Janovic nails first ’09 win; Bertrand surprise winner in Late Models; Stone, Coates and D’addario score victories
Waterford, CT — A memorable night of motorsports took place at the Speedbowl for Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen All American Series race program. Rob Janovic Jr. and Ernie Bertrand were first time winners this season in the SK Modified and Late Model divisions respectively, while it was Al Stone III winning his fourth Street Stock event, Allen Coates continuing his unbeaten streak in the Trucks, and Curt D’addario Sr. winning the X-Car race. The Modified, Late Model, and Street Stock point battles were all shaken up following the completion of their feature events.
Rob Janovic Jr. and Tyler Chadwick brought the SK Modified field to green, with Waterford native Janovic moving out front on lap one. Ledyard’s Chadwick tucked in behind Janovic and stayed on the leader’s bumper. Salem drivers Corey Hutchings and Dennis Gada joined Ledyard’s Jeff Paul and points leader Keith Rocco in a tight pack dicing for position behind the top two. Rocco, hailing from Wallingford, moved to fourth on lap five then moved inside Hutchings for third by time the field completed lap nine.
Up front Janovic wasn’t able to shake free from Chadwick. The pair raced together several car lengths in front of Rocco who was moving in after taking over the third spot. Paul was holding off Gada for fourth further back.
The field continued racing under green through halfway. Rocco had reached the leaders, beginning to pressure Chadwick for second on lap 20. The event’s first caution waved on lap 21 for Norwich’s Tom Abele who spun off turn four.
On the restart Janovic held the advantage by the time the field reached turn one. Rocco was able to move into second past Chadwick and started to pressure Janovic for the top spot. Rocco’s top points competitor, Ron Yuhas Jr. of Groton, emerged into the top five with 12 laps remaining. He immediately made an inside move on Paul for fourth. Glenn Griswold of Vernon spun off the front stretch as Rocco darted inside Janovic with seven laps remaining. The move would have given Rocco the lead, however caution waved for the Griswold machine stranded on the apron of turn one.
The ensuing restart was pivotal in the outcome of the event and points battle. Janovic again took over by turn one on the restart, while Rocco looked to build momentum in the outside lane. Chadwick was intent on challenging the leaders from third. Contact into turn three resulted in Rocco spinning around and the cars of Rocco, Chadwick and Hutchings pummeling the turn three wall. Rocco and Chadwick were both done for the night, while Hutchings was able to resume from the rear after heading to the pits.
From there, Janovic prevailed on the final restart over Yuhas to go on to his first victory in over a year. Yuhas finished second and was able to close the points gap to within four points of Rocco. Past champions Janovic and Gada were also able to close within striking distance. Paul, Gada, and Pearl rounded out the top five finishers in the race.
Hope Valley, Rhode Island native Rich Staskowski led the first 14 laps in the Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature. Old Lyme’s Jeff Smith was racing in second, while Dennis Botticello and Bruce Thomas Jr. were making steady progress through the pack to move into the top five when the first caution waved for Michael Lindquist who spun off the racing surface.
Botticello, from Suffield, moved to the lead using an inside maneuver on Staskowski at halfway of the 30-lap feature. North Branford’s Ernie Bertrand followed into second a lap later. Joe Curioso of Pawcatuck moved by Staskowski for third, bringing Thomas in line behind him into the fourth position. While Botticello was comfortably leading up front, Thomas had advanced to third on lap 21 following another restart. A lap later, the nine time winner this season was in second over Bertrand. Botticello and Thomas pulled away from the pack to set up a dramatic finish.
Thomas moved in on Botticello as the laps continued to tick off. Thomas appeared to have the stronger handling car, but Botticello was able to hold off Thomas down the straightaways. As the field took the white flag, Thomas nosed under Botticello making contact entering turn one. Botticello was unable to save his machine from spinning. Thomas was the first to take the checkered flag, but was penalized to the last car on the lead lap immediately following the event for the contact on the leader. It moved Bertrand to the win over Curioso, Tony Macrino of Waterford, Smith, and Staskowski.
The Street Stocks made great use of an extra distance race to put on a hotly contested battle for 25 laps. Uncasville’s Josh Galvin took the lead from the drop of the green flag, but it didn’t take long for Al Stone of New Haven and Ronnie Oldham of Old Saybrook to move in to contend. Points leader Brandon Plemons, also of Uncasville, got caught up in an early skirmish and pitted for repairs, resuming from the rear.
Stone was able to make an impressive inside move exiting turn four to pull alongside Galvin for the lead as the field completed lap six. The field fought for every inch of Speedbowl real estate while the laps clicked off. Stone couldn’t shake Galvin from his outside, and Oldham moved to third hot on the lead duo’s bumpers. Oldham broke loose in turn two, making a nice recovery but losing ground. Meanwhile Plemons was making steady progress through the field in a battered machine looking to salvage his points lead.
Stone was able to hold on in the remaining laps over Oldham, who was able to move past Galvin for second. Plemons battled to take fourth at the stripe from Trumbull’s Jim Proccacini who ran at the front all night. Oldham moved back in front of Plemons by two points while Stone also gained ground in the title hunt.
Howard Payne took the event lead from the green flag of the NEATV Truck Series 25-lapper. The only caution in the event waved on lap three for two trucks making contact in turn two. Payne took over where he left off on the restart, while Ledyard’s Allen Coates began to make his way up from the rear of the field during the green flag racing.
Coates had progressed as high as second by lap six, while a great battle for third was staging between Gee Perry and Bill Leonard. Coates began to pressure Payne, from Shelton, for the lead several truck lengths ahead of a great Perry/Leonard side-by-side battle. By lap 15, Coates was testing the water outside Payne’s right rear quarter panel. Coates couldn’t make the move stick, and traded the outside lane to make an inside move off turn four on lap 17. After a lap of side-by-side battling, Coates took over at the front on lap 18. Perry lost third briefly but moved back by Leonard to reclaim the spot on lap 20.
The field raced that way to the checkered flag with Coates winning by three truck lengths over Payne. Leonard, from Rhode Island, and Old Lyme’s Chris Correll rounded out the top five finishers. The win was Coates fifth of the year in the Trucks.
The Wild ‘n Wacky X-Car division was on hand for a 20-lap non-points event. The top runners came out in force, putting on a great race throughout the field all night. Brad Voglesong of Middletown took the early event lead, but Curt D’addario Sr. of Columbia moved in to challenge Voglesong with an inside maneuver on lap three. The move worked and the lead exchanged hands.
‘Pistol’ Pete Zaikarite was on the move in the top five, advancing past Voglesong for second with his eyes set on the leader. Following caution, the East Harford competitor raced outside D’addario looking to make the outside lane work in the second half of the race. Zaikarite could not find the momentum and D’addario was able to stretch out his lead to go on to the win. John Bowes of Willington recovered from a lap one spin to finish third, Middletown’s Patrick Williams finished fourth, with Dan D’addario in fifth.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday returns after last week’s rain out this Wednesday August 5th with action for the Legends Cars, Super X-Cars, X-Cars, X-Modifieds, Bandolero’s and Women on Wheels. The show is also the season debut of HDRA’s 100 foot drags, where any street car can participate. For more information, visit www.speedbowl.com. Grandstands admission for the event is just $7 for adults with all youth age 14 and under admitted free.
The American-Canadian (ACT) Late Model Tour returns Saturday August 8th to complete the remainder of the rain delayed Nutmeg State 100, originally scheduled on June 13th. The first 28 laps were in the books before rain halted the racing. The SK Modifieds, Street Stocks, Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks and Legends Cars join ACT Tour on the program. Qualifying gets underway at approximately 5:00pm with feature events beginning at 7:00pm. Adult admission is $25 for the event, with all youth ages 6 through 14 just $5. Kids 5 and under, as always, are admitted free.
For more information and details on this and all upcoming events, please visit www.speedbowl.com or contact the track office at 860.442.1585.
