Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl closed out its 2011 racing season on Sunday, running the final six feature events as part of Finale Weekend. Scoring wins in 50-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series races were Keith Rocco of Wallingford who took down the win in both the SK Modified® feature and Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature, Al Stone of New Haven in the Street Stocks and Glenn Colvin of Clinton in the Mini Stocks. Paul French of Andover won the 25-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modified feature and Dave Garbo Jr. of Stonington won the day’s 25-lap Legends Cars feature.
Claiming track championships from Sunday’s results included Colvin and French in the SK Light Modifieds and Mini Stocks, respectively. Colvin’s championship was his second in the division, joining his 2004 division title. Jeff Smith of Old Lyme was the Bob Valenti Auto Mall champion and Ed Puleo of Branford was the Street Stock division champion. Smith, Puleo and French clinched their first titles at the track.
The 50-lap SK Modified® was brought to the green flag by Frank Mucciacciaro and Glenn Pressel. The pair battled side-by-side for control of the race for the first lap and a half before Muccicciaro came away with the lead on lap-2, bringing Randy Churchill to second place by Pressel on lap-3. Shawn Solomito and Jeff Pearl also made their way by Pressel who slipped back in the outside lane. Tyler Chadwick raced to fifth position and Rocco up to sixth and the top-six singled out.
Continue reading ‘Rocco doubles up in SK Mods and Late Models; Stone, Colvin, French win NWAAS features; Smith, Puleo, Colvin, French win track championships’
Published at October 9, 2011
in Stafford.
Stafford Springs, CT — After kicking off the 2011 season with plans to step out of the car midway through the year, Don Wood flipped the script and captured his second career DARE Stock track championship at Stafford Motor Speedway. After winning the 2009 DARE Stock championship, Wood ran the first half of the 2010 season then handed his car over to David and Paul Arute. The plan was the same for 2011, as Wood was going to run the first half of the year and then hand the car over to Stephanie Berardi and Charlie Newman. But the plan changed midway through the season and the result was a second career championship for Wood and his John Berardi owned #15.
“It feels great, it’s nice to be the champion again,” said Wood. “All the pressure is off now and we can just take it easy now. Originally, John’s daughter Stephanie was going to drive the car. She hurt her back and so then the plan was for Charlie Newman to drive the car. But we were in contention for the championship and it was pretty hard for me to say no when John asked me if I would drive the car for the entire season and try to win the championship. My goal at the beginning of the year was to get to the top of the DARE Stock winners list, winning the championship was never in our thoughts. It was a huge bonus for us to win the championship this year.”
While Wood’s first championship was a wire to wire effort that saw him lead the standings all year long, the path to his second championship was a bit bumpier. Wood started the season strong and had the points lead after two races. But several bad finishes left him trailing in the standings after the May 27th feature and he didn’t retake the points lead until after the July 15th feature. But once Wood was back at the top of the standings, he remained there throughout the remainder of the 2011 season.
Continue reading ‘Don Wood Captures Second Career DARE Stock Track Championship at Stafford Motor Speedway’
Published at October 9, 2011
in Stafford.
Stafford Springs, CT — For Stafford Motor Speedway Limited Late Model driver Kevin Gambacorta, the 2011 season played out like déjà vu all over again. After winning the DARE Stock track championship in 2004, Gambacorta claimed his first Ltd. Late Model track title in 2006 by the narrowest of margins, 2 points ahead of George Nocera. When the final checkered flag of the 2011 season fell on the Ltd. Late Model cars at the CARQUEST Fall Final Weekend, Gambacorta was again the champion, but by a 4 point margin over Nocera and a 6 point margin over Shawn Thibeault.
“It feels pretty good to be champion again,” said Gambacorta. “It feels just as good or even a little better than the last two championships. This was the best year I’ve ever had, our worst finish all year long was 7th place and the fact that we only won by a couple of points just shows how tough George and Shawn were this season. They had 4 or 5 wins each and we only had one win, but I figured they were both due for a bad race or two and as long as I didn’t have a bad race, we were going to be ok. This championship is more special because it’s the first championship I’ve won with a sponsor on the car who puts money and time into the car. I can’t thank Kurt and Rhonda Rafferty enough for their support and I’m really happy we were able to win this championship for them. We won the first DARE Stock championship and to be the first one to win two Limited Late Model championships is pretty neat.”
While Gambacorta was in the thick of the championship race all season long, he didn’t spend much time at the head of the standings. Gambacorta took the points lead for the first time at the midway point of the 2011 season following the July 1st feature event, and from there to the end of the season, it was a see-saw duel between himself and Thibeault with each driver taking turns at the front of the standings. Nocera put himself in the thick of the championship race with five top-2 finishes in the final 6 races of the season, but he came up just short of Gambacorta at season’s end.
