Les Hinckley Scores Speedbowl True Value Modified Series Victory
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 resisted the charges of Dwight Jarvis, the latter retiring after contacting the wall on lap-70, the victim of a flat right-front. With Pasteryak and Holdridge in-tow, Hinckley lengthened his lead in the final stages of the event, winning by a comfortable margin. The race was marred by two lengthy red-flag periods and several cautions.
“It seemed as if we’d never get that one over,” said Hinckley in a post-race interview. “The restarts were dicey, as it took my car a few laps to really work itself-in. I certainly knew Chris was there, because he was right on my bumper on each restart. After a few laps I was able to pull-away. We’d done a lot of adjustments on the car after practice, as we really weren’t that good earlier. Luckily, my guys went in the right direction. The Speedbowl can be a demanding little track, and you have to be on-top of your game here to really hit the setup.”
The winner was puzzled as to the fate of veteran Dwight Jarvis, who seemed ready to claim first with a bold outside pass earlier in the race.
“Jarvis got an outside run on me, and all of a sudden he wasn’t there. There was no contact, so he must have had a tire go-down. I gave him the room he needed. I hated to see that happen as Dwight is one of the guys that you can really race with. Unfortunate, because it would have been a good battle.”
Pastyerak, Holdridge, Kirk Alexander, and Vin Annarummo completed the top-5.
In the 35-lap SK Modified feature, it was 1997 Speedbowl SK champion Todd Ceravolo scoring his first 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.
“It feels great to be here again, the Speedbowl is like home,” said Ceravolo. “Getting a win for these guys is what I was aiming for, as they work so hard on the car during the week. I have a little input, but basically it’s the crew that puts it all together and tonight the car was just perfect. My dad (former Speedbowl Modified champion “Dickie Doo” Ceravolo), bought the team last year, and the guys asked me to drive for them. A lot of it’s about chemistry, and we “clicked” as soon as I got involved. I grew-up at this track, and supporting the place is important. It gets no-better than this.”
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 multi-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. Rounding-out the top-5 was Ronnie Oldham, Brandon Plemons, and Puglisi.
An emotional evening for Stone, the victory was dedicated to his Grandfather Al who’d passed-away earlier in the week.
“Just before he passed-away, I told my Grandfather that we were going to win tonight and I was able top keep that promise,” said Stone. “Racing was so important to him, and he was an inspiration to the whole team. My Grandfather was a former driver, having raced at West Haven, Plainville, and here. This win, along with our entire season is dedicated to his memory.”
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.
“It’s about-time”, stated Evans of his first win of the season. “I feel bad about getting into Soup, but he got loose and it just happened. It could have been worse as tight as we all were all running, but luckily everybody recovered.”
Action resumes mid-week at the Speedbowl with the popular Wild N’ Wacky Wednesday program. On Saturday evening, it’s a full slate of action for the NASCAR Whelan All-American Series.
For more information, please log-on to www.speedbowl.com
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. Teddy 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.
Current Speedbowl Point Standings (Top-10);
SK MODIFIED; Dennis Gada (380), Keith Rocco (364), Tyler Chadwick (346), Jeff Paul (316), Ron Yuhas Jr. (316), Justin Gaydosh (314), Ron Janovic Jr. (310), Jeff Pearl (298), Jay Miller (286), Doug Coby (218).
LATE MODEL; Bruce Thomas Jr. (430), Ron Yuhas Jr. (424), Ed Reed Jr. (378), Tim Jordan (376), Vin Esposito (358), Rich Staskowski (298), Tom Metcalf (266), Robery Leblanc Jr. (262), Larry Goss (240), Joe Curioso III (226).
SPORTSMAN; Al Stone III (410), Ronnie Oldham Jr. (370), Walt Hovey Jr. (344), “Grandpa Jim” Procaccini (336), Jack Aquilina (328), Mark Cooper (308), Nate Appell (280), Josh Galvin (276), John Puglisi (272), Ed Lamb Jr. (266) .
MINI STOCK; Ken Cassidy Jr. (464), Randy Churchill Jr. (458), Lou Bellisle (396), Jack Aquilina (334), Ray Christian III (330), Mark Panaroni (318), Chris Williams (314), Ian Brew (306), Ben Bargnesi (306), Bill Leonard (296).
SAT. LEGENDS; Jason Palmer (146), Michael Gervais Jr. (136), Shaun Buffington (134), Mark Esposito (118), Art Moran Jr. (116), Adam Gada (102), Carl Blandina (100), Ed Field (98), Ryan Morgan (82), Max Zachem (78).
Sources: Dave Dykes/Waterford Speedbowl PR