Hoar wins ACT Tour Nutmeg State 100 while Rocco wins fifth in SK Mods. Hovey, Leonard, and Palmer also victorious
Waterford, CT — Vermont native Brian Hoar scored his second consecutive ACT Late Model Tour win Saturday in the Nutmeg State 100, while it was Keith Rocco winning his fifth SK Modified event of the Speedbowl season. Walt Hovey Jr. won his third Street Stock race of the year, and Bill Leonard captured his second Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock event. Jason Palmer was the winner in the Legends Car race.
Championships and event wins were abundant on the front row for the start of the SK Modified’s 35-lap race. Keith Rocco and Dennis Gada brought the field to green, with Rocco, from Wallingford, moving out front. Jeffrey Paul of Ledyard and Corey Hutchings of Salem ran tight behind, finding their way by Gada who finally was able to settle in the fourth spot on lap five.
Behind them Rob Janovic Jr. of Waterford, Ron Yuhas Jr. of Groton, and Jeff Pearl of Salem raced hard together to battle for the fifth spot. Gada, also from Salem, jumped outside Hutchings for third and Yuhas moved outside Janovic for fifth. Both made the move stick to put Gada third, Hutchings fourth, and Yuhas fifth as the field completed lap 10. After clear of Janovic, Yuhas immediately began to close in on Hutchings for fourth. Pearl was still trying to navigate around Janovic for sixth.
The race stayed green through halfway with Rocco setting a blistering pace at the front, holding a comfortable advantage over Paul. Gada was several cars back of Paul in third. Pearl finally moved inside Janovic to complete the pass for sixth on lap 19. Just ahead, Yuhas was trying to find a way around the outside of Hutchings.
The event’s first caution waved when Frank Mucciacciaro of Milford spun in turn one, ending a run of 27 green flag laps of hard racing. Rocco got a good start when the green flag was shown for the restart. Paul tucked into second, and Pearl jumped to the outside lane trying to enter into the top three outside Gada. Caution came out again for a spin by Mucciacciaro with three laps remaining.
Rocco got the jump on the field for the restart with Paul trying to move back to his bumper to throw anything at the points leader in the shootout to the checkered flag. Pearl moved to third using an outside move on Gada with two laps to go. That was the way they would finish at the checker, with Yuhas rounding out the top five.
Tony Flannery of East Hampton was the early leader in the 20-lap Legends Car race, holding through a caution on lap one. When the field went back to racing, Ryan Morgan of Mystic made an inside move on lap two to take over from Flannery. Jason Palmer, the big winner this season in Legends Car action, followed Morgan into second.
Palmer, from Berlin, tested the outside groove for multiple laps then used a slingshot move off turn two and took over on lap nine. Morgan duplicated the move on Palmer a lap later, crossing over from the high lane to the bottom groove off turn two to reclaim the top spot and would lead lap 10. Palmer made the move on the outside just two laps later to take over in a see-saw battle. Racing was halted by caution with four laps remaining.
Palmer held on through two restarts and some last lap pressure to his rear bumper from Morgan to win his 14th event of the year. Morgan was second, Joe Cipriano of Waterbury third, Flannery fourth and Paul Kusheba of Monroe fifth.
Hartford native Sean Caron led the Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock field to the green flag for an action packed 20-lap event. Jeff Mehlenbacher of Groton moved to the front on lap three with Louis Bellisle of Lisbon following into second.
After a lap four restart, Bellisle would take over from Mehlenbacher. Bill Leonard of Rhode Island advanced to second and immediately went to work on Bellisle looking outside and pulling even with the race leader on lap seven. Points contenders Kyle James and Danny Field emerged in third and fourth position as the race action heated up and the laps mounted.
Bellisle continued to battle tough in the low lane to hold off the challenges of Leonard. Caution interrupted the battle with eight laps to go when Christina Cunliffe of Stratford spun in front of the lead pack in turn four.
The tussle for the lead resumed when the race went green. Leonard was finally successful in taking command of the race when Bellisle slipped off turn four on lap 14, breaking his momentum enabling Leonard to get away. James dove outside Bellisle for second while Leonard stretched his lead. Ken Cassidy Jr. and Field ran side by side behind the battle for second, waiting for an opening.
The race finished green, with Leonard winning by a half-straightaway. Bellisle was able to fight off James for second, while it was Field fourth and Cassidy fifth.
Brandon Plemons took the lead in the 25-lap Street Stock feature, but by lap four Walt Hovey Jr. of Chaplin stuck the nose of his machine outside Plemons. Hovey ran strong in the outside groove to take over at the front. By lap 10 he stretched his lead out to several car lengths over Plemons, who had Ronnie Oldham breathing down his neck for the position. Ed Puleo of Branford raced in fourth, with Al Stone III of New Haven in fifth.
The running order remained the same past the halfway point, all under green flag conditions. Stone made a move under Puleo for fourth, but Puleo battled hard in the outside lane and the two raced side-by-side for several laps. Stone finally cleared Puleo on lap 15, but was nearly a full straightaway behind Oldham who continued to run in the third spot.
Hovey went on to win by a comfortable margin over Plemons, Oldham, Stone and Puleo in the caution free event.
The Speedbowl returns to action Saturday, August 15 with the 2nd annual Wings ‘n Wheels, featuring the best in open wheel racing and blistering speeds. The ISMA SuperModifieds will race 50-laps, True Value Modified Racing Series 100-laps, NEMA Midgets 25-laps, and the Speedbowl’s own SK Modifieds 35-laps.
On Wednesday, August 12 all Waterford residents will be receive free grandstands admission to the ‘Bowl’s Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday program with proof of residency.
For more information on these and all upcoming events, visit www.speedbowl.com or contact the track office at 860.442.1585.
Official Speedbowl 8/8 finishers, hometown:
SK Modifieds (35-laps): 1. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 2. Jeffrey Paul, Ledyard; 3. Jeff Pearl, Salem; 4. Dennis Gada, Salem; 5. Ron Yuhas Jr., Groton; 6. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 7. Corey Hutchings, Salem; 8. Dennis Charette, Southington; 9. Justin Gaydosh, Newtown; 10. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 11. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 12. Mike Finkeldey, Clinton; 13. Joe Perry, Ashaway, RI; 14. Mike Sweeney, Middletown; 15. Joe Gada, Salem; 16. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford; 17. Jeffrey Gallup, Agawam, MA; 18. Jeff Rocco, Wallingford; 19. Wayne Arute, Berlin
Updated standings following 8/8 event (top-ten): 1. Rocco, 574; 2. Yuhas, 562; 3. Janovic, 548; 4. Gada, 528; 5. Paul, 514; 6. Pearl, 486; 7. Tyler Chadwick, 414; 8. Hutchings, 412; 9. Dailey, 376; 10. Mucciacciaro, 366
Street Stocks (25-laps): 1. Walt Hovey Jr., Chaplin; 2. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 3. Ronnie Oldham Jr., Old Saybrook; 4. Al Stone III, New Haven; 5. Ed Puleo, N. Branford; 6. Norm Root, Old Saybrook; 7. Jim Procaccini, Trumbull; 8. Steve Barrett, Preston; 9. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 10. Greg Moran Jr., Preston; 11. Ted Dupre, Westbrook; 12. Chris Meyer, N. Franklin; 13. Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington; 14. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 15. Kevin Burr, Waterford; 16. Nate Appell, Westbrook; 17. Jesse Smith, Moodus; 18. Mat Burr, Quaker Hill; 19. Mark Cooper, Northford; 20. Kevin Talbot, Moosup; 21. Jack Aquilina
Updated standings following 8/8 event (top-ten): 1. (tie) Oldham; Plemons, 658; 3. Hovey, 642; 4. Stone, 636; 5. Puleo, 566; 6. Barrett, 556; 7. Dupre, 498; 8. Aquilina, 472; 9. Galvin, 440; 10. Moran, 408
Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks (20-laps): 1. Bill Leonard, Wood River Jct, RI; 2. Louis Bellisle, Lisbon; 3. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 4. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 5. Danny Field, Deep River; 6. Chris Williams, Niantic; 7. Ian Brew, Wood River Jct., RI; 8. Glenn Colvin, Clinton; 9. Greg Moran Sr., Preston; 10. Mark Panaroni, Ivoryton; 11. Jeff Mehlenbacher, Groton; 12. Nick Pappacoda, N. Branford; 13. Chris Correll, Old Lyme; 14. Ken Lyke III, Orange; 15. Charles Canfield, New Haven; 16. Alan Hall Sr., N. Haven; 17. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI; 18. Christina Cunliffe, Stratford; 19. Sean Caron, Hartford; 20. Ryan Cipows, Seymour
Updated standings following 8/8 event (top-ten): 1. Field, 632; 2. James, 614; 3. Bellisle, 594; 4. Cassidy, 582; 5. (tie) Moran; Brew, 464; 7. Pappacoda, 460; 8. Correll, 424; 9. Mehlenbacher, 394; 10. Panaroni, 368
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. Ryan Morgan, Mystic; 3. Joe Cipriano, Waterbury; 4. Tony Flannery, E. Hampton; 5. Paul Kusheba IV, Monroe; 6. Alessandro Vitelli, Woodbridge; 7. Mark Esposito, Easton; 8. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 9. Christian Pedersen, New Canaan; 10. William Munro, N. Branford; 11. Adam Gada, Bozrah; 12. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 13. Ed Field, Deep River; 14. Arthur Maurero, Baltic; 15. Mark Stanton, New Britain; 16. Carl Bohn, Waterford; 17. Dave Garbo, Stonington
Updated standings following 8/8 event (top-ten): 1. Palmer, 436; 2. Cipriano, 380; 3. Morgan, 360; 4. Kusheba, 308; 5. Flannery, 302; 6. Field, 270; 7. Giarratana, 268; 8. Gada, 248; 9. Shaun Buffington, 218; 10. Esposito, 196
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR