Flannery wins sixth consecutive Legends Cars race; Grala, Corey, Thomas and Civardi other Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday winners
Waterford, CT — Under warm and sunny skies, the Waterford Speedbowl completed Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday with more great racing from the mid-week warriors. Anthony Flannery of East Hampton matched the weather and continued his hot streak, winning his sixth straight Legends Cars victory including all four Wednesday events held in 2010. Kaz Grala of Westborough, Massachusetts was the winner of the Bandolero race, Rob Corey of South Windsor won the Super X-Car race and Glen Thomas Jr. of Groton checkered the X-Car event.
Giovanni Giarratana was the leader from the green flag in the 20-lapper for the Legends Cars. He raced ahead of Dennis Pantani, Ed Field, Dana Dimatteo and Anthony Flannery in the opening laps. Flannery tucked under Dimatteo for the fourth spot on lap five, and Alessandro Vitelli pulled up from the sixth spot to join the top five in a breakaway from the field.
Flannery continued marching forward, racing under Field on lap seven to take over third place. Caution waved just one lap later for newcomer Matt Carpenter who spun in turn four. Flannery went by Pantani for second on the restart, but only two laps could be completed when Mike Beebe spun out of turn two and collected others, including Joey Campbell.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Following that caution Flannery took over, racing outside of Giarratana on the restart. Only one more lap was completed before Carpenter spun again in turn four. Vitelli had moved up to third with Field in fourth on the restart.
Vitelli was able to pass by Giarratana when racing restarted and as the pair battled for the second spot, Flannery was able to check out and win by three lengths. Vitelli finished in second just ahead of Giarratana. Field was fourth and Pantani was fifth.
The 20-lap Bandolero race saw Nick Sowa lead lap one with Taylor Martin and Chris Lomartire moving into the second and third positions behind. Martin raced to the inside of Sowa as the field worked lap two and moved by for the lead, bringing Lomartire in her tire tracks. Grala was up to fourth by lap five and began to pick his way through the top runners.
First Grala moved by Sowa, then by Lomartire on lap eight and set sight on Martin. He closed to her bumper and made a move to the low side down the backstretch as they raced to lap ten. Martin was never more than two car lengths back over the second half of the caution free race, but she could not mount a counter move on Grala. He won his second race of the year over Martin. Sowa moved by Lomartire for third at the finish.
The 20-lap Super X-Car race had trouble getting started with three early cautions, but the full size division didn’t disappoint once the race got into rhythm. R.J. Cunningham was the early race leader when the field tried to defy physics and race five wide out of turn two behind him. That action resulted in another caution as two cars got tangled up, putting James Consalvo alongside Cunningham for the restart with five laps completed.
Consalvo powered by for the lead on the green flag, leaving Cunningham in a three wide battle for second with Charles Beal and Taylor-Marie Moran. Beal climbed to second then wasted no time challenging Consalvo on the inside, taking over at the front at lap 10.
After one final caution, the order was shaken up over the remaining laps when another three wide battle for second ended with Consalvo getting crossed up and dropping all the way to the tail of the running order. The race stayed caution free and Beal was in control up front, crossing the stripe in first to take the checkered flag. Last week’s winner Rob Corey was second at the finish, but for the second straight week found himself in Victory Lane following post-race inspection. Frank Alessio moved up to finish second behind Corey, Jon Porter was third, John Yagmin fourth and Steve LaRose rounded out the top-five.
The X-Cars completed a briskly paced 20-lap event. Onie Pierce had already become the third leader of the event by lap three as the field was very active right from the initial green flag. Once out front, Pierce moved out to a big lead. Dan Madore looked stout in his machine and went outside Chris Garside, one of the early race leaders, to take over second place on lap four. Thomas was also on the move, rapidly advancing through the thick traffic to emerge in fourth on lap six. The first caution waved on lap 12 when Devin Widger and Wayne Shifflett tangled in turn one.
Thomas took over second from Madore on the restart. Pierce looked comfortable in the high groove, allowing Thomas to look low. Further back, Dan D’addario and Rich Hurne were mixing it up battling for the third position over Madore. Caution waved again to set up a restart between Pierce and Thomas.
Thomas took over when the action resumed with Pierce pinched down in the low groove. D’addario and Hurne both slipped by Pierce as well as the laps counted down. Thomas continued to hold the lead over D’addario who closed in on the leader with two laps remaining. D’addario looked high and low, but Thomas was able to hang on and collect his second career Speedbowl victory. Hurne finished third, Pierce fourth and Gary Stone Jr. was fifth in his first start of the year.
Kathy Civardi of Noank won the Women On Wheels race.
For more information about Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday and the calendar of events, please visit www.speedbowl.com or contact track offices at 860.442.1585.
Waterford Speedbowl 5/26 Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Results:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 2. Alessandro Vitelli, Woodbridge; 3. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 4. Ed Field, Deep River; 5. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 6. Dave Garbo Jr., Stonington; 7. Richard White, North Stonington; 8. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 9. Jake Spillers, Ashburnham, MA; 10. Joey Mucciacciaro, Wolcott; 11. Tim Pinson, Colchester; 12. Matt Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 13. Nick Ladyga, Voluntown; 14. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 15. George Whitney, Westbrook; 16. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 17. Joey Campbell, Berlin; 18. Carl Blandina, Milford; 19. Mike Beebe, Old Saybrook
Point Standings after four events: 1. Flannery, 220; 2. Field, 170; 3. Dimatteo, 166; 4. Pantani, 162; 5. Giarratana, 160; 6. Blandina, 144; 7. White, 142; 8. Spillers, 128; 9. Mucciacciaro, 118; 10. Garbo, 112
Bandolero’s (20-laps): 1. Kaz Grala, Westborough, MA; 2. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 3. Nicolas Sowa, Middletown; 4. Chris Lomartire, Millbury, MA; 5. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 6. Tyler Chalue, Dudley, MA; 7. Garrett Denton, Hope Valley, RI; 8. Kenneth Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 9. Jordan Lamothe, Woodstock; 10. Andrew Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 11. Chace Wood, Danielson; 12. Rachel Forte, Douglas, MA; 13. Nicholas Matera, Warwick, RI
Point Standings after four events: 1. Martin, 206; 2. Lomartire, 186; 3. Chalue, 164; 4. Grala, 156; 5. Forte, 150; 6. Morin, 140; 7. Sowa, 132; 8. Carpenter, 112; 9. Ternullo, 108; 10. Denton, 104
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Glen Thomas Jr., Groton; 2. Dan D’addario, Columbia; 3. Rich Hurne, Groton; 4. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 5. Gary Stone Jr., Northford; 6. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 7. Troy Marvin, Amston; 8. Daniel Madore, Sterling; 9. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 10. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 11. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 12. Devin Widger, Plainville; 13. Bruce Hall, Ledyard; 14. Shawn Stula, Colchester; 15. Chris Garside, Waterford; 16. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 17. Arthur Phillips, Norwich; 18. Todd Nadeau, North Franklin; 19. David Lloyd, Mystic; 20. Jeremy Violette, Canterbury; 21. Jeremy Bourbeau, Taftville; 22. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 23. Jeffrey Lee, Uncasville; 24. Kim Bickford, Jewett City
Point Standings after four events: 1. D. D’addario, 197; 2. Widger, 175; 3. Johnston, 164; 4. Voglesong, 154; 5. Williams, 149; 6. Shifflett, 146; 7. Thomas, 139; 8. Trask, 126; 9. Hall, 124; 9. Trask, 92; 10. Violette, 116
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Rob Corey, South Windsor; 3. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 3. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 4. John Yagmin, Tolland; 5. Steve LaRose, Griswold; 6. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge, MA; 7. Mike Maskell, Groton; 8. James Consalvo, East Hartford; 9. Richard Avino, North Haven; 10. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 11. Taylor Marie-Moran, Preston; 12. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 13. Robert Carlson, Rockfall; 14. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 15. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton, 16. Ken Downing III, Branford; 17. Al Potter, Waterford; 18. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 19. Michael Caprio, New Haven; DQ – Charles Beal, Ledyard; Shawn Perkins, Groton
Point Standings after four events: 1. Corey, 200; 2. Alessio, 158; 3. Caprio, 149; 4. Maskell, 144; 5. Moran, 138; 6. Yagmin, 134; 7. Downing, 129; 8. (tie) Boisvert, Consalvo, 128; 10. Pollard, 124
Women on Wheels – 8 cylinder (5-laps): 1. Kathy Civardi, Noank; 2. Kim Bickford, Jewett City; 3. Kate Carlson, Rockfall; 4. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City; 5. Taylor-Marie Moran, Preston
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR