Jason Palmer earns berth in Legends Nationals with win; Beal wins second straight in Super X, Bowes checkers X-Car race, Flammia takes X-Mods
Waterford, CT — The first ever Saturday Wild ‘n Wacky racing event took place at Waterford Speedbowl under sunny and warm conditions. The Legends Car series was in the spotlight, competing in a national qualifier event with the winner earning a guaranteed berth in the Raceceiver Legends Nationals at Georgia’s Lanier Speedway in October. Berlin, CT competitor Jason Palmer continued his domination in the division this year, bouncing back from early race trouble to secure the win. Ledyard’s Charles Beal won his second consecutive Super X-Car race, Willington’s John Bowes dominated the X-Car event, and David Flammia Jr. of Waterbury was the late benefactor in winning the X-Modified race. Tyler Chalue won the Bandolero race.
2008 Saturday Legends Car champion Shaun Buffington led a stout field to green for a caution filled 50-lap event. Westbrook’s George Whitney moved to the event lead in the early stages, but North Carolina driver Steven Ross was making steady progress to the front from his seventh starting position. Ross moved through the top five to challenge Whitney by lap 10. Ross, second in national Legends Car points, made an inside move on Whitney in turn three to take over the lead as the field completed lap 11.
Meanwhile, Jason Palmer was making his way through traffic and began to assert himself into the top five using the ‘Bowl’s outside lane during an extended green flag run. Palmer made contact with Mystic’s Ryan Morgan and bounced off the front stretch wall, impeding his progress to the front. Trouble struck Whitney’s second place car on lap 20. His machine caught fire, necessitating caution for the safety team to extinguish the flames. Palmer ducked into the pits for service during the interruption to racing to repair the damage caused on his #17 machine.
When the action resumed, Morgan set chase on Ross. Mechanical trouble under the hood struck the leader, suddenly dropping Ross off the pace and giving the top spot to Morgan. Behind the leaders, contact in turn two triggered a multiple car accident down the backstretch to bring out caution and a lengthy clean up.
Racing up front was intense with several competitors jostling the running order behind Morgan. Disaster struck on a lap 38 restart causing havoc for several top competitors. Second place Max Zachem got turned as the field came to green, sending several cars careening into one another under the start-finish line. When the dust settled several front runners had been collected, eliminating Zachem, of Preston, Easton driver Mark Esposito, Long Island native Tom Rogers Jr., New Jersey competitor Roger Coss, and youngster Paul Kusheba.
Palmer moved past Buffington into second on the restart and moved to Morgan’s bumper. Palmer looked to challenge for the lead moving outside Morgan. The pair put on a dazzling display for the lead over the next several laps, with Palmer finally prevailing in the outside groove. Morgan wouldn’t go away easily, looking back under Palmer in the remaining laps but was unable to pull alongside. Palmer went on to the victory over Morgan. Dennis Pantani of Branford finished third, Whitney rebounded for fourth and Milford’s Carl Blandina rounded out the top five.
Following the event, Palmer was quick to praise the work of his crew. “After I bounced off the (frontstretch) fence, I knocked the toe-out and bent the steering. My crew earned this one”. Palmer pitted on lap 20 and was able to maneuver through the field and miss the wrecks to prevail. “This is a big win”.
Palmer set fast time earlier in the day in Legends qualifying with a fast lap of 16.878 seconds around the three-eighths mile oval. Bozrah’s Adam Gada won the 12-lap consolation race.
The X-Car field was led to green for their extra distance 30-lap race by Ledyard’s Bruce Hall. Trouble broke out at the front of the field in turn two on the first lap, with a host of cars piling in to the melee. Several competitors went pitside for repairs including points leader Patrick Williams and contenders Brad Voglesong and Curt D’addario Sr. A total of eight competitors were eliminated in the wreck.
When racing resumed Plainville’s Devin Widger took over the lead on the outside of Hall on lap three, with Rhode Island driver Randy Johnston on the move passing Widger for the lead a lap later. Caution waved again on lap five to reset the field. John Bowes moved into contention on the restart, lining up in third. The race finally settled in and the field ran clean and green over the remaining 25 laps. Bowes quickly moved to the front following the restart. D’addario, Williams, and Voglesong were all making their way back through the field following their lap one skirmish. Bowes stretched out to a commanding lead when lapped traffic began to factor in. The leader navigated it to perfection, never faltering to go unchallenged to the win, his second of the year.
Following Bowes to the stripe was D’addario in second, and Middletown drivers Williams and Voglesong finishing third and fourth. Steve Violette from Canterbury completed the top five.
The special 30-lap Super X car race saw Rob Corey of South Windsor move out to a comfortable early advantage. Deeper in the pack, three wide racing was the norm as the field jockeyed for position. Mike Maskell, Charles Beal, and John Yagmin were making their way through the pack to the front. Maskell, from Quaker Hill, moved into second on lap nine and began to chase down Corey who had opened up a six car length lead on the field. Beal moved into third poised on contending for his second Super X-Car win of the week when caution waved on lap 13 for a spin in turn one.
An intense battle for second position broke out when racing action resumed. Maskell and Beal went at it for the position, enabling Corey to open up his lead yet again. Beal came out on top after a several lap battle as the field settled in to green flag racing. East Hartford’s James Consalvo, second in points, began to make some noise as the laps ticked away taking advantage of trouble for points leader Yagmin. Mechanical failure struck Yagmin causing him to slip through the field. Trouble broke out in front of the leaders as they approached the tail of the field with just two laps remaining.
The ensuing restart was pivotal for Beal. Corey faltered, enabling Beal to power into the lead when the field went green. Beal captured his fourth win of the season, while Corey hung on for second. Consalvo moved to third at the checkered over Maskell, with Groton’s Shawn Perkins completing the top five finishers.
Richard “Bubby” Brouwer led the X-Modified field to green for their 20-lap event. The pack raced green through the first half of the race with Brouwer leading Granby’s Dean Christensen and David Flammia Jr. of Waterbury. Brouwer’s car began to get tight, allowing the lead pack to tighten up. Massachusetts competitor Brian Rondeau and Paul French closed in at the back half of the top five. French, of Andover, spun out of turn four to bring out the event’s first caution on lap 12.
When racing resumed Brouwer took over at the point, but Flammia was able to make his way past Christensen for second. That move proved to be key when trouble broke out for the Brouwer. His #16 machine began leaking, dropping him from the field. Flammia went on to the win over Christensen.
Tyler Chalue went unchallenged in the 10-lap Bandolero event to win over Matt Carpenter and Chris Lamartire.
Brad Voglesong captured the Last Man Standing race.
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR