Saturday Night Season Begins at Speedbowl
Waterford, CT — Quickness was the name of the game at last weekend’s Budweiser Modified Nationals at Waterford Speedbowl. It is expected to continue this week when the Saturday night schedule begins with a five-division program.
A 35-lap SK-Modified feature tops the bill that also includes a 30-lapper for the Late Models and “20s” for the Sportsman and Mini Stocks. The New England Antique Racers will also be on hand. Qualifying begins at 5 pm. Championship battles are already taking shape, Dennis Gada leaving no doubt his intentions of making his SK-150 victory the first step toward a record seventh championship. Other Mod Nats winners – Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late Models), Al Stone III (Sportsman) and Randy Churchill (Mini Stock) also feel the same. Both Stone and Churchill nipped defending champions – Dwayne Dorr and Ken Cassidy Jr. respectively. Starting with Doug Coby’s blistering 14.105 run in SK-time trials on Saturday, “quickness” was a key topic throughout the weekend. Gada, who had his best-ever qualifying run (14.000) went out and backed that up with the quickest lap in the “150,” a 14.211 effort. Other “fastest lap” efforts – Tim Jordan (15.433) in the Late Models, Dorr (17.494) in the Sportsman and Louis Bellisle (17.527) in the Mini Stocks – were also impressive. Gada will be the target for what is expected to be a strong SK list led by “150” runner-up and third-place finisher Frank Ruocco and Coby respectively and including championship contender Jeff Pearl, the latter finishing fifth in the “150” after a strong qualifying run. Among the regulars with impressive qualifying runs last week were Diego Monahan, Jay Miller, Jeff Paul and Dennis Charette. Defending champion Rob Janovic Jr. will be out to get back to winning ways after a terrible “150.” Ron Yuhas Jr. also hopes to shake off a tough start as well. The Gada strategy that won the “150” – going to the lead immediately – will be prevalent Saturday night for all divisions. NEAR stands in contrast to the sleek, powerful state-of-the-art SKs. The club rekindles memories with the coupes of the 1960s and the Pintos of the 70s on a track that stands alone in its consistent support of the Modified. Without an interruption, the Modified has topped the Speebowl roster since its beginning in 1951. Sources: David Dykes/Waterford Speedbowl PR