Official Speedbowl 8/1 finishers, hometown:
Street Stocks (25-laps): 1. Al Stone III, New Haven; 2. Ronnie Oldham Jr., Old Saybrook; 3. Josh Galvin, Uncasville; 4. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 5. Jim Proccacini, Trumbull; 6. Walt Hovey Jr., Chaplin; 7. Greg Moran Jr., Preston; 8. Ed Puleo, Branford; 9. Steve Barrett, Preston; 10. Chris Meyer, N. Franklin; 11. Mark Cooper, Northford; 12. Ted Dupre, Westbrook; 13. Kevin Talbot, Moosup; 14. Nate Appell, Westbrook; 15. Jesse Smith, Moodus; 16. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 17. Matt Burr, Quaker Hill; 18. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale
Point Standings following 8/1 event (top ten): 1. OldhaSourm, 612; 2. Plemons, 610; 3. (tie) Hovey, 592; Stone, 592; 5. Puleo, 524; 6. Barrett, 520; 7. Aquilina, 472; 8. Dupre, 468; 9. Galvin, 440; 10. Cooper, 378
Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models (30-laps): 1. Ernie Bertrand, N. Branford; 2. Joe Curioso, Pawcatuck; 3. Tony Macrino, Waterford; 4. Jeff Smith, Old Lyme; 5. Rich Staskowski, Hope Valley, RI; 6. Mark Hudson, Norton, MA; 7. Brian Andronaco Jr., Wilton; 8. Dennis Botticello, Suffield; 9. Bruce Thomas Jr., Groton; 10. Michael Lindquist, Wilton; 11. Tom Metcalf, N. Stonington; 12. Robert Leblanc Jr., Norwalk; 13. Vin Esposito, Seymour
Point Standings following 8/1 event (top ten): 1. Thomas, 622; 2. Staskowski, 552; 3. Esposito, 512; 4. Smith, 504; 5. Bertrand, 448; 6. Hudson, 424; 7. Goss, 384; 8. Jordan, 348; 9. (tie) Leblanc, 276; Andronaco, 276
SK Modifieds (35-laps): 1. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 2. Ron Yuhas Jr., Groton; 3. Jeffrey Paul, Groton; 4. Dennis Gada, Salem; 5. Jeff Pearl, Salem; 6. Dennis Charette, Southington; 7. Mike Finkeldey, Clinton; 8. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 9. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford; 10. Joe Perry, Ashaway, RI; 11. Corey Hutchings, Salem; 12. Mike Sweeney, Middletown; 13. Justin Gaydosh, Newtown; 14. Joe Gada, Salem; 15. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 16. Glenn Griswold, Vernon; 17. Wayne Arute, Berlin; 18. Jeffrey Gallup, Agawam, MA; 19. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 20. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 21. Jeff Rocco, Wallingford; DNS – Pete Pavone, Southington
Point Standings following 8/1 event (top ten): 1. Rocco, 524; 2. Yuhas, 520; 3. Janovic, 508; 4. Gada, 484; 5. Paul, 466; 6. Pearl, 440; 7. Chadwick, 414; 8. Hutchings, 374; 9. (tie) Dailey, 346; Mucciacciaro, 346
NEATV Truck Series (25-laps): 1. Allen Coates, Ledyard; 2. Howard Payne, Shelton; 3. Gee Perry, Granby; 4. Bill Leonard, Wood River Jct., RI; 5. Chris Correll, Old Lyme; 6. Greg Butler Jr., E. Hampton; 7. Doug Dunleavy, Brookfield; 8. Scott Gregory, Westbrook; 9. William Auchmoody, Highland, NY; 10. Dan Butler, Manchester; 11. Bill Michael, Granville; 12. Mike Anzalone, Griswold; 13. Keith Chapman, Mystic
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Curt D’addario, Columbia; 2. Pete Zaikarite, E. Hartford; 3. John Bowes, Willington; 4. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 5. Dan D’addario, Columbia; 6. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 7. Devin Widger, Plainville; 8. David D’allesandro, Coventry; 9. Scott Kittel, Westerly, RI; 10. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 11. Joseph Madore, W. Springfield, MA; 12. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 13. Richard Gullage, Rockfall; 14. Chris Garside, Waterford; 15. Gary Stone Jr., Northford; 16. Nicole Harris, Groton; 17. Ken Holbrook, Shannock, RI; 18. Jeffrey Lee, Norwich; 19. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 20. Arthur Phillips, Norwich; 21. Dustin Gage, Madison; 22. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; DNS – Daniel Madore, Sterling.
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR