RGeeProductions
06-08-2014, 09:06 AM
NASCAR racing was back at Waterford
Speedbowl under perfect weather conditions Saturday evening. A hearty
crowd turned out for a six-division program and the speedway’s annual Laps
for Lupus night. In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, Keith Rocco
of Berlin padded his point lead with another SK Modified® victory while
Jason Palmer, also from Berlin, won his second straight Valenti Auto Mall
Late Model race. Danielson’s Ryan Waterman was top dog following an
action packed Street Stock race and Dave Trudeau of Mansfield picked up
his first Speedbowl Mini Stock checkered flag in several seasons.
Plainfield’s Corey Barry won his second consecutive SK Light Modified race
after the division was idle for two weeks and in INEX racing, Mike
Christopher Jr. of Wolcott won for the third time in the Legend Cars
division’s Saturday series. Before the night’s races, a track walk
benefitting Lupus Foundation of America’s Connecticut Chapter netted
nearly $6,000 for the charity.
Rocco was on point during the night’s 35-lap SK Modified® race. He picked
cars off one at a time to move into contention in the early stages and
closed out the second half of the race strong. The feature was led to the
green flag by Diego Monahan, who led the opening laps while being
challenged by Kyle James. James quickly moved into second position and
used a valiant effort to Monahan’s outside to finally overtake him on
lap-8.
Behind, Rocco came through the top ten cars in early race traffic before
jumping to the outside lane to attack the top four cars racing single file
ahead. On lap-10, he was outside Craig Lutz for third and a lap later,
used the same move on Monahan to power into second. James was out front
by several car lengths and Rocco began to run him down when caution waved
on lap-13 for a spinning Ted Christopher in turn two.
James hung tough following the restart, looking good as he held back
Rocco’s outside charge through a lap-18 caution flag for a spin by Rob
Janovic Jr. Rocco timed the ensuing restart perfectly to gain the edge
over James, pulling ahead for good on lap-19. Rocco was perfect on two
additional restarts to get away from James the rest of the way to close
out the win. James ran strong to finish second and Lutz followed up his
victory last Saturday with another podium run, finishing third. Tyler
Chadwick was up front all race and finished fourth and Shawn Thibeault was
fifth.
Palmer took down his second consecutive victory in the 30-lap Valenti Auto
Mall Late Model feature. First year driver Nicholas Sowa battled side by
side outside of pole position starter Anthony Ryan Jr. before taking the
lead on lap-4. He opened up a big lead as Ryan battled with Bruce Thomas
Jr. Palmer was locked in a three-way fight for fourth position with Vin
Esposito and Keith Rocco. Clean and hard racing dominated the race with
Sowa looking prime to score an upset victory until the final five laps.
Sowa’s race went sour on lap-25 as something caused his lead car to get
out of the racing groove in turn one, riding the top of the track through
turns one and two. His lead evaporated by the time the field caught him
exiting turn four, resulting in Sowa coming together with Ryan. Both cars
crashed on the front chute to bring out the only caution flag of the race.
Thomas also made contact but masterfully avoided becoming collected any
further and inherited the lead. Palmer lined up second for the restart
and proved too much on the outside lane, outmuscling Thomas in the final
sprint to the finish. Thomas finished second and Rocco, the division
point leader, was third.
Waterman came out on top of a wild 25-lap Street Stock race. He led just
one lap, the final one, passing Josh Galvin through turns three and four
coming to the checkered flag. Five yellow flags slowed the race, which
featured full contact racing at times. Galvin took the lead on lap-20
from Lloyd Anderson, who had led from the start. Anderson was sliding
back through the field when he wrecked hard on lap-20 exiting turn four.
Galvin had to fight off former division champion Chris “Moose” Douton
after the restart, then took the white flag leading Waterman. As they
raced into turn three, Waterman used a timely bump to Galvin’s rear bumper
to charge by his inside. His final lap victory snapped Galvin’s four-race
win streak in the division. Galvin took second and Douton made his first
start of the year and finished third.
Barry was impressive on his way to back-to-back wins in SK Light Modified
action. He survived a host of restarts after taking the lead from a
former division champion, Paul French. Barry moved out front on lap-13
with an inside move through turns one and two and while French kept things
interesting over several restarts, he was unable to get back around Barry.
Veteran racer Larry Goss finished third behind Barry and French. The win
was Barry’s third of the season.
Trudeau took the lead late in the night’s 25-lap Mini Stock race. Jeff
Lee was out front from the beginning, staying ahead of a tightly packed
group of cars jockeying for position. Lee eventually succumbed to Ray
Christian on lap-22. Trudeau passed Christian on a lap-23 restart after
several cars were involved in a front stretch skirmish, then went on to
take his first victory at the track since 2002. Garrett Denton rebounded
from a mid-race crash to take home second and Doug Curry bounced back from
two spins in the first ten laps to finish third.
Christopher was a returning face to the winner’s circle after another INEX
Legend Cars victory. He battled hard with last year’s division champion
Dylan Izzo over the second half of the race. Izzo was leading when the
two cars came together off turn four racing to lap-20, sending Izzo into a
complete 360 degree spin. He recovered without a caution flag and resumed
in third position as Christopher and Dana Dimatteo raced away. Two late
caution flags gave Dimatteo and Izzo a final chance to unseat Christopher,
including a charge to the outside by Izzo that was defended by
Christopher. Dimatteo and Izzo finished a close second and third,
respectively, in an exciting finish.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour makes its annual stop to the shoreline
oval in two weeks on Saturday, June 21 for the Mr. Rooter 161. An action
packed night of open-wheel Modified racing will be on display. The
previous two events came down to green-white-checkered finishes. A full
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing card supports the event. Advance
tickets sales are open online by visiting Speedbowl.com or contacting the
track office.
