Jeff Paul takes Modified win; Palmer sets a Speedbowl record; Esposito, Puleo and Moran win nail biters
Waterford, CT — Tight racing was the order of business Saturday June 6 at the Waterford Speedbowl. Groton native Jeff Paul won a hard earned victory in a rough and tumble SK Modified race while it was Berlin’s Jason Palmer setting a Speedbowl record with his seventh consecutive victory in the Legends Cars. Other winners from the night included Vin Esposito and Ed Puleo who both won by the slimmest of margins, and Greg Moran Sr. who picked up his first career Saturday night victory.
Don Fowler and Tom Abele Jr. led the SK Modified field to the green flag for an action-packed 35-lap event. Fowler took the lead with Abele chasing, leaving the field behind to jockey for track position. Drivers worked both high and low to improve their positions. Jeff Paul, Keith Rocco, and Rob Janovic Jr. were on the move in the early laps before caution waved on lap nine for Dennis Charette and Wayne Arute who spun in turn four.
Caution waved again on the restart when bumper tag in turn two resulted in Frank Mucciacciaro Jr. spinning. Fowler got the jump when racing resumed, but Jeff Paul also got a great start and threw it in underneath Fowler to challenge for the lead. Fowler held ground, Paul tucked into second, and Janovic, Rocco and Abele followed single file behind. Paul tested the outside of Fowler numerous times only for the door to be shut by the cagey veteran. By the halfway marker, Rocco worked outside Janovic for third while Paul continued to hound Fowler. Abele spun between turns three and four to bring out caution again on lap 19.
The restart had the heavy hitters stacked up behind Fowler as the running order was Fowler, Paul, Rocco, Janovic, Ron Yuhas Jr. and Dennis Gada. Gada seized opportunity and moved to third when Rocco slid sideways into turn two creating a bottleneck amongst Rocco, Janovic, and Yuhas. Caution slowed the action on lap 24 for five car fracas on the backstretch. Rocco, the division point leader, ducked into the pits to service a flat tire during the break.
Persistence paid off for Paul. A one-lap dash between caution flags saw the Paul’s TV #91 edge ahead of Fowler in the outside lane to become the events second leader for a lap 26 restart. Once in the lead, Paul went unchallenged to the win by three car lengths over Janovic. A late race skirmish knocked Fowler, Gada, and Yuhas from the front runners enabling Rocco to rebound for third, Abele came back from his spin for fourth, and Tyler Chadwick finished fifth.
The 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model field was led to green by Robert LeBlanc Jr. and Vin Esposito, with Esposito taking an early straightaway lead. Bruce Thomas Jr. sliced through the field and moved into second before Jeff Smith spun in turn two to bring out caution on lap 14, negating Esposito’s advantage. Esposito got the jump over Thomas on three separate restarts, however Thomas came back applying pressure lap after lap. As Thomas looked high, Dennis Stampfl filled the gap under Thomas to make it a three-way tussle for the lead as the laps counted down. The action was intense with Thomas peeking high and Stampfl low, and Esposito trying to hold both off. The top three raced under the proverbial blanket to the checkered flag with Esposito winning by just nine thousandths of a second over Thomas in a photo-finish. Stampfl was tucked closely underneath in third.
Esposito, from Seymour, wrecked hard during last week’s Modified Nationals event and was forced into a back-up car that hadn’t seen action in two years. He and his crew finished working on the car Saturday morning. The Late Model division will be off from June 13’s event when the ACT Late Model Tour comes to the ‘Bowl. Speedbowl Late Model competitors will have an opportunity to strut their stuff against the stars of the touring series their division rules are based upon.
The Street Stocks rolled out for their 20-lap event with Old Saybrook’s Ronnie Oldham Jr. leading early and often in another entertaining event for the division. While Oldham led through a few restarts, Branford’s Ed Puleo and Uncasville native Josh Galvin had made their way through the competitive field. A restart with two laps to go set up a green-white-checkered finish. The top eight cars remained side-by-side for the final laps, headed for another photo finish. Oldham raced low, Puleo high, with Galvin and Brandon Plemons hot on their tails. The front pair broke sideways out of turn four, drag racing to the stripe with Puleo winning his first Speedbowl event since 1997 by a nose. His margin of victory was just .031 seconds over Oldham, with Galvin third and Plemons finishing fourth over Al Stone III.
Adam Gada was the early leader of the 20-lap Legends Car feature before Ryan Morgan leaped to the outside lane and motored by to lead lap five. Jason Palmer, on a tear in the Legends division this season, made his way towards the front and into third place at the halfway marker. Morgan had opened up a half-straight advantage by the time Palmer advanced to second. Palmer moved in with green flag racing and made a darting inside move on Morgan into turn three as the pair approached a lapped car. Palmer slid in front of Morgan before reaching the slow car, eliminating any chance for Morgan to use the lapped car as a pick or to make a crossover move back under Palmer. Palmer went on to win by two car lengths over Morgan, Shaun Buffington, and Joe Cipriano.
Palmer’s win was his seventh consecutive in the division between both Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday and Saturday, an all-time Speedbowl record. The win streak was a 48 year old record achieved by Ted Stack during the 1961 season in the non-Ford and Modified divisions.
Jeff Mehlenbacher led the Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock feature from the drop of the green flag with the field chasing behind in his rearview mirror. Green flag conditions prevailed and left the field to make their moves in the open track. Greg Moran Sr. found his way into second and set sail on challenging Mehlenbacher. His opportunity came with two laps remaining as the low lane was available, and the leaders raced each other cleanly for the lead. Moran, who resides in Preston, would take the win in the green-to-checkered 20-lap event. The race took just six minutes to complete. It was the first career Saturday victory for the one they call the “Magic Man”. Moran racked up 14 wins over the previous three seasons of Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday.
The Speedbowl returns to action twice this coming week, first with Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday on June 10 featuring the non-stop action from the Legends Cars, X-Cars, Super X-Cars, and X-Modifieds. The NEATV Truck Series will also be on hand for the Levine Automotive 20-lap feature. Adult pricing is just $7 with all youth 14 and under admitted free.
Saturday June 13th will see the cars and stars of the ACT Late Model Tour roll in to the Speedbowl for a 100-lap event. Regular distance NASCAR Whelen All-American Series features for the SK Modifieds, Street Stocks, and Mini Stocks are on tap. The Legends Cars also join the action. For more information on these and all upcoming events, visit www.speedbowl.com or contact the track office at 860.442.1585.
Speedbowl 6/6 finishers, hometown:
SK Modifieds (35-laps): 1. Jeffrey Paul, Groton; 2. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 3. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 4. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 5. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 6. Justin Gaydosh, Newtown; 7. Mark Bakaj, Lebanon; 8. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 9. Dennis Charette, Southington; 10. Shawn Solomito, Islip, NY; 11. Pete Pavone, Southbury; 12. Ron Yuhas Jr., Groton; 13. Dennis Gada, Salem; 14. Don Fowler, Clinton; 15. Joe Gada, Salem; 16. Mike Sweeney, Middletown; 17. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford; 18. Jeff Pearl, Salem; 19. Joe Perry, Ashaway, RI; 20. Corey Hutchings, Salem; 21. Wayne Arute, Berlin
Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models (30-laps): 1. Vin Esposito, Seymour; 2. Bruce Thomas Jr., Groton; 3. Dennis Stampfl, Norwood, MA; 4. Richard Staskowski, Hope Valley, RI; 5. Tony Macrino, Waterford; 6. Brian Andronaco Jr., Wilton; 7. Mark Hudson, Norton, MA; 8. Robert LeBlanc Jr., Norwalk; 9. Jeff Smith, Old Lyme; 10. Howard Payne, Shelton
Street Stocks (20-laps): 1. Ed Puleo, Branford; 2. Ronnie Oldham Jr., Old Saybrook; 3. Josh Galvin, Uncasville; 4. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 5. Al Stone III, New Haven; 6. Walt Hovey Jr., Chaplin; 7. Jim Procaccini,Trumbull; 8. Steve Barrett, Preston; 9. Ed Lamb, Shelton; 10. Ted Dupre, Westbrook; 11. Greg Moran Jr., Preston; 12. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale; 13. Nate Appell, Westbrook; 14. Chris Meyer, N. Franklin; 15. Kevin Talbot, Moosup; 16. Mark Cooper, Northford; 17. John Puglisi, Orange
Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks (20-laps): 1. Greg Moran Sr., Preston; 2. Jeff Mehlenbacher, Groton; 3. Louis Bellisle III, Lisbon; 4. Dan Field, Deep River; 5. Chris Correll, Old Lyme; 6. Ken Cassidy, Jr., Lisbon; 7. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 8. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 9. Nick Pappacoda, N. Branford; 10. Ian Brew, Wood River Jct., RI; 11. Ken Lyke III, Orange; 12. Charles Canfield, New Haven; 13. Chris Williams, Niantic; 14. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. Ryan Morgan, Mystic; 3. Shaun Buffington, Plainfield; 4. Joe Cipriano, Waterbury; 5. Adam Gada, Bozrah; 6. Alessandra Vitelli, Woodbridge; 7. Art Moran Jr., Preston; 8. Paul Kusheba IV, Monroe; 9. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 10. Ed Field, Deep River; 11. Ricky White, N. Stonington; 12. Tony Flannery, E. Hampton; 13. David Stanton, New Britain; 14. Christian Pedersen, New Canaan; 15. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 16. William Munro, N. Branford; 17. Dylan Liseo, E. Hartford; 18. Carl Bohn, Waterford; 19. Peter Cirilli, Farmington; 20. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 21. Jim Byrre, Holbrook, NY; 22. Troy Talman, Oxford; 23. Tom Gray, Sprague
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR