Palmer hits ten straight wins; Dowling, Zaikarite, Flammia also reach Victory Lane
Waterford, CT — Jason Palmer extended his Speedbowl record win streak to 10 events in a dandy of a Legends Car race, while first time winners Ken Dowling III and Pete Zaikarite checkered entertaining Super X and X-Car races, respectively. The X-Modified winner was David Flammia and Andy Carpenter won the Bandolero race.
Heading into the 20-lap Legends Car event, the mission for the field was dethroning Jason Palmer’s nine race win streak in the division. Veterans Ed Field and Carl Blandina paced the field in the early laps with a host of young guns behind. Blandina tested the outside lane on Field, and made the maneuver stick to take the lead seven laps in. George Whitney was making moves high and low with Palmer shadowing behind as the pair began to pick their way through the top ten. The action was slowed on lap eight when Peter Portante and Allesandra Vitelli made contact and came to rest in turn three.
Blandina continued to lead after the restart, but Whitney and Palmer turned up the dial and began to pressure the leaders. With five to go Blandina led Whitney and Palmer. The top three raced nose to tail in the closing laps, with Whitney finally diving under Blandina with just two laps remaining. He cleared Blandina for the lead with the white flag in sight off turn four, but Palmer peeked under Whitney looking for his tenth straight win. Whitney defended and slammed the door into turn one, but Palmer would regroup down the backstretch to try the high groove. Palmer pulled even with Whitney through turns three and four, and Whitney broke traction off turn four enabling the Berlin, CT youngster to go on to his record tenth win in a row. Blandina finished in third, while Roger Coss and Tony Flannery completed the top-five finishers.
A full-field of Super X-Cars began Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday on a perfect evening for racing. Ken Dowling III jumped to the early lead while Shawn Perkins and Steve LaRose moved into contention. Caution waved five laps into racing for Dan Moon who spun in turn four. The racing got intense on the restart, including trouble at the rear of the field when Robert Norman lost a tire sending competitors scattering and drawing the yellow flag.
At halfway James Consalvo, Alex Canestrari, Mike Maskell, and the Super X-Car points leader John Yagmin were all moving to the front, making things interesting in the lead pack of cars. Dowling stretched his lead, looking strong at the head of the field. Racing stayed green and the Branford native would win his first 20-lap event of the season after running well in many events earlier this year. Consalvo ended up second, LaRose third, Yagmin fourth and Maskell fifth.
Michael Marvin shot out of a cannon to take an early straightaway lead by lap two over a healthy field of four-cylinder X-Cars. While the 34-car field sorted themselves out, trouble broke in the rear pack of cars with several cars getting together in turn two, bringing out the only caution and erasing Marvin’s advantage.
The man on the move when racing resumed was ‘Pistol’ Pete Zaikarite, slicing through the top ten to emerge as the second place car with 8 laps complete. Zaikarite, from East Hartford, was hooked up in the high-line around the three-eighths mile oval, moving in to challenge and take the lead from Marvin on lap 11. As green flag conditions prevailed, lapped traffic proved no match for Zaikarite who would go on to win his first Speedbowl event by over a straightaway. Patrick Williams rallied late to finish in second and extend his division points lead, Randy Johnston finished third, and Rich Hurne and John Bowes advanced to fourth and fifth after the Marvin car failed post-race technical inspection.
In X-Modified action, Bubby Brouwer was the benefactor of bumper tag between leaders David Flammia and Dean Christensen to advance to the lead. Anthony Burr moved in behind Brouwer and quickly challenged the winner of the last two events. Burr and Brouwer got together in turn two with both cars making hard contact with the wall exiting the turn, bringing out the red flag on lap five. When racing resumed after a lengthy cleanup, Flammia went on to the 15-lap win over Christensen and Jeff Amaral.
Andy Carpenter won the 10-lap Bandolero event. For more information about the affordable, turn-key “spec” Bandolero racecar, please visit www.600racing.com.
Action resumes to the Speedbowl this Saturday June 20 with the completion of the ACT Late Model Tour Nutmeg State 100. The remaining 72 laps will be run along with NASCAR Whelen All-American Series feature events for SK Modifieds (35-laps), Street Stocks (20-laps) and Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks (20-laps). The Legends Cars will also compete in a 20-lap event. Qualifying begins at 5:45pm with main events to follow.
June 20 is also Norwich Night at the Speedbowl offering Norwich residents a special admission price of just $3.50 in honor of the city’s 350th birthday celebration this month. Proof of residency in the form of driver’s license or city tax or utility bill along with photo ID are required for the discount price.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday returns on Wednesday, June 24 offering fans 14 and under free admission, and adults the low price of just $7.
For more information, please visit www.speedbowl.com or contact the track office at 860.442.1585.
Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 6/17 finishers, hometown:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. George Whitney, Westbrook; 3. Carl Blandina, Milford; 4. Roger Coss, Lafayette, NJ; 5. Tony Flannery, E. Hampton; 6. Ed Field, Deep River; 7. Giovanni Giarratana; 8. John Weaver, Ashland, MA; 9. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 10. Dana DiMatteo, Farmington; 11. Ricky White, N. Stonington; 12. William Munro, N. Branford; 13. Mike Beebe, Old Saybrook; 14. Dylan Liseo, E. Hartford; 15. Troy Talman, Oxford; 16. Tom Pinson, Colchester; 17. Dave Garbo, Stonington; 18. Arthur Maurero, Baltic; 19. Peter Cirilli, Farmington; 20. Peter Portante, Plainville; 21. Alessandra Vitelli, Woodbridge; DNS – Stan Carpenter
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Pete Zaikarite, E. Hartford; 2. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 3. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 4. Rich Hurne, Groton; 5. John Bowes, Willington; 6. Daniel Madore, Sterling; 7. Richard Gulllage, Rockfall; 8. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 9. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 10. Chris Garside, Waterford; 11. Wilson Tenrreiro, Griswold; 12. James Ruddock, Oakdale; 13. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 14. David D’allesandro, Coventry; 15. Dan D’Addario, Columbia; 16. Gary Stone Jr., Northford; 17. David Amspacher, Groton; 18. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 19. James Tirrell, Stonington; 20. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 21. Nicole Harris, Groton; 22. Danny Gervais, E. Hartford; 23. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 24. Bruce Hall, Ledyard; 25. Jeffrey Lee, Norwich; 26. Devin Widger, Plainville; 27. Paul Smith, Clinton; 28. Nathan Lloyd, Mystic; 29. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 30. Dustin Gage, Madison; 31. Arthur Phillips, Norwich; 32. Aaron Hillbush, Norwich; 33. Michele Cicio, Baltic; DQ – Michael Marvin, Colchester; DNS – Shaun Parker, Norwich; DNS – Neal Phillips, N. Grosvenordale
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Ken Dowling III, Branford; 2. James Conslavo, E. Hartford; 3. Steve LaRose, Griswold; 4. John Yagmin, Tolland; 5. Alex Canestrari, Ledyard; 6. Mike Maskell III, Quaker Hill; 7. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 8. Shawn Perkins, Groton; 9. Al Potter, Waterford; 10. Jim Lynch, Wood River Jct., RI; 11. Charles Beal, Ledyard; 12. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 13. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge; 14. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 15. R.J Cunningham, Clinton; 16. Taylor-Marie Moran, Preston; 17. Gary Avery Jr., Waterford; 18. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 19. Dale Treadway, Griswold; 20. Robert Carlson, Rockfall; 21. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 22. James Maher, Shelton; 23. Michael Caprio, New Haven; 24. Rob Corey, S. Windsor; 25. Rodney Iannotti, Hope Valley, RI; 26. Tylor DiFrancesca, Lisbon; 27. Robert Norman, Clinton; 28. Chris Bissell, Jewett City
X-Modifieds (15-laps): 1. David Flammia, Waterbury; 2. Dean Christensen, Granby; 3. Jeff Amaral, Bristol, RI; 4. David O’Leary, Putnam; 5. Brenden Shea, Mystic; 6. Bubby Brouwer, Waterford; 7. Anthony Burr, Wallingford; DNS – Rich Schlegel, Griswold
Bandoleros (10-laps): 1. Andy Carpenter; 2. Tyler Chalue; 3. Chris Lamartire; 4. Dylan Liseo
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR