RGeeProductions
09-23-2012, 01:46 PM
Waterford Speedbowl returned to the
race track for another NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing program
Saturday night highlighted by twin 35-lap SK Modified® features, the
premier weekly division at the track. Tyler Chadwick of Ledyard won the
first of the two races, his fifth of the year, while Tom Abele Jr. of
Norwich won the night’s second feature, his first on the season. Cam
McDermott of North Scituate, RI picked up his second checkered flag of the
year in the SK Light Modifieds. Dan Darnstaedt of Durham scored the
Street Stock feature race win and Garrett Denton of Hope Valley, RI
grabbed his first Mini Stock division victory of 2012. The X-Car division
competed in an event for their Saturday Showdown Series, won by Wayne
Shifflett of Preston.
The first of two 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified®
features was led to the green flag by cousins Adam and Joe Gada. Adam
Gada got the jump and moved out to a comfortable early advantage. Adam
moved out to an impressive lead over his cousin Joe with Nichole Morgillo
in third position as the field settled in for a long opening stretch of
green flag racing.
Morgillo made an inside maneuver on Joe Gada to take second position on
lap-10. Behind the top three, Rob Janovic Jr. was on the move looking to
challenge Joe Perry for fourth place. Chadwick and Jeff Rocco joined
that group in a four-way battle for position, eventually claimed by
Chadwick who was slicing his way to the front. Once in fourth, Chadwick
ran down Joe Gada for third and was by his inside on lap-12. The top
three cars were singled out running by themselves with Morgillo unable to
cut much off of Adam Gada’s lead and Chadwick trying to track down
Morgillo.
Behind them several battles brewed all around the three eighths mile oval.
Jeff Rocco was the next to make a move, getting to Joe Gada’s inside for
fourth position on lap-17. Janovic was still looking for a way around
Perry for sixth when the first caution finally waved on lap-22. Shawn
Thibeault spun off the front chute, coming to rest off the apron of turn
one, erasing Adam Gada’s advantage over the field.
A multi-car wreck was triggered on the restart attempt as Thibeault, Tom
Abele, Joe Allegro and Todd Owen were among the collected cars with all
driving away. The next restart was a successful one. Morgillo hung on
outside Gada through turns one and two, but Chadwick seized the moment
when Morgillo drifted up the track out of turn four to race to second
position on lap-23. Chadwick immediately went to work on Gada, looking
for an inside move on the leader on lap-25 as caution waved again when
Jeff Gallup was off the track in turn three and Wendell Dailey limped
around the track with suspension damage. In a separate incident, Morgillo
and Rocco came together in turn two just after the caution flag, sending
Rocco around and to the pits during the caution period.
The restart pitted Gada against Chadwick. The point leader muscled into
the lead off turn two down the back chute, taking the lead for good on
lap-26. Morgillo got to Gada’s inside in turn three on lap-27, bringing
Janovic with her into the top three as Gada dropped back to fourth. The
field ran through the checkered flag and finished in order. Behind Adam
Gada in fourth, Joe Gada completed the top-five. The victory was
Chadwick’s fifth of the season.
The second 35-lap SK Modified® race had Gallup and Abele on the front row
for the initial green flag. The field rumbled to turn one for the first
time but contact had Kyle James and Jeff Rocco in trouble before a lap was
completed. Under the caution flag, both ducked to the pit area for
service. The second attempt to start the race was a clean one with Abele
jumping out into the lead. He opened up a several car length lead over
Gallup as Janovic raced his way to third by lap-8.
Janovic continued his progress to the front and by lap-13 had cleared
Gallup for second. The field ran green through lap-13 when trouble just
outside the top-five sent several cars hard into the wall between turns
one and two. Among those collected included Thibeault, Chadwick, Rocco,
Owen and Ed Puleo. Thibeault, Chadwick and Puleo’s cars received the
heaviest damage and were towed from the wreck with only Chadwick able to
resume after repairs, several laps down.
After the cleanup, Abele jumped to the lead back ahead of Janovic. Todd
Ceravolo raced to third position, getting past Gallup on lap-15. One lap
later, Janovic was inside of Abele and raced into the lead on lap-16.
With Abele in the outside lane, Ceravolo filled the gap to his inside and
followed Janovic past Abele into second, with Jeff Pearl also clearing
Abele to streak into third. The top three cars pulled away and began to
mix things up at the front as the race hit halfway.
On lap-19, Ceravolo took a look outside of Janovic for the race lead but
tucked back in line. Over the next two circuits Ceravolo continued
pressing in the outside lane opening the door for Pearl, who dove
underneath Ceravolo on lap-21 looking to snatch away second. Just as
things were really heating up at the front, James was stopped at the apron
of the track in turn two to cool the action with a caution flag.
Trouble broke out among the leaders on the restart attempt. Janovic led
the field off turn four however contact between the two leaders saw
Ceravolo climb up and over the Janovic car as the two wrecked wildly into
turn one. Janovic took a hard trip into the wall for the second
consecutive week while battling for the lead while Ceravolo’s night was
done as he retired his car to the pits. Pearl steered clear of the
incident, which drew the caution and red flags. Janovic eventually
climbed from his car after several moments with track safety workers on
the scene.
The new lineup had Pearl leading Abele on the front row. The field was
unable to restart cleanly yet again as Shawn Monahan spun from fourth
position exiting turn four, collecting Gallup in the aftermath. The next
restart attempt was clean with Pearl leading Abele to turn one. Matt
Gallo and Morgillo were locked in a battle for third, with Morgillo using
the outside lane to power into the spot on lap-22.
Things settled in over the next several laps with Pearl distancing himself
from the pack. Abele held second over Morgillo as Pearl had lapped
traffic looming in the distance. While Pearl appeared to be in control
out front, the slower car of Adam Gada bobbled into the racing groove just
as Pearl exited turn two with his full momentum on lap-29. With nowhere
to go Pearl made contact with Gada, damaging his left front suspension.
As Pearl slowed on the track with an ailing car the field caught him,
resulting in Morgillo spinning off turn four after tangling up with Pearl.
Caution was back out after another wild sequence among the lead pack,
dropping Pearl and Morgillo from contention.
Abele found himself back in the top spot for the restart, which proved as
the race’s final. He bested Gallo on the final green flag, going on to
win his first race of the year. Owen rebounded from his earlier troubles
to claim second at the finish line, getting by Gallo over the final six
lap sprint. Rocco came back to finish in third, while Gallo and Joe Perry
rounded out the top-five.
In the championship hunt, Chadwick bolstered his lead over Pearl with a
victory in the first race, coupled with a seventh place effort for Pearl.
In the second race, both championship hopefuls encountered trouble,
keeping Chadwick’s lead over Pearl at 21 points with two events remaining.
In the evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modified
feature, Alan Benincaso brought the field to green for their 25-lapper.
Trouble headed into turn one saw four cars pile into the turn one wall on
the initial green as Larry Goss, Rob Gallaer, Frank Scimeca and Paul
Tommasino all needed to be towed from the racetrack.
Benincaso led Corey Larson when racing finally got underway, with Larson
making a move to the lead on lap-3. Tyler Jackson and McDermott found
their way to second and third when caution waved again on lap-5 for
defending champion Chris Correll, who spun exiting turn two.
The restart saw Jackson bolt into the lead on the outside of Larson.
Randy Churchill powered around the outside groove to come to second
position on lap-7 while McDermott got by Larson to move to third on lap-8.
As the field raced into turn one working lap-9, Paul French challenged
Larson for fourth with the pair making contact. Larson spun around and
caution was back out, with French being penalized to the rear of the field
for overaggressive driving. Larson created a scary scenario when he
wrecked French while the race was still under caution, drawing a red flag
for the situation. Larson was disqualified.
Once restarted, the race ran through the checkered flag. Jackson led over
Churchill to lap-9, but McDermott got by Churchill to move into contention
on lap-10. Only one lap had gone by before McDermott pulled into the race
lead inside of Jackson. Churchill moved to second position while Jackson
recovered to tuck back in line third. The trio ran through the checkered
flag in that order with no further delay. Corey Barry finished fourth
with Correll coming back for fifth.
