RGeeProductions
05-01-2011, 10:51 PM
Chadwick’s SK Modified® win leads a list of nine winners on the night
Waterford Speedbowl was back in action
for a nine-division race program on Saturday night, including the four
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series classes. Tyler Chadwick of Ledyard took
the win in the SK Modified® feature, the seventh of his career. Jeff
Smith of Old Lyme was impressive in winning his first Bob Valenti Auto
Mall Late Model race of the young season. Special Street Stock and Mini
Stock memorial events were won by Norm Root Jr. of Old Saybrook and Ken
Cassidy Jr. of Lisbon, respectively. Seymour’s Howard Payne won the
visiting New England Truck Series feature, while New Hampshire’s Melissa
Fifield was a first time winner in the Allison Legacy Series race. Paul
Kusheba of Monroe won his first career Speedbowl feature in the Legends
Cars feature, while Glen Thomas Jr. of Groton and Frank Alessio of
Colchester wound up victorious in the X-Car and Super X-Car Saturday
Showdown Series races to round out the night’s winners.
The 35-lap SK Modified® feature got started with sparks flying as the
field rumbled into turns one and two. Polesitter Jeff Gallup found
trouble as contact crossed up the young driver, bottlenecking the inside
lane in turn two. Tucker Reynolds Jr., Rob Janovic Jr., Glen Pressell
plus cars further back in the field including Ron Yuhas Jr. and Keith
Rocco were collected. Rocco limped to the pits for repair with right
front damage and was unable to return to action. Reynolds, Janovic and
Pressell were also sidelined for the night.
The new front row for the second attempt to start the race pitted Frank
Mucciacciaro against Chadwick. Chadwick spent three laps outside
Mucciacciaro before he took the lead and slowly pulled out to a
comfortable distance. Shawn Monahan moved to the inside of Mucciacciaro
on lap-6, bringing Tom Abele and Kyle James with him past Mucciacciaro.
Ron Yuhas Jr. was on the move entering the back half of the top-ten by
lap-10 rebounding from his involvement in the opening lap melee. Nichole
Morgillo, Jeff Pearl and Yuhas waged a spirited battle for the sixth
position for several laps, with Yuhas finally coming out on top of both by
halfway on lap-18.
Further ahead, James had caught Abele for third position and began to look
for a way to score a podium finish as the race remained under the green
flag through lap-25. Yuhas and Pearl teamed up and tracked down the
Abele-James battle in the final laps, but ran out of time to pose a
serious threat. Chadwick cruised to the win, rebounding from a vicious
wreck the last time the SK Modifieds® were in action on April 9. Monahan,
Abele, James and Yuhas completed the top-five finishers.
Smith took the lead over Brian Andronaco with an inside maneuver on lap-7
in the 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model race. Bruce Thomas Jr. was
progressing through the top five over the first half of the race, moving
to third place behind Rich Staskowski as the field raced to lap-11. With
Smith out front, Thomas moved inside Staskowski looking to take over
second position. The pair battled hard but that went awry when Thomas
lost traction exiting turn four, spinning from contention. That collected
Staskowski, Andronaco and Anthony Flannery, brining out caution on the
race surface.
Smith withstood another restart on lap-20, and went on to the win
virtually unchallenged. Vin Esposito claimed second over Jason Palmer on
the final restart but did not have a car capable of challenging Smith.
Richard Staskowski and Bruce Thomas Jr. both overcame their trouble
earlier in the race to charge back to complete the top-five at the
checkered flag.
Root came out on top of a rough and tumble 33-lap Street Stock feature
honoring the memory of Speedbowl competitor Chuck “Uncle Buck” Rogers.
The early portion of the race went smoothly with Ed Puleo leading
defending champion Al Stone. Ernie Larose, making his first Speedbowl
start in some time, moved to third also looking strong. Root appeared an
outside threat running at the back of the top-five when caution on lap-28
erased the hope of a clean finish to the race, setting up for a wild
finish.
Following the restart Puleo hung on to the lead, however Stone made an
inside bid off turn two when Puleo went up the track. Puleo went sliding
across the track, coming to rest on the apron of turn three to bring out
caution with 29 laps complete. Stone was also aligned at the rear of the
field for the restart, handing the lead to Larose.
Larose faltered on a late restart attempt with two laps remaining, giving
Root ability to seize his opportunity. The former track champion raced
around the outside of Larose, and on to his first win at the track since
2005.
A special 33-lap Mini Stock featuring honoring Rogers got underway with
Cassidy leading lap-1 by a nose over Sean Caron. The early laps had
Cassidy and Caron toe-to-toe for the top spot before caution flew on lap-3
for a multi-car incident at the rear of the field, slowing the field.
