bad day, Saturday may have been it for Chuck Hossfeld of Buffalo, NY. After only marginal moves toward the front in the Miller Lite 200 at Riverhead Raceway, Hossfeld was forced to retire from the event early for the second week in a row. With other front-running cars having problems and only five cars on the lead lap, Hossfeld still managed to finish in 16th position.

The day was an uphill battle from the start for the Mystic Missile Racing Team. An uncharacteristic qualifying effort found Hossfeld on the starting grid in the 21st position. As is always the case on the bullring at Riverhead, staying out of trouble was the first order of business in the early stages of the race. Hossfeld began gingerly working his way through the pack and had made it into 15th by lap 56. A good portion of the event was spent near mid-pack.

"The car was tight in the center of the corner throughout the race," said Hossfeld. "I thought the tire wear would loosen up the car."

Things did not unfold as the way the team had hoped, on lap 143 Hossfeld brought the Mystic Missile into the pits in an effort to adjust the stagger on the v4. After only a several laps back on track, Hossfeld was forced to the infield with a flat tire.

"I don't know if we got the flat coming back through the pack or driving through the pits", continued Hossfeld.

Unable to make it pitside, Hossfeld was forced to remain in the infield for the remainder of the race. In all, he completed 168 of the schedule 200 laps.

"I just keep thinking to myself, things have got to get better," said Hossfeld. "I think I'm going to start looking for a good luck charm this week or maybe I will adopt some sort of superstitious pre-race ritual. At this point I will try just about anything," continued Hossfeld, tongue in cheek.

This week Greg Schroder and his team will undoubtedly prepare a racecar capable of winning next Saturday. With the best equipment and possibly a rabbit's foot in his helmet bag, Hossfeld will head to North East, PA for the Featherlite Modified Series Lake Erie 150 at Lake Erie Speedway on June 12.