RGeeProductions
07-22-2012, 10:26 AM
Beautiful weather graced Waterford
Speedbowl Saturday evening for a six-division NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series racing program. Fans in attendance were treated to a cleanly
competed event as the first four feature races were slowed by only one
caution period among them. Scoring victories on the evening included Shawn
Monahan of Waterford who won an absolute thriller in the night’s SK
Modified® feature. Corey Hutchings of Salem won his third Street Stock
feature on the year while Oakdale driver Wayne Burroughs picked up an
exciting first-ever win in the Mini Stock division. Corey Barry of
Plainfield won his second consecutive SK Light Modified race, Dana
Dimatteo of Farmington won his second Saturday Series Legend Cars event of
2012 and Chris Garside of Waterford took a hometown win in the Saturday
Series for the X-Car division.
Monahan led the field to the green flag to start the 35-lap NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series SK Modified® feature race. He bolted out to the early
lead over Jeffrey Gallup, who was comfortable in second position ahead of
Joe Perry, Ed Puleo and Joe Gada as the field singled out. Top guns Rob
Janovic Jr., Keith Rocco and Tyler Chadwick were racing further back to
crack the top-ten positions when Rich Brooks spun in turn two on lap-9 to
bring out the first caution flag.
On the restart it was Monahan back ahead of Gallup with Puleo racing to
third outside Perry, who was back in a battle with Gada for fourth. Kyle
James and Keith Rocco battled side-by-side behind that pair for sixth
position while Diego Monahan, Janovic and Chadwick were trying to make up
ground through the field behind them. The second caution flag flew on
lap-15 for Corey Larson and Corey Coates as the two came together in turn
four.
The restart attempt saw Monahan lead Gallup to turn one, however trouble
at the rear of the field saw Jeff Rocco go hard into the front stretch
wall to keep the race halted under yellow.
Following the cleanup Puleo enjoyed his best run of the season to date,
advancing to second inside of Gallup on lap-16. Behind the leaders
several cars bunched up two by two in tight formation when trouble broke
out. Contact sent Kyle James from the top of the track into the low
groove between turns three and four, leaving point leader Janovic nowhere
to go. James collected Janovic sending both cars careening hard into the
wall out of turn four to bring out another caution flag on lap-17, ending
the night for both.
The field was only able to make it to turn one on the restart attempt
before action picked up again, this time with Gallup and Perry making
contact in turn one. The field scattered and the caution flag waved as
Gallup had a right front tire down on his car, keeping the racing at bay
with 17 laps complete.
Monahan led Puleo for the restart with Perry and Gada side-by-side for
third. Keith Rocco made quick work of the battle for third by stealing
the spot away with a three-wide maneuver down the back chute into turn
three on lap-18. Just one more lap was scored complete when fluid on the
track from an ailing car at the back of the field necessitated the sixth
caution flag of the race.
The action picked up in a big way at the front of the field following the
next restart. Monahan resumed his lead while Puleo fell back into a
side-by-side tussle with Rocco for second. Puleo made slight contact with
the backstretch wall on lap-19 outside of Rocco, causing the field to
check up. Rocco pulled away into second while Puleo resumed after dropping
positions to Tom Abele Jr., Craig Lutz and Chadwick.
The battle for the lead put the fans on the edge of their seats as Rocco
was able to track down Monahan and get to the leader’s outside and rear
bumper on multiple occasions over the next several laps. Each time,
however, Monahan successfully held back Rocco’s advances to maintain his
lead. With 25-laps on the scoreboard Rocco had tucked back in line behind
Monahan before making a blitz on his lead down the back chute to get
underneath. Just as it appeared Rocco may have found a move that worked,
Brett Gonyaw spun in turn four to bring out a caution flag. Rocco’s move
was pulled back and he lined up outside Monahan for the restart.
Rocco stayed alongside Monahan when the green flag came back out, staying
a half car to his outside through the final caution flag which waved on
lap-27 when a several car wreck on the front chute collected Jeff Pearl,
Gallup, Gonyaw, Will Schneider and Al Stone leading to a lengthy cleanup.
Pearl’s crew was put to task to repair the damage to his machine to keep
pace in the championship points hunt.
The final restart again saw Monahan hold his lead back into turn one.
Rocco actually nosed ahead into the lead outside of Monahan on lap-28
however Monahan refused to back down, reclaiming the top spot on lap-29
for the final run to the checkered flag. Rocco tried valiantly to hold
on outside Monahan but began to fade in the final laps. Monahan cleared
Rocco for good on lap-31 and went on to the win, his first at the track
since 2008 after running on a limited basis over past seasons. Chadwick
moved to third following the final restart and challenged Rocco for
second, taking the spot at the checkered flag. Rocco’s run ended in
third, while Diego Monahan and Abele rounded out the top-five.
Hutchings benefitted by a mid-race caution flag on lap-12 of the 25-lap
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stock feature to line up behind
leaders Joe Arena and Chris Meyer. Following the restart, Hutchings got
to Meyer’s inside to take second, then used a veteran move to sneak inside
of Arena on lap-17. Hutchings had to hold back Arena and Meyer briefly
before flexing his muscle to take his third win of the season in the
division. Meyer and Arena finished second and third.
Burroughs was impressive in picking up a first-ever victory in the 25-lap
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Mini Stock race. He led from the drop
of the green flag in a caution-free run straight through the checkered
flag. Burroughs did not have it easy, however, as last week’s race winner
Mark Panaroni charged to second position by lap-17 and chased Burroughs to
the checkered flag. Burroughs drove a smooth race to close out his win.
Panaroni drove hard to finish second while Ian Brew was strong during the
race to claim third.
Barry was fast in the 25-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light
Modified feature, tracking down early leader Tyler Jackson. Barry made
the move to Jackson’s inside to streak into the lead on lap-10. The race
was another caution-free event and Barry had no challengers on his route
to victory, having to navigate lapped traffic as his only hurdle. Behind
Barry, Jackson finished in second while Shayne Prucker completed a good
run to place a solid third.
Dimatteo returned to Legend Cars Victory Lane for the second time of the
year in the division’s 20-lap race. After a caution flag on the opening
lap, the race ran trouble free the rest of the way once underway.
Dimatteo led on lap-3 past Kyle Rogers. He had to survive a scare with
lapped traffic on lap-14 with Paul Kusheba tailing him, coming out
unscathed and racing to the win. Kusheba and Matt Pappa were second and
third.
(continued)
Speedbowl Saturday evening for a six-division NASCAR Whelen All-American
Series racing program. Fans in attendance were treated to a cleanly
competed event as the first four feature races were slowed by only one
caution period among them. Scoring victories on the evening included Shawn
Monahan of Waterford who won an absolute thriller in the night’s SK
Modified® feature. Corey Hutchings of Salem won his third Street Stock
feature on the year while Oakdale driver Wayne Burroughs picked up an
exciting first-ever win in the Mini Stock division. Corey Barry of
Plainfield won his second consecutive SK Light Modified race, Dana
Dimatteo of Farmington won his second Saturday Series Legend Cars event of
2012 and Chris Garside of Waterford took a hometown win in the Saturday
Series for the X-Car division.
Monahan led the field to the green flag to start the 35-lap NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series SK Modified® feature race. He bolted out to the early
lead over Jeffrey Gallup, who was comfortable in second position ahead of
Joe Perry, Ed Puleo and Joe Gada as the field singled out. Top guns Rob
Janovic Jr., Keith Rocco and Tyler Chadwick were racing further back to
crack the top-ten positions when Rich Brooks spun in turn two on lap-9 to
bring out the first caution flag.
On the restart it was Monahan back ahead of Gallup with Puleo racing to
third outside Perry, who was back in a battle with Gada for fourth. Kyle
James and Keith Rocco battled side-by-side behind that pair for sixth
position while Diego Monahan, Janovic and Chadwick were trying to make up
ground through the field behind them. The second caution flag flew on
lap-15 for Corey Larson and Corey Coates as the two came together in turn
four.
The restart attempt saw Monahan lead Gallup to turn one, however trouble
at the rear of the field saw Jeff Rocco go hard into the front stretch
wall to keep the race halted under yellow.
Following the cleanup Puleo enjoyed his best run of the season to date,
advancing to second inside of Gallup on lap-16. Behind the leaders
several cars bunched up two by two in tight formation when trouble broke
out. Contact sent Kyle James from the top of the track into the low
groove between turns three and four, leaving point leader Janovic nowhere
to go. James collected Janovic sending both cars careening hard into the
wall out of turn four to bring out another caution flag on lap-17, ending
the night for both.
The field was only able to make it to turn one on the restart attempt
before action picked up again, this time with Gallup and Perry making
contact in turn one. The field scattered and the caution flag waved as
Gallup had a right front tire down on his car, keeping the racing at bay
with 17 laps complete.
Monahan led Puleo for the restart with Perry and Gada side-by-side for
third. Keith Rocco made quick work of the battle for third by stealing
the spot away with a three-wide maneuver down the back chute into turn
three on lap-18. Just one more lap was scored complete when fluid on the
track from an ailing car at the back of the field necessitated the sixth
caution flag of the race.
The action picked up in a big way at the front of the field following the
next restart. Monahan resumed his lead while Puleo fell back into a
side-by-side tussle with Rocco for second. Puleo made slight contact with
the backstretch wall on lap-19 outside of Rocco, causing the field to
check up. Rocco pulled away into second while Puleo resumed after dropping
positions to Tom Abele Jr., Craig Lutz and Chadwick.
The battle for the lead put the fans on the edge of their seats as Rocco
was able to track down Monahan and get to the leader’s outside and rear
bumper on multiple occasions over the next several laps. Each time,
however, Monahan successfully held back Rocco’s advances to maintain his
lead. With 25-laps on the scoreboard Rocco had tucked back in line behind
Monahan before making a blitz on his lead down the back chute to get
underneath. Just as it appeared Rocco may have found a move that worked,
Brett Gonyaw spun in turn four to bring out a caution flag. Rocco’s move
was pulled back and he lined up outside Monahan for the restart.
Rocco stayed alongside Monahan when the green flag came back out, staying
a half car to his outside through the final caution flag which waved on
lap-27 when a several car wreck on the front chute collected Jeff Pearl,
Gallup, Gonyaw, Will Schneider and Al Stone leading to a lengthy cleanup.
Pearl’s crew was put to task to repair the damage to his machine to keep
pace in the championship points hunt.
The final restart again saw Monahan hold his lead back into turn one.
Rocco actually nosed ahead into the lead outside of Monahan on lap-28
however Monahan refused to back down, reclaiming the top spot on lap-29
for the final run to the checkered flag. Rocco tried valiantly to hold
on outside Monahan but began to fade in the final laps. Monahan cleared
Rocco for good on lap-31 and went on to the win, his first at the track
since 2008 after running on a limited basis over past seasons. Chadwick
moved to third following the final restart and challenged Rocco for
second, taking the spot at the checkered flag. Rocco’s run ended in
third, while Diego Monahan and Abele rounded out the top-five.
Hutchings benefitted by a mid-race caution flag on lap-12 of the 25-lap
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stock feature to line up behind
leaders Joe Arena and Chris Meyer. Following the restart, Hutchings got
to Meyer’s inside to take second, then used a veteran move to sneak inside
of Arena on lap-17. Hutchings had to hold back Arena and Meyer briefly
before flexing his muscle to take his third win of the season in the
division. Meyer and Arena finished second and third.
Burroughs was impressive in picking up a first-ever victory in the 25-lap
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Mini Stock race. He led from the drop
of the green flag in a caution-free run straight through the checkered
flag. Burroughs did not have it easy, however, as last week’s race winner
Mark Panaroni charged to second position by lap-17 and chased Burroughs to
the checkered flag. Burroughs drove a smooth race to close out his win.
Panaroni drove hard to finish second while Ian Brew was strong during the
race to claim third.
Barry was fast in the 25-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light
Modified feature, tracking down early leader Tyler Jackson. Barry made
the move to Jackson’s inside to streak into the lead on lap-10. The race
was another caution-free event and Barry had no challengers on his route
to victory, having to navigate lapped traffic as his only hurdle. Behind
Barry, Jackson finished in second while Shayne Prucker completed a good
run to place a solid third.
Dimatteo returned to Legend Cars Victory Lane for the second time of the
year in the division’s 20-lap race. After a caution flag on the opening
lap, the race ran trouble free the rest of the way once underway.
Dimatteo led on lap-3 past Kyle Rogers. He had to survive a scare with
lapped traffic on lap-14 with Paul Kusheba tailing him, coming out
unscathed and racing to the win. Kusheba and Matt Pappa were second and
third.
(continued)