Caron held the brief advantage and restarted the race in the lead.
The two continued a torrid battle out front until Cassidy used a lap-15
restart as his opportunity to seize the top spot back from Caron. He used
the outside lane to take over command on lap-16. Caron was able to keep
his nose under Cassidy to keep things interesting, inching his way back
alongside the inside of Cassidy. Caron actually led lap-23, but the
three-time champion stayed glued to his outside to lead lap-25. The pair
remained side-by-side at the head of the field for the remainder of the
race in a classic duel by two of the top contenders in the division.
Over the final laps Cassidy continued to use the outside groove like a
veteran, leading at the white flag by inches and carrying that momentum
over the final lap to win by less than a half-car length over Caron.
Williams and Canfield were locked in an equally compelling duel for third
position, with Williams coming out on top. Bill Leonard was on the charge
at the end to take fourth position over Canfield, who finished fifth.
Shaun Buffington led the first half of an entertaining 20-lap Legends Cars
feature, but had his hands full holding back both Paul Kusheba and Dana
Dimatteo after lap-10. Kusheba was able to sneak by the inside of
Buffington first on lap-12, followed by Dimatteo. Kusheba held on for
the win, his first. One caution slowed the race’s pace.
Andy Lindeman was the early leader of the 25-lap New England Truck Series
race. He overcame caution flags on both lap-11 and lap-12 that provided
Duane Noll and Howard Payne opportunity to challenge Lindeman. Those
three put on a great battle out front, swapping positions as Lindeman
tried to hold on. In the end Payne was able to make the outside groove
work to his advantage, propelling him to the win. Lindeman and Noll
completed the podium finishers.
Fifield claimed her first career victory, picking up the win in the 25-lap
Allison Legacy North Series event. She endured several battles and tense
moments among the leaders, prevailing after four seasons of competition.
Alessio won the 20-lap Saturday Showdown Series Super X-Car feature,
wiring the field. He overcame one caution period early in the event, and
withstood the brief challenges of Ed Ryan en route to his win. Jim Boyle
finished third.
Thomas swiftly moved through the field in the X-Car 20-lap Saturday
Showdown Series race, going on to the win over Patrick Williams and Shawn
Stula.
The Speedbowl returns to action three nights a week starting next week.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesdays and Show and Go Friday’s at the ‘Bowl both
return, joining next Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing
card. All the information is available for each is available at
Speedbowl.com (http://www.speedbowl.com).
continued
Waterford Speedbowl was back in action
for a nine-division race program on Saturday night, including the four
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series classes. Tyler Chadwick of Ledyard took
the win in the SK Modified® feature, the seventh of his career. Jeff
Smith of Old Lyme was impressive in winning his first Bob Valenti Auto
Mall Late Model race of the young season. Special Street Stock and Mini
Stock memorial events were won by Norm Root Jr. of Old Saybrook and Ken
Cassidy Jr. of Lisbon, respectively. Seymour’s Howard Payne won the
visiting New England Truck Series feature, while New Hampshire’s Melissa
Fifield was a first time winner in the Allison Legacy Series race. Paul
Kusheba of Monroe won his first career Speedbowl feature in the Legends
Cars feature, while Glen Thomas Jr. of Groton and Frank Alessio of
Colchester wound up victorious in the X-Car and Super X-Car Saturday
Showdown Series races to round out the night’s winners.
The 35-lap SK Modified® feature got started with sparks flying as the
field rumbled into turns one and two. Polesitter Jeff Gallup found
trouble as contact crossed up the young driver, bottlenecking the inside
lane in turn two. Tucker Reynolds Jr., Rob Janovic Jr., Glen Pressell
plus cars further back in the field including Ron Yuhas Jr. and Keith
Rocco were collected. Rocco limped to the pits for repair with right
front damage and was unable to return to action. Reynolds, Janovic and
Pressell were also sidelined for the night.
The new front row for the second attempt to start the race pitted Frank
Mucciacciaro against Chadwick. Chadwick spent three laps outside
Mucciacciaro before he took the lead and slowly pulled out to a
comfortable distance. Shawn Monahan moved to the inside of Mucciacciaro
on lap-6, bringing Tom Abele and Kyle James with him past Mucciacciaro.
Ron Yuhas Jr. was on the move entering the back half of the top-ten by
lap-10 rebounding from his involvement in the opening lap melee. Nichole
Morgillo, Jeff Pearl and Yuhas waged a spirited battle for the sixth
position for several laps, with Yuhas finally coming out on top of both by
halfway on lap-18.
Further ahead, James had caught Abele for third position and began to look
for a way to score a podium finish as the race remained under the green
flag through lap-25. Yuhas and Pearl teamed up and tracked down the
Abele-James battle in the final laps, but ran out of time to pose a
serious threat. Chadwick cruised to the win, rebounding from a vicious
wreck the last time the SK Modifieds® were in action on April 9. Monahan,
Abele, James and Yuhas completed the top-five finishers.
Smith took the lead over Brian Andronaco with an inside maneuver on lap-7
in the 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model race. Bruce Thomas Jr. was
progressing through the top five over the first half of the race, moving
to third place behind Rich Staskowski as the field raced to lap-11. With
Smith out front, Thomas moved inside Staskowski looking to take over
second position. The pair battled hard but that went awry when Thomas
lost traction exiting turn four, spinning from contention. That collected
Staskowski, Andronaco and Anthony Flannery, brining out caution on the
race surface.
Smith withstood another restart on lap-20, and went on to the win
virtually unchallenged. Vin Esposito claimed second over Jason Palmer on
the final restart but did not have a car capable of challenging Smith.
Richard Staskowski and Bruce Thomas Jr. both overcame their trouble
earlier in the race to charge back to complete the top-five at the
checkered flag.
Root came out on top of a rough and tumble 33-lap Street Stock feature
honoring the memory of Speedbowl competitor Chuck “Uncle Buck” Rogers.
The early portion of the race went smoothly with Ed Puleo leading
defending champion Al Stone. Ernie Larose, making his first Speedbowl
start in some time, moved to third also looking strong. Root appeared an
outside threat running at the back of the top-five when caution on lap-28
erased the hope of a clean finish to the race, setting up for a wild
finish.
Following the restart Puleo hung on to the lead, however Stone made an
inside bid off turn two when Puleo went up the track. Puleo went sliding
across the track, coming to rest on the apron of turn three to bring out
caution with 29 laps complete. Stone was also aligned at the rear of the
field for the restart, handing the lead to Larose.
Larose faltered on a late restart attempt with two laps remaining, giving
Root ability to seize his opportunity. The former track champion raced
around the outside of Larose, and on to his first win at the track since
2005.
A special 33-lap Mini Stock featuring honoring Rogers got underway with
Cassidy leading lap-1 by a nose over Sean Caron. The early laps had
Cassidy and Caron toe-to-toe for the top spot before caution flew on lap-3
for a multi-car incident at the rear of the field, slowing the field.
Caron held the brief advantage and restarted the race in the lead.
The two continued a torrid battle out front until Cassidy used a lap-15
restart as his opportunity to seize the top spot back from Caron. He used
the outside lane to take over command on lap-16. Caron was able to keep
his nose under Cassidy to keep things interesting, inching his way back
alongside the inside of Cassidy. Caron actually led lap-23, but the
three-time champion stayed glued to his outside to lead lap-25. The pair
remained side-by-side at the head of the field for the remainder of the
race in a classic duel by two of the top contenders in the division.
Over the final laps Cassidy continued to use the outside groove like a
veteran, leading at the white flag by inches and carrying that momentum
over the final lap to win by less than a half-car length over Caron.
Williams and Canfield were locked in an equally compelling duel for third
position, with Williams coming out on top. Bill Leonard was on the charge
at the end to take fourth position over Canfield, who finished fifth.
Shaun Buffington led the first half of an entertaining 20-lap Legends Cars
feature, but had his hands full holding back both Paul Kusheba and Dana
Dimatteo after lap-10. Kusheba was able to sneak by the inside of
Buffington first on lap-12, followed by Dimatteo. Kusheba held on for
the win, his first. One caution slowed the race’s pace.
Andy Lindeman was the early leader of the 25-lap New England Truck Series
race. He overcame caution flags on both lap-11 and lap-12 that provided
Duane Noll and Howard Payne opportunity to challenge Lindeman. Those
three put on a great battle out front, swapping positions as Lindeman
tried to hold on. In the end Payne was able to make the outside groove
work to his advantage, propelling him to the win. Lindeman and Noll
completed the podium finishers.
Fifield claimed her first career victory, picking up the win in the 25-lap
Allison Legacy North Series event. She endured several battles and tense
moments among the leaders, prevailing after four seasons of competition.
Alessio won the 20-lap Saturday Showdown Series Super X-Car feature,
wiring the field. He overcame one caution period early in the event, and
withstood the brief challenges of Ed Ryan en route to his win. Jim Boyle
finished third.
Thomas swiftly moved through the field in the X-Car 20-lap Saturday
Showdown Series race, going on to the win over Patrick Williams and Shawn
Stula.
The Speedbowl returns to action three nights a week starting next week.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesdays and Show and Go Friday’s at the ‘Bowl both
return, joining next Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing
card. All the information is available for each is available at
Speedbowl.com (http://www.speedbowl.com).
continued