RGeeProductions
05-25-2014, 11:59 AM
Super Saturday Showdown hit the asphalt at
Waterford Speedbowl Saturday with a seven-division racing card. A briskly
paced program saw Keith Rocco of Berlin take home his third NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series SK Modified® win of the year. In other NASCAR action,
a new face found the Valenti Auto Mall Late Model winner’s circle as Vin
Esposito of Seymour claimed the checkered flag. Franklin’s Josh Galvin
won again in the Street Stocks while Hope Valley, RI driver Garrett Denton
was victorious in the Mini Stocks. The Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday divisions
were also on hand, with Berlin’s Dave Yardley and New London’s Zac Thomas
scoring the respective Super X-Car and X-Car wins. Dylan Izzo of Westport
won in the night’s INEX Legend Cars feature.
Rocco was back in Victory Lane in SK Modified® action for the first time
since May 3 with an impressive performance. After a false start by the
front row on the initial green flag, Shawn Thibeault got the jump over
Jeff Gallup on the second try to start the 35-lap race. Gallup settled
into second and Rob Janovic Jr. third. The first yellow flag flew when
Craig Lutz took a hard hit into the front stretch wall on lap-2 battling
for a spot among the top-five cars.
Thibeault resumed his pace out front after the restart, pulling away from
the pack. Janovic got past Gallup’s inside to take second and behind
that, Tyler Chadwick, Keith Rocco and Ted Christiopher were each on the
move, arriving in the top-five cars by lap-7. Rocco found room to
Chadwick’s inside in turn one on lap-10 and quickly moved in on Janovic.
Rocco pressed him for second, finally using the outside lane to wrestle
second away on lap-13. Before another lap could be completed, Morgillo
was stopped on the high side of the track in turn two, returning the race
to caution.
Rocco restarted outside of Thibeault and stayed even with him for two
laps, hanging on after the two cars made contact in turn three on lap-15
before driving away. Once in front, Rocco comfortably led Thibeault who
continued to run a strong second place. Chadwick and Christopher each got
by Janovic’s outside and ran nose to tail for several laps battling for
third position. That battle ended with Chadwick turned around in turn one
on lap-29 to bring out a yellow flag, with Christopher penalized to the
rear for overaggressive driving.
Rocco was masterful over three late race restarts, the final over Ed Puleo
who climbed to second, cruising to his third victory of the year. Rocco’s
win was the 88th of his Speedbowl career and helped pad his lead in the
championship standings. Puleo finished second for the second straight
week and Janovic got past Thibeault in the closing laps to finish third.
Thibeault and Kyle James rounded out the top-five.
Esposito ended a dry spell with his Valenti Auto Mall Late Model victory.
He bolted out to the race lead from his pole starting position at the drop
of the green flag in the non-stop 30-lap feature. Keith Rocco moved
through the top five cars into second position by lap-13, however could
not track down Esposito without the benefit of a yellow flag. Rocco
closed rapidly over the final five laps but Esposito was able to hang on
to win by three car lengths at the finish. Rocco was second and Jason
Palmer rebounded from a hard wreck two weeks ago to finish third in his
first race back.
Galvin won for the fourth consecutive week in the Street Stocks, and the
fifth time in the past six races for the division. He took the lead from
Al Stone on lap-14 with a cross-over move exiting turn two after spending
two laps looking to Stone’s outside. Galvin was the third leader of the
race following Stone, who took over from Steve Barrett on lap-8. Once in
front, Galvin pulled away from a battle for second and survived one
caution flag with ten laps remaining for a spin by Scott Sundeen. Ryan
Waterman ran a solid race to finish second and Stone came in third.
Denton landed in the winner’s circle for the first time of the year in
Mini Stock action after a slow start to the season. After the only
caution flag of the 25-lap race came on lap-9 when Doug Curry spun off
turn two, Denton was patient behind a battle for the lead between Ian Brew
and Ray Christian, the latter seeking his second consecutive win. The two
spent several laps side-by-side before Denton eventually got past the
inside of both to lead lap-14. He cruised the rest of the way, posting
his third consecutive podium finish. Ken Cassidy Jr. came on strong at
the close of the race to wind up second, beating out Christian, who ended
up third.
Izzo halted Mike Christopher Jr.’s win streak in the INEX Legend Cars.
Christopher had won the previous two Saturday series as well as the first
two Wednesday night series races in the division, and had the lead again
in Saturday’s race. Christopher took command on lap-15 from early race
leader Kyle Rogers while Izzo was not far behind, mired in traffic until
breaking through behind Christopher on lap-16. The only caution flag of
the race came a lap later, giving Izzo the opportunity to restart outside
of Christopher. He got the better restart to prevail, leading back to the
finish line and went on to the win. It was the third win of the year but
first since April 12 for Izzo, last year’s division champion. Christopher
finished second and Joey Ternullo was third.
Thomas was strong over the 25-lap X-Car feature to take the victory. He
quickly moved through the top-ten cars into the race lead on lap-4, then
used a solid restart to hold his lead following a caution flag on lap-14.
Thomas bested Rich Nye and Randy Johnston was third.
Yardley put on an exciting display of clean, hard short track racing to
come away with the 25-lap Super X-Car race win. He ran outside Mike
Maskell in a side-by-side battle for the victory that lasted several laps.
Maskell had led from the opening lap and was within inches of Yardley as
the two cars took the white flag together. Yardley prevailed through turns
three and four on the final lap to win by a fender in a drag race to the
finish line. Maskell settled for second and Jim Boyle was third.
Next week the Speedbowl returns with Four Cylinder Fury, highlighting an
array of four cylinder racecars including a visit by the Pro Four
Modifieds of New England. In addition, Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday is back
with free youth admission. Details for the upcoming schedule are
available online at www.Speedbowl.com
(continued)
Waterford Speedbowl Saturday with a seven-division racing card. A briskly
paced program saw Keith Rocco of Berlin take home his third NASCAR Whelen
All-American Series SK Modified® win of the year. In other NASCAR action,
a new face found the Valenti Auto Mall Late Model winner’s circle as Vin
Esposito of Seymour claimed the checkered flag. Franklin’s Josh Galvin
won again in the Street Stocks while Hope Valley, RI driver Garrett Denton
was victorious in the Mini Stocks. The Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday divisions
were also on hand, with Berlin’s Dave Yardley and New London’s Zac Thomas
scoring the respective Super X-Car and X-Car wins. Dylan Izzo of Westport
won in the night’s INEX Legend Cars feature.
Rocco was back in Victory Lane in SK Modified® action for the first time
since May 3 with an impressive performance. After a false start by the
front row on the initial green flag, Shawn Thibeault got the jump over
Jeff Gallup on the second try to start the 35-lap race. Gallup settled
into second and Rob Janovic Jr. third. The first yellow flag flew when
Craig Lutz took a hard hit into the front stretch wall on lap-2 battling
for a spot among the top-five cars.
Thibeault resumed his pace out front after the restart, pulling away from
the pack. Janovic got past Gallup’s inside to take second and behind
that, Tyler Chadwick, Keith Rocco and Ted Christiopher were each on the
move, arriving in the top-five cars by lap-7. Rocco found room to
Chadwick’s inside in turn one on lap-10 and quickly moved in on Janovic.
Rocco pressed him for second, finally using the outside lane to wrestle
second away on lap-13. Before another lap could be completed, Morgillo
was stopped on the high side of the track in turn two, returning the race
to caution.
Rocco restarted outside of Thibeault and stayed even with him for two
laps, hanging on after the two cars made contact in turn three on lap-15
before driving away. Once in front, Rocco comfortably led Thibeault who
continued to run a strong second place. Chadwick and Christopher each got
by Janovic’s outside and ran nose to tail for several laps battling for
third position. That battle ended with Chadwick turned around in turn one
on lap-29 to bring out a yellow flag, with Christopher penalized to the
rear for overaggressive driving.
Rocco was masterful over three late race restarts, the final over Ed Puleo
who climbed to second, cruising to his third victory of the year. Rocco’s
win was the 88th of his Speedbowl career and helped pad his lead in the
championship standings. Puleo finished second for the second straight
week and Janovic got past Thibeault in the closing laps to finish third.
Thibeault and Kyle James rounded out the top-five.
Esposito ended a dry spell with his Valenti Auto Mall Late Model victory.
He bolted out to the race lead from his pole starting position at the drop
of the green flag in the non-stop 30-lap feature. Keith Rocco moved
through the top five cars into second position by lap-13, however could
not track down Esposito without the benefit of a yellow flag. Rocco
closed rapidly over the final five laps but Esposito was able to hang on
to win by three car lengths at the finish. Rocco was second and Jason
Palmer rebounded from a hard wreck two weeks ago to finish third in his
first race back.
Galvin won for the fourth consecutive week in the Street Stocks, and the
fifth time in the past six races for the division. He took the lead from
Al Stone on lap-14 with a cross-over move exiting turn two after spending
two laps looking to Stone’s outside. Galvin was the third leader of the
race following Stone, who took over from Steve Barrett on lap-8. Once in
front, Galvin pulled away from a battle for second and survived one
caution flag with ten laps remaining for a spin by Scott Sundeen. Ryan
Waterman ran a solid race to finish second and Stone came in third.
Denton landed in the winner’s circle for the first time of the year in
Mini Stock action after a slow start to the season. After the only
caution flag of the 25-lap race came on lap-9 when Doug Curry spun off
turn two, Denton was patient behind a battle for the lead between Ian Brew
and Ray Christian, the latter seeking his second consecutive win. The two
spent several laps side-by-side before Denton eventually got past the
inside of both to lead lap-14. He cruised the rest of the way, posting
his third consecutive podium finish. Ken Cassidy Jr. came on strong at
the close of the race to wind up second, beating out Christian, who ended
up third.
Izzo halted Mike Christopher Jr.’s win streak in the INEX Legend Cars.
Christopher had won the previous two Saturday series as well as the first
two Wednesday night series races in the division, and had the lead again
in Saturday’s race. Christopher took command on lap-15 from early race
leader Kyle Rogers while Izzo was not far behind, mired in traffic until
breaking through behind Christopher on lap-16. The only caution flag of
the race came a lap later, giving Izzo the opportunity to restart outside
of Christopher. He got the better restart to prevail, leading back to the
finish line and went on to the win. It was the third win of the year but
first since April 12 for Izzo, last year’s division champion. Christopher
finished second and Joey Ternullo was third.
Thomas was strong over the 25-lap X-Car feature to take the victory. He
quickly moved through the top-ten cars into the race lead on lap-4, then
used a solid restart to hold his lead following a caution flag on lap-14.
Thomas bested Rich Nye and Randy Johnston was third.
Yardley put on an exciting display of clean, hard short track racing to
come away with the 25-lap Super X-Car race win. He ran outside Mike
Maskell in a side-by-side battle for the victory that lasted several laps.
Maskell had led from the opening lap and was within inches of Yardley as
the two cars took the white flag together. Yardley prevailed through turns
three and four on the final lap to win by a fender in a drag race to the
finish line. Maskell settled for second and Jim Boyle was third.
Next week the Speedbowl returns with Four Cylinder Fury, highlighting an
array of four cylinder racecars including a visit by the Pro Four
Modifieds of New England. In addition, Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday is back
with free youth admission. Details for the upcoming schedule are
available online at www.Speedbowl.com
(continued)