(continued)
Speedbowl under perfect weather conditions Saturday evening. A hearty
crowd turned out for a six-division program and the speedway’s annual Laps
for Lupus night. In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action, Keith Rocco
of Berlin padded his point lead with another SK Modified® victory while
Jason Palmer, also from Berlin, won his second straight Valenti Auto Mall
Late Model race. Danielson’s Ryan Waterman was top dog following an
action packed Street Stock race and Dave Trudeau of Mansfield picked up
his first Speedbowl Mini Stock checkered flag in several seasons.
Plainfield’s Corey Barry won his second consecutive SK Light Modified race
after the division was idle for two weeks and in INEX racing, Mike
Christopher Jr. of Wolcott won for the third time in the Legend Cars
division’s Saturday series. Before the night’s races, a track walk
benefitting Lupus Foundation of America’s Connecticut Chapter netted
nearly $6,000 for the charity.
Rocco was on point during the night’s 35-lap SK Modified® race. He picked
cars off one at a time to move into contention in the early stages and
closed out the second half of the race strong. The feature was led to the
green flag by Diego Monahan, who led the opening laps while being
challenged by Kyle James. James quickly moved into second position and
used a valiant effort to Monahan’s outside to finally overtake him on
lap-8.
Behind, Rocco came through the top ten cars in early race traffic before
jumping to the outside lane to attack the top four cars racing single file
ahead. On lap-10, he was outside Craig Lutz for third and a lap later,
used the same move on Monahan to power into second. James was out front
by several car lengths and Rocco began to run him down when caution waved
on lap-13 for a spinning Ted Christopher in turn two.
James hung tough following the restart, looking good as he held back
Rocco’s outside charge through a lap-18 caution flag for a spin by Rob
Janovic Jr. Rocco timed the ensuing restart perfectly to gain the edge
over James, pulling ahead for good on lap-19. Rocco was perfect on two
additional restarts to get away from James the rest of the way to close
out the win. James ran strong to finish second and Lutz followed up his
victory last Saturday with another podium run, finishing third. Tyler
Chadwick was up front all race and finished fourth and Shawn Thibeault was
fifth.
Palmer took down his second consecutive victory in the 30-lap Valenti Auto
Mall Late Model feature. First year driver Nicholas Sowa battled side by
side outside of pole position starter Anthony Ryan Jr. before taking the
lead on lap-4. He opened up a big lead as Ryan battled with Bruce Thomas
Jr. Palmer was locked in a three-way fight for fourth position with Vin
Esposito and Keith Rocco. Clean and hard racing dominated the race with
Sowa looking prime to score an upset victory until the final five laps.
Sowa’s race went sour on lap-25 as something caused his lead car to get
out of the racing groove in turn one, riding the top of the track through
turns one and two. His lead evaporated by the time the field caught him
exiting turn four, resulting in Sowa coming together with Ryan. Both cars
crashed on the front chute to bring out the only caution flag of the race.
Thomas also made contact but masterfully avoided becoming collected any
further and inherited the lead. Palmer lined up second for the restart
and proved too much on the outside lane, outmuscling Thomas in the final
sprint to the finish. Thomas finished second and Rocco, the division
point leader, was third.
Waterman came out on top of a wild 25-lap Street Stock race. He led just
one lap, the final one, passing Josh Galvin through turns three and four
coming to the checkered flag. Five yellow flags slowed the race, which
featured full contact racing at times. Galvin took the lead on lap-20
from Lloyd Anderson, who had led from the start. Anderson was sliding
back through the field when he wrecked hard on lap-20 exiting turn four.
Galvin had to fight off former division champion Chris “Moose” Douton
after the restart, then took the white flag leading Waterman. As they
raced into turn three, Waterman used a timely bump to Galvin’s rear bumper
to charge by his inside. His final lap victory snapped Galvin’s four-race
win streak in the division. Galvin took second and Douton made his first
start of the year and finished third.
Barry was impressive on his way to back-to-back wins in SK Light Modified
action. He survived a host of restarts after taking the lead from a
former division champion, Paul French. Barry moved out front on lap-13
with an inside move through turns one and two and while French kept things
interesting over several restarts, he was unable to get back around Barry.
Veteran racer Larry Goss finished third behind Barry and French. The win
was Barry’s third of the season.
Trudeau took the lead late in the night’s 25-lap Mini Stock race. Jeff
Lee was out front from the beginning, staying ahead of a tightly packed
group of cars jockeying for position. Lee eventually succumbed to Ray
Christian on lap-22. Trudeau passed Christian on a lap-23 restart after
several cars were involved in a front stretch skirmish, then went on to
take his first victory at the track since 2002. Garrett Denton rebounded
from a mid-race crash to take home second and Doug Curry bounced back from
two spins in the first ten laps to finish third.
Christopher was a returning face to the winner’s circle after another INEX
Legend Cars victory. He battled hard with last year’s division champion
Dylan Izzo over the second half of the race. Izzo was leading when the
two cars came together off turn four racing to lap-20, sending Izzo into a
complete 360 degree spin. He recovered without a caution flag and resumed
in third position as Christopher and Dana Dimatteo raced away. Two late
caution flags gave Dimatteo and Izzo a final chance to unseat Christopher,
including a charge to the outside by Izzo that was defended by
Christopher. Dimatteo and Izzo finished a close second and third,
respectively, in an exciting finish.
The NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour makes its annual stop to the shoreline
oval in two weeks on Saturday, June 21 for the Mr. Rooter 161. An action
packed night of open-wheel Modified racing will be on display. The
previous two events came down to green-white-checkered finishes. A full
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing card supports the event. Advance
tickets sales are open online by visiting Speedbowl.com or contacting the
track office.
(continued)