Ceravolo, Thomas & Stone Win at Speedbowl
Waterford, CT — Winning the Town Fair Tire True Value Modified Series 100 at Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday evening was Les Hinckley.
Other feature winners were Todd Ceravolo (SK Modified), Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late Model), Al Stone III (Sportsman), and Phil Evans (Mini Stock).
Former Speedbowl regular Mike Holdridge set the pace in the Town Fair Tire True Value Modified Series 100 before being passed by Les Hinckley, Ted Christopher, and second-generation racer Chris Pasteryak. Christopher was later issued the black flag for a smoking motor, retiring from the event. Coming out on-top in several restarts, Hinckley repeatedly fought back the charges of Dwight Jarvis, the latter retiring after contacting the wall on lap-70, the victim of a flat left-front. With Pasteryak and Holdridge in-tow, Hinckley continued to lengthen his lead in the final stages of the event, winning by a comfortable margin. Pasteryak and Holdridge completed the top-3. The event suffered two lengthy red-flag periods.
In the 35-lap SK Modified feature, it was 1997 Speedbowl SK champion Todd Ceravolo scoring his first victory of the season. An early skirmish took its toll on several of the front-runners, including defending champion Rob Janovic Jr., Ron Yuhas Jr., and Jeff Pearl. Only Janovic was unable to continue. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr. assumed the lead briefly before yielding to Ceravolo. Within 5-laps, the yellow flew again for an incident involving Ted Christopher, Don Fowler, and Glenn Pressel III. On the restart Ceravolo resumed the point, pressed by Keith Rocco and Doug Coby. With 23-laps remaining, Coby and Rocco tangled, the latter sent to the rear for rough-riding. Rebounding after an early spin, Dennis Gada eventually passed Shawn Monahan for second. Jeff Paul and Rocco completed the top-5.
Defending champion Bruce Thomas Jr. took the lead from Vin Esposito only 2-circuits into the 30-lap Late Model feature, notching his fifth victory of the season. Ron Yuhas Jr. Esposito, Tom Metcalf, and Rich Staskowski followed.
Al Stone III became the first 2-time Sportsman winner of the season, taking down the 20-lap feature. Walt Hovey Jr. passed early leader John Puglisi and was seemingly a sure winner until a late-race restart bunched the field. At the line Stone slipped by Hovey prevailing by less than a fender. The winner dedicated the victory to his grandfather Al (a former racer), who had passed-away earlier in the week. Rounding-out the top-5 was Ronnie Oldham, Brandon Plemons, and Puglisi.
Jeff “Soup” Civardi and stepson Ray Christian III battled side-by-side until midway in the 20-lap Mini Stock feature. Slight contact between Phil Evans and Civardi scrambled the front-runners, Christian making a slick recovery after bouncing off the wall. Evans jumped into the lead, going-on to win by a dominating margin. Christian rebounded to finish in the runner-up spot, followed by Lou Bellisle, Randy Churchill Jr., and defending champion Ken Cassidy Jr.
TRUE VALUE MODIFIED SERIES (100); 1. Les Hinckley, 2. Chris Pasteryak, 3. Mike Holridge, 4. Kirk Alexander, 5. Vinnie Annarummo Jr., 6. Jack Bateman, 7. Dave Pinkham, 8. Eddy Spiers, 9. Rob Goodenough, 10. Dwight Jarvis, 11. Jeff Pearl, 12. Kenny White Jr., 13. Dale Evonsion, 14. Steve Masse, 15. Sean Bodreau, 16. David Berube, 17. Shawn Monahan, 18. Shelly Perry, 19. Ted Christopher, 20. Todd Owen, 21. Ed Dachenhausen, 22. Matt Hudon, 23. Dennis Gada, 24. Jim Dolan, 25. Jim Doucette.
SK MODIFIED (35); 1.Todd Ceravolo, 2. Dennis Gada, 3. Shawn Monahan, 4. Jeff Paul, 5. Keith Rocco, 6. Tyler Chadwick, 7. Jay Miller, 8. Doug Coby, 9. Justin Gaydosh, 10. Jeff Pearl, 11. Ed Reed Jr., 12. Glenn Pressel III, 13. Wendell Dailey, 14. Rich Hammann, 15. Ron Yuhas Jr., 16. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., 17. Teddy Christopher, 18. Don Fowler, 19. Mike Sweeney, 20. Rob Janovic Jr.
LATE MODEL (30); 1. Bruce Thomas Jr., 2. Ron Yuhas Jr., 3. Vin Esposito, 4. Tom Metcalf, 5. Rich Staskowski, 6. Ernie Bertrand, 7. Jeff Smith, 8. Larry Goss, 9. Joe Curioso III, 10. Rob LeBlanc Jr., 11. Dan Holben, 12. Tim Jordan, 13. Ed Reed Jr., 14. Bob Andreozzi.
SPORTSMAN (20); 1. Al Stone III, 2. Walt Hovey Jr., 3. Ronnie Oldham Jr., 4. Brandon Plemons, 5. John Puglisi, 6.”Grandpa Jim” Procaccini, 7. Josh Galvin, 8. Jack Aquilina, 9. Mark Cooper, 10. Joe Nogiec, 11. Nate Appell, 12. Kevin Burr, 13. Darrell Carlson, 14. Jesse Smith, 15. Chuck Rogers, 16. Ed Lamb Jr., 17. Joe Bertholet.
MINI STOCK (20); 1. Phil Evans, 2. Raymond Christian III, 3. Lou Bellisle, 4. Randy Churchill Jr., 5. Ken Cassidy Jr., 6. Jack Aquilina, 7. Ben Bargnesi, 8. Jeff “Soup” Civardi, 9. Bill Leonard, 10. Jeff Miller, 11. Ian Brew, 12. Kyle James, 13. Mark Panaroni, 14. Jeff Mehlenbacher, 15. Jackie Wolfram, 16. Christina Cunliffe, 17. Charles Canfield, 18. Andrew Becker, 19. Nick Pappacoda.
Sources: Dave Dykes/Waterford Speedbowl PR