RGeeProductions
05-08-2011, 12:28 PM
Waterford Speedbowl Saturday 5/7 Results
Pearl, Thomas, Puleo and Williams claim NWAAS wins on the night
Waterford Speedbowl endured a rain delay
courtesy of Mother Nature Saturday evening and rebounded to complete a
five-division NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race program plus the
Beaver Bat Homerun Derby on Little League Night, presented by Suisman
Shapiro. Jeff Pearl of Salem bested the field of SK Modifieds® to
capture his 35th career victory. Bruce Thomas Jr. of Groton claimed the
45th win of his Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model career, taking the
evening’s 30-lap event. Ed Puleo of Branford overcame an intense battle
in a special 50-lap Street Stock race, his second victory on the season
while Chris Williams of Niantic was the winner of the 25-lap Mini Stock
feature. Ryan Bigelow of East Hampton won in the visiting NEMA Lite
Series 25-lap race.
Before the main racing events, the Beaver Bat Homerun Derby kicked off
Little League Night festivities. Ten Speedbowl racers were teamed up with
ten youth from the grandstands in a wiffle ball derby on the Speedbowl
frontstretch. Winning the event was 2009 SK Modified® track champion Ron
Yuhas Jr. of Groton, who was teamed with nine-year-old Chris White of
Montville. Each of the ten youth participating received gifts courtesy
of Suisman Shapiro Law Firm and Beaver Bats, as well as autographed
material from the Speedbowl drivers.
In racing action, after a false start on the initial attempt to start the
35-lap SK Modified® feature Tucker Reynolds Jr. took command over Glenn
Pressel once the race got underway. Nichole Morgillo got out of shape in
turn three on lap-1, continuing on without caution at the tail of the
field.
Joe Perry and Pearl both moved into the top three by getting past
Pressel’s inside on lap-5, bringing Ron Yuhas Jr. and Rob Janovic also by
Pressel to make up the top five positions in the race’s opening laps.
Pearl then went outside Perry, looking strong in taking over the second
position as they raced to lap-6. Yuhas followed suit outside Perry a lap
later to move into third, while Pearl shifted his focus to Reynolds out
front.
After one circuit sizing up the leader, Pearl looked low off turn four as
they completed lap-8 and found room inside Reynolds into turn one. He
cleared Reynolds and was scored as the new leader on lap-9. Reynolds
recovered to hold second position over Yuhas, while Janovic was up to
fourth and Diego Monahan to fifth as Perry slipped back.
As Pearl opened up a three car advantage, Yuhas darted outside Reynolds,
battling side-by-side for a lap before taking the second position on
lap-15. The race moved past halfway to lap-20, still under the green
flag, with Yuhas inching his way to within a half car of Pearl’s rear
bumper. The lead two played a game of cat-and-mouse on the track with
Pearl maintaining his lead and Yuhas looking for a racing groove that
would provide him the momentum needed to challenge.
As the race up front unfolded, the best battle for position on the track
was for sixth place as Perry had his hands full holding off a charging
Kyle James and defending champion Keith Rocco. Those two got around Perry
on lap-25 then looked to close in on the top-five, which had distanced
themselves from sixth.
The race continued uninterrupted, setting up Pearl’s run to victory.
Yuhas made three attempts in the final seven laps to contend. First, he
nearly got a wheel outside Pearl entering turn one but couldn’t make the
move stick on lap-28. Then, through turns three and four with five laps
remaining, Yuhas first looked high, then ducked low but wasn’t able to
make a cross-over move work. Coming to the white flag Yuhas again rallied
and attempted a similar move in turn four, to no avail. Pearl went on to
a two-car length win over Yuhas, while Reynolds and Janovic ran well for
third and fourth. James was able to get by Monahan in the final laps to
claim fifth.
The 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature had Thomas out front
early, steadily climbing through the top five in the opening circuits. He
took over from early leader Ernie Bertrand as the field completed lap-6.
A battle for second position broke out between Bertrand, Jeff Smith and
Rich Staskowski as racing continued to be clean throughout the field.
Smith took second spot on lap-8, then set chase for Thomas who had moved
out to a convincing advantage as the race leader. Staskowski got by the
inside of Bertrand on lap-14 and the top three drivers began to pull away
from the rest of the field.
The race’s first and only caution finally slowed Thomas’ torrid pace on
lap-20 when Mark Cooper spun, backing into the turn three barrier. That
erased the advantage that Thomas built up and gave Smith and Staskowski a
chance to take the race away.
Thomas, however, dominated the restart leaving Smith in the clutches of
Staskowski in a battle for second. Things got heated between the two in
turn four of lap-21, crossing Smith up in the outside lane. He made a
great save, however couldn’t avoid making contact with the frontstretch
wall. He somehow held his position and everyone continued on under green.
That slip enabled Thomas to pull away once again, cruising the rest of
the way on to the victory. Smith hung on to a fading car over the final
laps to narrowly edge Staskowski for second position at the checkered
flag. Joe Curioso and Anthony Flannery finished fourth and fifth.
The 50-lap Street Stock event was led at the drop of the green flag by Ted
Dupre, the division champion in 2000. Defending champion Al Stone used an
inside move on Dupre, pulling even and spending a lap side-by-side with
him before taking the top spot as they raced back to lap-12. Puleo and
Josh Galvin both used the inside lane to get around Dupre to be scored the
top-three by lap-14. Eight more laps were logged before Michael Caprio
lost an engine in turn three on lap-22, necessitating the race’s first
caution for an extended cleanup of fluid from his machine.
Galvin had just taken over second position before the yellow flag, lining
him up outside Stone for the restart. Galvin was strong in the outside
lane once the green flag returned, giving Stone a run for the race lead.
Galvin stayed competitive in the top racing groove long enough to be
scored as the leader by just a few feet when caution flew again as the
leaders completed lap-24.
Following the lap-24 restart Galvin, Stone and Puleo put on a great
three-car battle for the race win over the second half of the
extra-distance event. The trio exchanged positions several times with
Puleo coming out on top using the outside lane in a battle with Galvin.
Galvin exhausted several maneuvers in an attempt to stay alongside and
under Puleo, to no avail. Puleo had to hold off Galvin to his outside as
well following another late restart, successfully doing so. Stone was
able reinsert himself into the mix, using the inside lane to move back to
second past Galvin in the closing circuits.
Stone threw more challenges Puleo’s way, but Puleo was able to hold back
the charges of both Galvin and Stone over the final 25-laps to his second
win of the season in thrilling fashion. Galvin finished third with last
week’s winner Norm Root and Ernie Larose completing the top-five.
The 25-lap Mini Stock race began with an opening lap spin off turn two for
Sean Caron and Jeffrey Cembruch while competing in the middle of the pack.
That drew the first and only caution flag in a very competitive and
entertaining feature for the division.
When racing resumed Ray Christian was the race leader over the first ten
laps. Williams broke through the pack to rival Christian, finding room to
his inside. He spent three laps there inching his way into the lead over
Christian, who did not give up in the outside lane. He rallied to pull
back ahead on lap-16 in a near mirror image of one of the great Speedbowl
duels when a week ago Caron and Ken Cassidy Jr. dazzled the fans for the
race win.
Williams wasn’t done, regrouping on the bottom of the track to take back
over from Christian on lap-18. Directly behind those two Charles
Canfield, Cassidy, Bill Leonard and Glenn Colvin were putting on a
tremendous battle for position of their own.
The final seven laps of the race saw Williams pull ahead as Christian fell
back. Williams went on to the race win, while Leonard came out on top of
the great action for second position. Cassidy, Colvin, and Christian
rounded out the top-five finishers.
In the visiting NEMA Lites Series race, Bigelow came out on top in a
quickly completed 25-lap feature. He overcame a red flag on lap-3 when a
frontstretch accident collected multiple cars and sent Paul Luggelle’s
tumbling onto its side. Luggelle was ok following the incident. The
final 22 laps were completed in rapid fashion, with Bigelow distancing
himself from the field. Jim SantaMaria and Joey Mucciacciaro completed
the podium finishers.
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)
Pearl, Thomas, Puleo and Williams claim NWAAS wins on the night
Waterford Speedbowl endured a rain delay
courtesy of Mother Nature Saturday evening and rebounded to complete a
five-division NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race program plus the
Beaver Bat Homerun Derby on Little League Night, presented by Suisman
Shapiro. Jeff Pearl of Salem bested the field of SK Modifieds® to
capture his 35th career victory. Bruce Thomas Jr. of Groton claimed the
45th win of his Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model career, taking the
evening’s 30-lap event. Ed Puleo of Branford overcame an intense battle
in a special 50-lap Street Stock race, his second victory on the season
while Chris Williams of Niantic was the winner of the 25-lap Mini Stock
feature. Ryan Bigelow of East Hampton won in the visiting NEMA Lite
Series 25-lap race.
Before the main racing events, the Beaver Bat Homerun Derby kicked off
Little League Night festivities. Ten Speedbowl racers were teamed up with
ten youth from the grandstands in a wiffle ball derby on the Speedbowl
frontstretch. Winning the event was 2009 SK Modified® track champion Ron
Yuhas Jr. of Groton, who was teamed with nine-year-old Chris White of
Montville. Each of the ten youth participating received gifts courtesy
of Suisman Shapiro Law Firm and Beaver Bats, as well as autographed
material from the Speedbowl drivers.
In racing action, after a false start on the initial attempt to start the
35-lap SK Modified® feature Tucker Reynolds Jr. took command over Glenn
Pressel once the race got underway. Nichole Morgillo got out of shape in
turn three on lap-1, continuing on without caution at the tail of the
field.
Joe Perry and Pearl both moved into the top three by getting past
Pressel’s inside on lap-5, bringing Ron Yuhas Jr. and Rob Janovic also by
Pressel to make up the top five positions in the race’s opening laps.
Pearl then went outside Perry, looking strong in taking over the second
position as they raced to lap-6. Yuhas followed suit outside Perry a lap
later to move into third, while Pearl shifted his focus to Reynolds out
front.
After one circuit sizing up the leader, Pearl looked low off turn four as
they completed lap-8 and found room inside Reynolds into turn one. He
cleared Reynolds and was scored as the new leader on lap-9. Reynolds
recovered to hold second position over Yuhas, while Janovic was up to
fourth and Diego Monahan to fifth as Perry slipped back.
As Pearl opened up a three car advantage, Yuhas darted outside Reynolds,
battling side-by-side for a lap before taking the second position on
lap-15. The race moved past halfway to lap-20, still under the green
flag, with Yuhas inching his way to within a half car of Pearl’s rear
bumper. The lead two played a game of cat-and-mouse on the track with
Pearl maintaining his lead and Yuhas looking for a racing groove that
would provide him the momentum needed to challenge.
As the race up front unfolded, the best battle for position on the track
was for sixth place as Perry had his hands full holding off a charging
Kyle James and defending champion Keith Rocco. Those two got around Perry
on lap-25 then looked to close in on the top-five, which had distanced
themselves from sixth.
The race continued uninterrupted, setting up Pearl’s run to victory.
Yuhas made three attempts in the final seven laps to contend. First, he
nearly got a wheel outside Pearl entering turn one but couldn’t make the
move stick on lap-28. Then, through turns three and four with five laps
remaining, Yuhas first looked high, then ducked low but wasn’t able to
make a cross-over move work. Coming to the white flag Yuhas again rallied
and attempted a similar move in turn four, to no avail. Pearl went on to
a two-car length win over Yuhas, while Reynolds and Janovic ran well for
third and fourth. James was able to get by Monahan in the final laps to
claim fifth.
The 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature had Thomas out front
early, steadily climbing through the top five in the opening circuits. He
took over from early leader Ernie Bertrand as the field completed lap-6.
A battle for second position broke out between Bertrand, Jeff Smith and
Rich Staskowski as racing continued to be clean throughout the field.
Smith took second spot on lap-8, then set chase for Thomas who had moved
out to a convincing advantage as the race leader. Staskowski got by the
inside of Bertrand on lap-14 and the top three drivers began to pull away
from the rest of the field.
The race’s first and only caution finally slowed Thomas’ torrid pace on
lap-20 when Mark Cooper spun, backing into the turn three barrier. That
erased the advantage that Thomas built up and gave Smith and Staskowski a
chance to take the race away.
Thomas, however, dominated the restart leaving Smith in the clutches of
Staskowski in a battle for second. Things got heated between the two in
turn four of lap-21, crossing Smith up in the outside lane. He made a
great save, however couldn’t avoid making contact with the frontstretch
wall. He somehow held his position and everyone continued on under green.
That slip enabled Thomas to pull away once again, cruising the rest of
the way on to the victory. Smith hung on to a fading car over the final
laps to narrowly edge Staskowski for second position at the checkered
flag. Joe Curioso and Anthony Flannery finished fourth and fifth.
The 50-lap Street Stock event was led at the drop of the green flag by Ted
Dupre, the division champion in 2000. Defending champion Al Stone used an
inside move on Dupre, pulling even and spending a lap side-by-side with
him before taking the top spot as they raced back to lap-12. Puleo and
Josh Galvin both used the inside lane to get around Dupre to be scored the
top-three by lap-14. Eight more laps were logged before Michael Caprio
lost an engine in turn three on lap-22, necessitating the race’s first
caution for an extended cleanup of fluid from his machine.
Galvin had just taken over second position before the yellow flag, lining
him up outside Stone for the restart. Galvin was strong in the outside
lane once the green flag returned, giving Stone a run for the race lead.
Galvin stayed competitive in the top racing groove long enough to be
scored as the leader by just a few feet when caution flew again as the
leaders completed lap-24.
Following the lap-24 restart Galvin, Stone and Puleo put on a great
three-car battle for the race win over the second half of the
extra-distance event. The trio exchanged positions several times with
Puleo coming out on top using the outside lane in a battle with Galvin.
Galvin exhausted several maneuvers in an attempt to stay alongside and
under Puleo, to no avail. Puleo had to hold off Galvin to his outside as
well following another late restart, successfully doing so. Stone was
able reinsert himself into the mix, using the inside lane to move back to
second past Galvin in the closing circuits.
Stone threw more challenges Puleo’s way, but Puleo was able to hold back
the charges of both Galvin and Stone over the final 25-laps to his second
win of the season in thrilling fashion. Galvin finished third with last
week’s winner Norm Root and Ernie Larose completing the top-five.
The 25-lap Mini Stock race began with an opening lap spin off turn two for
Sean Caron and Jeffrey Cembruch while competing in the middle of the pack.
That drew the first and only caution flag in a very competitive and
entertaining feature for the division.
When racing resumed Ray Christian was the race leader over the first ten
laps. Williams broke through the pack to rival Christian, finding room to
his inside. He spent three laps there inching his way into the lead over
Christian, who did not give up in the outside lane. He rallied to pull
back ahead on lap-16 in a near mirror image of one of the great Speedbowl
duels when a week ago Caron and Ken Cassidy Jr. dazzled the fans for the
race win.
Williams wasn’t done, regrouping on the bottom of the track to take back
over from Christian on lap-18. Directly behind those two Charles
Canfield, Cassidy, Bill Leonard and Glenn Colvin were putting on a
tremendous battle for position of their own.
The final seven laps of the race saw Williams pull ahead as Christian fell
back. Williams went on to the race win, while Leonard came out on top of
the great action for second position. Cassidy, Colvin, and Christian
rounded out the top-five finishers.
In the visiting NEMA Lites Series race, Bigelow came out on top in a
quickly completed 25-lap feature. He overcame a red flag on lap-3 when a
frontstretch accident collected multiple cars and sent Paul Luggelle’s
tumbling onto its side. Luggelle was ok following the incident. The
final 22 laps were completed in rapid fashion, with Bigelow distancing
himself from the field. Jim SantaMaria and Joey Mucciacciaro completed
the podium finishers.
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)