(continued)
race track for another NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing program
Saturday night highlighted by twin 35-lap SK Modified® features, the
premier weekly division at the track. Tyler Chadwick of Ledyard won the
first of the two races, his fifth of the year, while Tom Abele Jr. of
Norwich won the night’s second feature, his first on the season. Cam
McDermott of North Scituate, RI picked up his second checkered flag of the
year in the SK Light Modifieds. Dan Darnstaedt of Durham scored the
Street Stock feature race win and Garrett Denton of Hope Valley, RI
grabbed his first Mini Stock division victory of 2012. The X-Car division
competed in an event for their Saturday Showdown Series, won by Wayne
Shifflett of Preston.
The first of two 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified®
features was led to the green flag by cousins Adam and Joe Gada. Adam
Gada got the jump and moved out to a comfortable early advantage. Adam
moved out to an impressive lead over his cousin Joe with Nichole Morgillo
in third position as the field settled in for a long opening stretch of
green flag racing.
Morgillo made an inside maneuver on Joe Gada to take second position on
lap-10. Behind the top three, Rob Janovic Jr. was on the move looking to
challenge Joe Perry for fourth place. Chadwick and Jeff Rocco joined
that group in a four-way battle for position, eventually claimed by
Chadwick who was slicing his way to the front. Once in fourth, Chadwick
ran down Joe Gada for third and was by his inside on lap-12. The top
three cars were singled out running by themselves with Morgillo unable to
cut much off of Adam Gada’s lead and Chadwick trying to track down
Morgillo.
Behind them several battles brewed all around the three eighths mile oval.
Jeff Rocco was the next to make a move, getting to Joe Gada’s inside for
fourth position on lap-17. Janovic was still looking for a way around
Perry for sixth when the first caution finally waved on lap-22. Shawn
Thibeault spun off the front chute, coming to rest off the apron of turn
one, erasing Adam Gada’s advantage over the field.
A multi-car wreck was triggered on the restart attempt as Thibeault, Tom
Abele, Joe Allegro and Todd Owen were among the collected cars with all
driving away. The next restart was a successful one. Morgillo hung on
outside Gada through turns one and two, but Chadwick seized the moment
when Morgillo drifted up the track out of turn four to race to second
position on lap-23. Chadwick immediately went to work on Gada, looking
for an inside move on the leader on lap-25 as caution waved again when
Jeff Gallup was off the track in turn three and Wendell Dailey limped
around the track with suspension damage. In a separate incident, Morgillo
and Rocco came together in turn two just after the caution flag, sending
Rocco around and to the pits during the caution period.
The restart pitted Gada against Chadwick. The point leader muscled into
the lead off turn two down the back chute, taking the lead for good on
lap-26. Morgillo got to Gada’s inside in turn three on lap-27, bringing
Janovic with her into the top three as Gada dropped back to fourth. The
field ran through the checkered flag and finished in order. Behind Adam
Gada in fourth, Joe Gada completed the top-five. The victory was
Chadwick’s fifth of the season.
The second 35-lap SK Modified® race had Gallup and Abele on the front row
for the initial green flag. The field rumbled to turn one for the first
time but contact had Kyle James and Jeff Rocco in trouble before a lap was
completed. Under the caution flag, both ducked to the pit area for
service. The second attempt to start the race was a clean one with Abele
jumping out into the lead. He opened up a several car length lead over
Gallup as Janovic raced his way to third by lap-8.
Janovic continued his progress to the front and by lap-13 had cleared
Gallup for second. The field ran green through lap-13 when trouble just
outside the top-five sent several cars hard into the wall between turns
one and two. Among those collected included Thibeault, Chadwick, Rocco,
Owen and Ed Puleo. Thibeault, Chadwick and Puleo’s cars received the
heaviest damage and were towed from the wreck with only Chadwick able to
resume after repairs, several laps down.
After the cleanup, Abele jumped to the lead back ahead of Janovic. Todd
Ceravolo raced to third position, getting past Gallup on lap-15. One lap
later, Janovic was inside of Abele and raced into the lead on lap-16.
With Abele in the outside lane, Ceravolo filled the gap to his inside and
followed Janovic past Abele into second, with Jeff Pearl also clearing
Abele to streak into third. The top three cars pulled away and began to
mix things up at the front as the race hit halfway.
On lap-19, Ceravolo took a look outside of Janovic for the race lead but
tucked back in line. Over the next two circuits Ceravolo continued
pressing in the outside lane opening the door for Pearl, who dove
underneath Ceravolo on lap-21 looking to snatch away second. Just as
things were really heating up at the front, James was stopped at the apron
of the track in turn two to cool the action with a caution flag.
Trouble broke out among the leaders on the restart attempt. Janovic led
the field off turn four however contact between the two leaders saw
Ceravolo climb up and over the Janovic car as the two wrecked wildly into
turn one. Janovic took a hard trip into the wall for the second
consecutive week while battling for the lead while Ceravolo’s night was
done as he retired his car to the pits. Pearl steered clear of the
incident, which drew the caution and red flags. Janovic eventually
climbed from his car after several moments with track safety workers on
the scene.
The new lineup had Pearl leading Abele on the front row. The field was
unable to restart cleanly yet again as Shawn Monahan spun from fourth
position exiting turn four, collecting Gallup in the aftermath. The next
restart attempt was clean with Pearl leading Abele to turn one. Matt
Gallo and Morgillo were locked in a battle for third, with Morgillo using
the outside lane to power into the spot on lap-22.
Things settled in over the next several laps with Pearl distancing himself
from the pack. Abele held second over Morgillo as Pearl had lapped
traffic looming in the distance. While Pearl appeared to be in control
out front, the slower car of Adam Gada bobbled into the racing groove just
as Pearl exited turn two with his full momentum on lap-29. With nowhere
to go Pearl made contact with Gada, damaging his left front suspension.
As Pearl slowed on the track with an ailing car the field caught him,
resulting in Morgillo spinning off turn four after tangling up with Pearl.
Caution was back out after another wild sequence among the lead pack,
dropping Pearl and Morgillo from contention.
Abele found himself back in the top spot for the restart, which proved as
the race’s final. He bested Gallo on the final green flag, going on to
win his first race of the year. Owen rebounded from his earlier troubles
to claim second at the finish line, getting by Gallo over the final six
lap sprint. Rocco came back to finish in third, while Gallo and Joe Perry
rounded out the top-five.
In the championship hunt, Chadwick bolstered his lead over Pearl with a
victory in the first race, coupled with a seventh place effort for Pearl.
In the second race, both championship hopefuls encountered trouble,
keeping Chadwick’s lead over Pearl at 21 points with two events remaining.
In the evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modified
feature, Alan Benincaso brought the field to green for their 25-lapper.
Trouble headed into turn one saw four cars pile into the turn one wall on
the initial green as Larry Goss, Rob Gallaer, Frank Scimeca and Paul
Tommasino all needed to be towed from the racetrack.
Benincaso led Corey Larson when racing finally got underway, with Larson
making a move to the lead on lap-3. Tyler Jackson and McDermott found
their way to second and third when caution waved again on lap-5 for
defending champion Chris Correll, who spun exiting turn two.
The restart saw Jackson bolt into the lead on the outside of Larson.
Randy Churchill powered around the outside groove to come to second
position on lap-7 while McDermott got by Larson to move to third on lap-8.
As the field raced into turn one working lap-9, Paul French challenged
Larson for fourth with the pair making contact. Larson spun around and
caution was back out, with French being penalized to the rear of the field
for overaggressive driving. Larson created a scary scenario when he
wrecked French while the race was still under caution, drawing a red flag
for the situation. Larson was disqualified.
Once restarted, the race ran through the checkered flag. Jackson led over
Churchill to lap-9, but McDermott got by Churchill to move into contention
on lap-10. Only one lap had gone by before McDermott pulled into the race
lead inside of Jackson. Churchill moved to second position while Jackson
recovered to tuck back in line third. The trio ran through the checkered
flag in that order with no further delay. Corey Barry finished fourth
with Correll coming back for fifth.
(continued)