Monahan, Thomas Among Speedbowl Winners
Waterford, CT — Shawn Monahan prevailed in the 35-lap SK Modified feature on Saturday evening at the Waterford Speedbowl.
Other feature winners were Bruce Thomas Jr. (Late Model), Brandon Plemons (Sportsman), Ken Cassidy Jr. (Mini Stock), Michael Gervais Jr. (Legends), and Scott Gregory (AllStar Race Trucks).
In an ultra-fast 35-lap SK Modified feature, it was hometown driver Shawn Monahan grabbing his first feature of the season. Taking the lead immediately from the pole position, he was tested only once during the events singular restart occurring when multi-feature winner Keith Rocco spun with 9-laps remaining. Handily resisting the challenges of Jeff Paul and defending champion Rob Janovic Jr. in the closing laps, Monahan cruised-home by a car-length over Paul, Janovic, Dennis Gada, and Matt Gallo.
Bruce Thomas Jr. scored his seventh feature event of the season in 30-lap Late Model action. After passing early-leader Robert LeBlanc Jr. following an early-race restart, the defending champion and current point-leader easily held-off Vin Esposito and Joe Curioso. Following was Tim Jordan, and Jeff Smith.
In 20-lap Sportsman feature action Brandon Plemons came from dead-last to claim his second victory of the season. Pole sitter Nate Appell led for several circuits before engaging in a furious duel with Josh Galvin. With only 5-laps remaining, Galvin was spun by Appell, with both going to the rear, the latter penalized or rough-riding. Action resuming, it was Brandon Plemons and Walt Hovey Jr. battling for the lead. A final caution set the stage for a green-white-checker, with Plemons narrowly prevailing over Hovey at the stripe. Completing the top-5 was point-leader Al Stone III, Ronnie Oldham Jr., and Mark Cooper.
The first-circuit of the 20-lap Mini Stock feature began with a violent crash coming out of turn-2 that involved over half the starting field including several top-point drivers. Following a lengthy cleanup, action resumed with Jeff Mehlenbacher leading followed by Mark Panaroni. Making an amazing recovery from the lap-1 melee, Ken Cassidy moved into the lead at midway and went-on to finish ahead of Mehlenbacher, Randy Churchill Jr., Louie Bellisle, and Mark Panaroni. The evening marked the third feature victory of the season for the current point-leader and defending champion.
In the AllStar Race Truck 25-lap main event, Scott Gregory executed the move of the evening with a daring 3-wide maneuver to steal the lead from a battling Chris Correll and Andy Lindeman. Gregory stretched his lead in the closing laps over Lindeman and Greg Butler, winning by a comfortable margin.
Notching a 20-lap Legends feature plagued with crashes and restarts was Michael Gervais Jr. Soon after the initial green, a violent multi-car crash on the back-chute claimed several competitors, including point-leader Jay Palmer. With fourteen-laps remaining Michael Gervais Jr. moved past Shaun Buffington for the lead and survived several late yellows to triumph over Ryan Morgan to win his second Saturday night feature of 2008. Rounding-out the top-5 was Shaun Buffington, Mark Esposito. Adam Gada.
For more information on future events at the Speedbowl, please log-on to www.speedbowl.com.
SK MODIFIED (35); 1. Shawn Monahan, 2. Jeff Paul, 3. Rob Janovic Jr., 4. Dennis Gada, 5. Matt Gallo, 6. Diego Monahan, 7. Keith Rocco, 8. Ron Yuhas Jr., 9. Doug Coby, 10. Tyler Chadwick, 11. Wade Mattesen, 12. Glenn Pressel III, 13. Mike Sweeney, 14. Wendell Dailey, 15. Pete Pavone Jr., 16. Bill Benoit, 17. Steve Zukowski, 18. Jeff Pearl, 19. Don Fowler.
LATE MODEL (30); 1. Brce Thomas Jr., 2. Vin Esposito, 3. Joe Curioso III, 4. Tm Jordan, 5. Jeff Smith, 6. Allen Coates, 7. Jeff Pearl, 8. Brain Andronaco, 9. Ed Reed Jr., 10. Larry Goss, 11. Ken Bamford, 12. Mike Sweeney, 13. Rich Duranti, 14. Dan Holben, 15. Rob Andreozzi, 16. Anthony Macrino, 17. Mark Hudson, 18. Tom Metcalf, 19. Rich Staskowski, 20. Mike Lindquist, 21. Mike Kluczinski, 22. Roberty LeBlanc Jr.
SPORTSMAN (20); 1. Brandon Plemons, 2, Walt Hovey Jr., 3. Al Stone III, 4. Ron Oldham Jr., 5. Mark Cooper, 6. Jack Aquilina, 7. Chuck Rogers, 8. Nate Appell, 9. Ed Lamb Jr., 10. Sean Curtis, 11. Josh Galvin, 12. John Puglisi, 13. Chris Meyer, 14. “Grandpa Jim” Procaccini, 15. Jon Porter, 16. Joe Nogiec.
MINI STOCK (20); 1. Ken Cassidy Jr., 2. Jeff Mehlenbacher, 3. Randolph Churcchill Jr., 4. Louie Bellisle, 5. Mark Panaroni, 6. Kyle James, 7. Ray Christian III, 8. Charles Canfield, 9. Nick Papacoda, 10. Sean Caron, 11. Mark Caise, 12. Christina, 13. Jack Aquilina, 14. Ryan Cipows, 15. Ian Brew, 16. Jeff “Soup” Civardi, 17. Jackie Wolfram, 18. Ben Bargnesi.
LEGENDS (20); 1. Michael Gervais Jr., 2. Ryan Morgan, 3. Shaun Buffington, 4. Mark Esposito, 5. Adam Gada, 6. Max Zachem, 7. Tom Gray, 8. Justin Rau, 9. Silas Hiscock Jr., 10. Dan McGourin, 11. William Hiscock, 12. Joe Gada, 13. Mike Blaskey, 14. Kyle Rogers, 15. David Stanton, 16. Mark Bakaj, 17. Jason Palmer, 18. Joe Cipriano, 19. Dan Bisignano, 20. Carl Blandina, 21. Silas Hiscock Jr., 22. Ricky White III, 23. Carl Bohn.
ALLSTAR RACE TRUCKS (25); 1. Scott Gregory, 2. Andy Lindeman, 3. Greg Butler, 4. Gee Perry, 5. Richard Brooks, 6. Tom Smith, 7. Mike Anazalone, 8. (no name available), 9. Derek Chriss, 10. Dan Butler, 11. Mike Carrigg, 12. Chris Correll, 13. Chris Austill, 14. Matt Ferris.
Sources:Dave Dykes/Waterford Speedbowl PR