Continue reading ‘Kevin Gambacorta Captures Second Career Limited Late Model Championship at Stafford Speedway’
Published at October 9, 2011
in Stafford.
Stafford Springs, CT — After winning the SK Light Modified championship at Stafford Motor Speedway as a rookie driver last year, Matt Galko and the #20 Davidson Company team followed up that performance by becoming the first back to back champions in the SK Light division’s history at Stafford. In addition to becoming the first repeat champions in the division’s history, Galko is also the first driver to win multiple championships in the SK Light division.
“It feels good to win the championship, there’s really no words for it, I’m speechless,” said Galko. “It was amazing to win the championship once, and it’s that much better to do it two years in a row. It means so much with all the effort that my Dad and my family have put into the car. I really have to thank everyone, my Dad Dave, my Mom Debbie, my Grandfather Dave, Sr., my sister Tara, Tim Rowe, Jason Roy, Jeff Malave, and my girlfriend Jackie. I couldn’t have done this without all their help and support.”
While Galko was the champion of the SK Light division for the second consecutive season, his path to the championship was totally different from one year ago. Galko had led much of the 2010 standings before a crash left him trailing Tommy Barrett heading into the CARQUEST Fall Final feature, which he won to claim the championship. This season saw Galko in control of the championship fight for most of the year, and all he needed in this year’s CARQUEST Fall Final feature was a finish of 18th or better to be crowned champion.
Continue reading ‘Matt Galko Captures Second Consecutive SK Light Championship at Stafford Speedway’
Published at October 9, 2011
in Stafford.
Stafford Springs, CT — Since Ryan Posocco joined the #48 Davidson Company sponsored Kretschman Motorsports team prior to the 2008 season, that combination has been the team to beat when it comes to Late Model competition at Stafford Motor Speedway. This past Sunday at Stafford, Posocco and the Kretschman team locked up their third championship in the past four seasons, which was Posocco’s record sixth Late Model championship at the track. The championship run brought to a possible end one of the dominant driver/team combinations that has been seen at Stafford in any division.
“This is bittersweet, this is the last ride in the 48,” said Posocco. “I have to thank the crew, Pat and Marci Kretschman, 4 years of awesome racing, my Dad, everyone on the crew. We’re happy to be here, number 6, I would have never guessed it being a little kid sitting in turn 4 that I would have 6 championships. I’m not 100% sure what the deal is, but I believe it’s the last ride in the 48. We wanted to go out on a high note and I think we accomplished that. It’s been a great four years with those guys, they’ve done a lot for me, and I can’t thank them enough and this was the best way to end it.”
Posocco took the points lead for the first time after the second race of the 2011 season, but he would lose that points lead several weeks later with a 15th place finish. It wasn’t until Posocco recorded his first feature win of the season on July 15th that he retook the points lead, and once he was in the points lead, he held that spot for the remainder of the 2011 season. Woody Pitkat applied pressure to Posocco and the Kretschman team in the championship chase by posting 14 consecutive top-4 finishes after a slow start to the year, but it was not enough to overtake Posocco in the championship fight.
Continue reading ‘Ryan Posocco Locks Up Record Sixth Late Model Track Title at Stafford Motor Speedway’
Waterford, CT –Waterford Speedbowl saw over 200 cars jam its paddock area for Finale Weekend on Saturday, completing qualifying and seven feature races. The remaining six feature races will highlight Sunday’s racing, which follows the Belltown Motors Pit Party at 10:00am. Race winners on Saturday included Shawn Thibeault of Plainville who recorded his first career Speedbowl victory in the Outlaw Stock feature, John Kelly of New London who scored his first career win in the Northeast Mini Stock Tour race and Andy Lindemann of Poestenkill, NY who nailed the win in the New England Truck Series feature. Rounding out the winners were Emily Packard of East Montpelier, VT in the Allison Legacy North Racing Series, Frank Alessio of Colchester in the Super X-Cars, Brad Voglesong of Middletown in X-Car action and Cory Dimatteo of Farmington in the Bandoleros race.
Alessio secured the track’s Saturday Showdown Series title, joining his Super X-Car championship from the Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Series. In the X-Cars Patrick Williams of Middletown earned the Saturday crown with a second place finish in the race.
Qualifying rounds took place Saturday to set the stage for six feature races on Sunday, including 50-lap races for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds®, Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks. The SK Light Modifieds and Legends Cars will compete in 25-lap races. Frank Mucciacciaro and Glenn Pressel will lead a 26-car field to the green flag in the SK Modifieds®.
Continue reading ‘Thibeault, Kelly, Lindemann headline winners; Alessio, Voglesong, Dimatteo and Packard also in Victory Lane’
