RGeeProductions
07-03-2011, 01:52 AM
Saturday 7/2 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results
Rocco wins third consecutive mid-season 100-lap SK Modified® race;
Parent, Puleo and Cassidy take NWAAS checkered flags;
Dimatteo and Morin win INEX races
Waterford Speedbowl hosted the
Speedbowl.com 300 mid-season championship event Saturday evening on a
beautiful summer evening at the shoreline. In all, six divisions were on
hand with five competing in extra-distance length races. Scoring NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series victories were Keith Rocco of Wallingford, who
claimed his second consecutive and sixth overall win in the SK Modified®
division on the year. Ray Parent Jr. of Tiverton, RI won the Bob Valenti
Auto Mall Late Model feature, Ed Puleo of Branford took the Street Stocks
and Lisbon’s Ken Cassidy Jr. was the winner in the Mini Stock feature.
Dana Dimatteo was the benefactor of a last-lap tangle in the Legends Cars
race, vaulting him to the checkered flag. Twelve-year old Ken Morin Jr.
of Old Saybrook rounded out the winners on the night, taking down the
Bandolero feature win.
The SK Modified field was led to the green flag for its 100-lap event by
veteran Tucker Reynolds Jr. The first two laps saw Reynolds battle Tom
Abele Jr. when Kyle James slipped from third position into the infield off
turn four, eventually coming to rest at the apron of the track in turn two
to draw the caution flag. Reynolds held the lead for the restart.
Tyler Chadwick moved by Abele on the restart, bringing Jeff Pearl with
him. Behind Pearl, Rocco raced to the inside of Rob Janovic Jr. for
fourth position. Chadwick and Pearl cleared the traffic to make it a
three-car breakaway. Abele ducked in line behind Pearl and ahead of
Janovic to make up the early top-five in the race. Janovic raced around
the outside of Abele to take fourth position on lap-13. Rocco moved past
Abele’s outside on lap-19, then watched as Janovic used the inside lane to
get past Pearl on lap-23. Rocco duplicated the move on lap-25, dropping
Pearl to fifth. Caution came out again on lap-30 when Brent Sweet and
Wendell Dailey spun in turn two.
The caution period proved as Chadwick’s opportunity to pull alongside
Reynolds, and when racing returned he used that as his chance to pull into
the race lead. Rocco was outside Janovic for third, making the pass then
immediately looking to race outside Reynolds who slammed the door out of
turn two. Rocco made the move outside Reynolds again, with success on
lap-35. Rocco moved to Chadwick’s bumper, finally diving underneath the
leader in turn three on lap-42. Chadwick fought off the challenge to stay
in the lead until caution came out on lap-48 for Diego Monahan who stopped
on the track in turn one.
Rocco used the restart to finally move around Chadwick for good on lap-51.
He withstood a final restart on lap-56, but got a great jump over
Chadwick to regain his lead. The proved to be the race’s final restart
and the final 44 laps were ticked off in rapid fire. Over that stretch
Ted Christopher was on the move, climbing his way into the top-five on
lap-70 when he got around Pearl.
Chadwick could not catch Rocco out front however, and the lead began to
stretch out as the race hit its final 15 circuits. Rocco would go on to
win by nearly 3.5 seconds over Chadwick. Janovic finished in third ahead
of Reynolds, who hung to fourth position over Christopher. With his win,
Rocco tightened the points race with Pearl.
The Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature was led to green by Parent,
making just his second career start at the Speedbowl. He bolted out to
the early lead in the 50-lapper. The race was first slowed on lap-5 when
fluid was down on the speedway after an engine let go on Rich Duranti’s
car. Back under green flag racing, Parent again moved out to the lead.
He stretched his advantage to five lengths ahead of Vin Esposito. Rich
Staskowski moved past the inside of Esposito on lap-10 but could not cut
into Parent’s lead. The field raced to lap-17 before the caution flag
waved again for a two car incident in turn two.
The restart saw an exchange of positions up front. Bruce Thomas Jr. had
made his way into third position before the caution flag, then used the
restart to move to the inside of Staskowski for second position. Thomas
wouldn’t let Parent out of his sights, racing to his inside as the pair
went into turn three on lap-18. He inched his way into the race lead by
lap-20 as Parent tucked in line behind the three-time division champion.
Behind the leaders, Staskowski held third ahead of Jeff Smith and a battle
for fifth place between Jason Palmer and Brian Andronaco Jr.
The racing settled down over the middle stages of the race. Parent,
however, was not done racing back to Thomas’ rear bumper by lap-40 for the
final sprint to the finish. The race continued under green through the
end, setting up the exciting finish. Parent peeked to the inside of
Thomas out of turn four on laps-44 and 45 before finally being able to
make the move stick as they entered turn one of lap-46. The two spent the
final laps even, battling side-by-side to the checkered flag. As the
leaders entered turn three on the final lap Parent drove in hard, coming
out of turn four with the lead and the checkered flag. Thomas was second
with Staskowski, Smith and Palmer completing the top-five.
The 50-lap Street Stock feature had Jack Aquilina out front for the
opening laps before he gave way to Chris Meyer as the field completed
lap-5. Behind Meyer, Al Stone and Puleo were also on the move, arriving
in the top three behind Meyer by lap-7. Stone began dropping back with
something amiss under the hood of his car. He had slipped back to fifth
place before being black flagged to the infield. On lap-17 caution waved
for Nate Appell, who spun in turn four.
With Puleo up to second for the restart, Meyer was able to hang on to his
inside for one lap before Puleo powered ahead for good on lap-18. Meyer
held second position ahead of a great battle for position between Josh
Galvin and Mike Caprio who raced for third. Galvin eventually moved out
ahead in the spot, trying to track down both Puleo, who led comfortably
over Meyer.
The green flag remained out and the Puleo was never seriously challenged.
He went on to a straightaway victory to claim his fourth checkered flag on
the year and break a tie in the championship standings with Stone, who did
not return to the race following his early troubles. Behind Puleo were
Meyer, Galvin, Caprio and Steve Barrett.
A thrilling 50-lap Mini Stock race saw a hotly contested battle for the
top-five positions for the duration of the event. Phil Evans led the
early laps from the outside pole starting position. The first 34-laps
were run without a yellow flag, however the action was far from dull.
Evans was challenged for much of that stretch by Sean Caron. They spent
the majority of the first half of the race side-by-side, swapping the lead
back and forth. Glenn Colvin, Cassidy, Charles Canfield and Chris
Williams were all in the mix as well, jockeying for position.
By lap-20 the top six had little separation from the original start of the
race. Hard but clean two-by-two racing for the top spots finally saw
Caron edge his way ahead of Evans for good for the lead on lap-27. That
gave the rest of the contenders opportunity to maneuver for position with
Colvin racing inside Evans for second position, taking the spot on lap-29.
Colvin instantly dove outside of Caron for the lead while Cassidy was
able to advance to third ahead of Evans. Colvin spent three laps outside
Caron, finally pulling ahead of him into the lead. The great action was
finally slowed on lap-34 when Canfield had something break in the right
front on his machine, sending him hard into the outside retaining wall in
turn two for the first caution flag.
Cassidy challenged Caron for second on the restart, taking the spot and
pulling up behind Colvin. Caution waved for the final time on lap-39 for
a melee in turn four that collected Ian Brew among others. The restart
proved to be the deciding factor in the race. Cassidy raced even with
Colvin in the outside lane before putting the nose of his car ahead to
lead lap-41. He then took over sole possession of the lead on lap-43.
The race finished under green and Cassidy went unchallenged the rest of
the way to the win. The win was Cassidy’s fourth on the year and his 29th
career in the division, moving him atop the all-time standings. Behind
Cassidy and Colvin, Ray Christian, Williams and Jeffrey Cembruch completed
the top-five.
(continued)
Rocco wins third consecutive mid-season 100-lap SK Modified® race;
Parent, Puleo and Cassidy take NWAAS checkered flags;
Dimatteo and Morin win INEX races
Waterford Speedbowl hosted the
Speedbowl.com 300 mid-season championship event Saturday evening on a
beautiful summer evening at the shoreline. In all, six divisions were on
hand with five competing in extra-distance length races. Scoring NASCAR
Whelen All-American Series victories were Keith Rocco of Wallingford, who
claimed his second consecutive and sixth overall win in the SK Modified®
division on the year. Ray Parent Jr. of Tiverton, RI won the Bob Valenti
Auto Mall Late Model feature, Ed Puleo of Branford took the Street Stocks
and Lisbon’s Ken Cassidy Jr. was the winner in the Mini Stock feature.
Dana Dimatteo was the benefactor of a last-lap tangle in the Legends Cars
race, vaulting him to the checkered flag. Twelve-year old Ken Morin Jr.
of Old Saybrook rounded out the winners on the night, taking down the
Bandolero feature win.
The SK Modified field was led to the green flag for its 100-lap event by
veteran Tucker Reynolds Jr. The first two laps saw Reynolds battle Tom
Abele Jr. when Kyle James slipped from third position into the infield off
turn four, eventually coming to rest at the apron of the track in turn two
to draw the caution flag. Reynolds held the lead for the restart.
Tyler Chadwick moved by Abele on the restart, bringing Jeff Pearl with
him. Behind Pearl, Rocco raced to the inside of Rob Janovic Jr. for
fourth position. Chadwick and Pearl cleared the traffic to make it a
three-car breakaway. Abele ducked in line behind Pearl and ahead of
Janovic to make up the early top-five in the race. Janovic raced around
the outside of Abele to take fourth position on lap-13. Rocco moved past
Abele’s outside on lap-19, then watched as Janovic used the inside lane to
get past Pearl on lap-23. Rocco duplicated the move on lap-25, dropping
Pearl to fifth. Caution came out again on lap-30 when Brent Sweet and
Wendell Dailey spun in turn two.
The caution period proved as Chadwick’s opportunity to pull alongside
Reynolds, and when racing returned he used that as his chance to pull into
the race lead. Rocco was outside Janovic for third, making the pass then
immediately looking to race outside Reynolds who slammed the door out of
turn two. Rocco made the move outside Reynolds again, with success on
lap-35. Rocco moved to Chadwick’s bumper, finally diving underneath the
leader in turn three on lap-42. Chadwick fought off the challenge to stay
in the lead until caution came out on lap-48 for Diego Monahan who stopped
on the track in turn one.
Rocco used the restart to finally move around Chadwick for good on lap-51.
He withstood a final restart on lap-56, but got a great jump over
Chadwick to regain his lead. The proved to be the race’s final restart
and the final 44 laps were ticked off in rapid fire. Over that stretch
Ted Christopher was on the move, climbing his way into the top-five on
lap-70 when he got around Pearl.
Chadwick could not catch Rocco out front however, and the lead began to
stretch out as the race hit its final 15 circuits. Rocco would go on to
win by nearly 3.5 seconds over Chadwick. Janovic finished in third ahead
of Reynolds, who hung to fourth position over Christopher. With his win,
Rocco tightened the points race with Pearl.
The Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature was led to green by Parent,
making just his second career start at the Speedbowl. He bolted out to
the early lead in the 50-lapper. The race was first slowed on lap-5 when
fluid was down on the speedway after an engine let go on Rich Duranti’s
car. Back under green flag racing, Parent again moved out to the lead.
He stretched his advantage to five lengths ahead of Vin Esposito. Rich
Staskowski moved past the inside of Esposito on lap-10 but could not cut
into Parent’s lead. The field raced to lap-17 before the caution flag
waved again for a two car incident in turn two.
The restart saw an exchange of positions up front. Bruce Thomas Jr. had
made his way into third position before the caution flag, then used the
restart to move to the inside of Staskowski for second position. Thomas
wouldn’t let Parent out of his sights, racing to his inside as the pair
went into turn three on lap-18. He inched his way into the race lead by
lap-20 as Parent tucked in line behind the three-time division champion.
Behind the leaders, Staskowski held third ahead of Jeff Smith and a battle
for fifth place between Jason Palmer and Brian Andronaco Jr.
The racing settled down over the middle stages of the race. Parent,
however, was not done racing back to Thomas’ rear bumper by lap-40 for the
final sprint to the finish. The race continued under green through the
end, setting up the exciting finish. Parent peeked to the inside of
Thomas out of turn four on laps-44 and 45 before finally being able to
make the move stick as they entered turn one of lap-46. The two spent the
final laps even, battling side-by-side to the checkered flag. As the
leaders entered turn three on the final lap Parent drove in hard, coming
out of turn four with the lead and the checkered flag. Thomas was second
with Staskowski, Smith and Palmer completing the top-five.
The 50-lap Street Stock feature had Jack Aquilina out front for the
opening laps before he gave way to Chris Meyer as the field completed
lap-5. Behind Meyer, Al Stone and Puleo were also on the move, arriving
in the top three behind Meyer by lap-7. Stone began dropping back with
something amiss under the hood of his car. He had slipped back to fifth
place before being black flagged to the infield. On lap-17 caution waved
for Nate Appell, who spun in turn four.
With Puleo up to second for the restart, Meyer was able to hang on to his
inside for one lap before Puleo powered ahead for good on lap-18. Meyer
held second position ahead of a great battle for position between Josh
Galvin and Mike Caprio who raced for third. Galvin eventually moved out
ahead in the spot, trying to track down both Puleo, who led comfortably
over Meyer.
The green flag remained out and the Puleo was never seriously challenged.
He went on to a straightaway victory to claim his fourth checkered flag on
the year and break a tie in the championship standings with Stone, who did
not return to the race following his early troubles. Behind Puleo were
Meyer, Galvin, Caprio and Steve Barrett.
A thrilling 50-lap Mini Stock race saw a hotly contested battle for the
top-five positions for the duration of the event. Phil Evans led the
early laps from the outside pole starting position. The first 34-laps
were run without a yellow flag, however the action was far from dull.
Evans was challenged for much of that stretch by Sean Caron. They spent
the majority of the first half of the race side-by-side, swapping the lead
back and forth. Glenn Colvin, Cassidy, Charles Canfield and Chris
Williams were all in the mix as well, jockeying for position.
By lap-20 the top six had little separation from the original start of the
race. Hard but clean two-by-two racing for the top spots finally saw
Caron edge his way ahead of Evans for good for the lead on lap-27. That
gave the rest of the contenders opportunity to maneuver for position with
Colvin racing inside Evans for second position, taking the spot on lap-29.
Colvin instantly dove outside of Caron for the lead while Cassidy was
able to advance to third ahead of Evans. Colvin spent three laps outside
Caron, finally pulling ahead of him into the lead. The great action was
finally slowed on lap-34 when Canfield had something break in the right
front on his machine, sending him hard into the outside retaining wall in
turn two for the first caution flag.
Cassidy challenged Caron for second on the restart, taking the spot and
pulling up behind Colvin. Caution waved for the final time on lap-39 for
a melee in turn four that collected Ian Brew among others. The restart
proved to be the deciding factor in the race. Cassidy raced even with
Colvin in the outside lane before putting the nose of his car ahead to
lead lap-41. He then took over sole possession of the lead on lap-43.
The race finished under green and Cassidy went unchallenged the rest of
the way to the win. The win was Cassidy’s fourth on the year and his 29th
career in the division, moving him atop the all-time standings. Behind
Cassidy and Colvin, Ray Christian, Williams and Jeffrey Cembruch completed
the top-five.
(continued)