Flannery, Alessio, Christensen, Lomartire and Payea find Victory Lane before Mother Nature ends racing
Waterford, CT — Mother Nature ended Wild ‘n Wacky prematurely, however not before fresh faces and a few repeat winners reached Speedbowl Victory Lane. Frank Alessio was a first time winner in the Super X-Cars, youngsters Tony Flannery and Chris Lomartire returned to the winner’s circle and Dylan Payea won the first ever New England Champ Kart Series event held at the ‘Bowl. Mike Marvin won the HDRA 100 foot drags.
Tony Flannery of East Hampton led the early laps of the 20-lap Legends Car event from his pole starting position. Carl Blandina of Milford, Dennis Pantani of Branford and Alessandro Vitelli of Woodbridge settled in single file behind the leader, while last week’s stars Justin Rau and Jason Palmer were looking to move into the top five.
The battle for position amongst the leaders was starting to pick up when the only caution waved over the field on lap six for two cars coming together in turn two.
[Photo Gallery] by Adam Fohlin
The action resumed with Flannery picking up where he left off at the front. Vitelli moved to second, while Palmer and Rau would go on to battle lap after lap for third. All eyes were on the top four for the remainder of the event. With five laps remaining Rau, of Farmington, was outside Palmer trying to make the outside work to challenge Vitelli for second. Vitelli was doing a veteran job keeping in striking distance of Flannery and holding the spot over Rau and Palmer.
Palmer jumped at the opportunity when Vitelli slipped off turn two, bolting inside and into second with three laps remaining. The brief battle enabled Flannery to squirt away to a few car lengths of breathing room.
The fourteen time winner this season reached Flannery on the backstretch of the last lap and made an outside move to the checkered flag. Flannery, fifteen years old, was able to win his second event of the year by just .014 seconds over Palmer in yet another photo finish for the Legends Cars. Rau made his way by Vitelli for third, and Blandina rounded out the top five.
Frank Alessio of Colchester jumped out to the advantage in the Super X Car 20-lap event. The first eight laps ran green and Alessio moved out to a straight away lead over Taylor-Marie Moran of Preston. A three way tussle broke out for third between Moran, Jon Porter of Canterbury, and Shawn Perkins of Groton. Trouble broke out off turn four when Mike Maskell of Quaker Hill, Moran and Charles Beal of Ledyard got together near the front of the action to bring out caution.
On the restart Alessio moved back out front to a comfortable margin. Points leaders John Yagmin, Rob Corey, and James Consalvo were making their way through traffic. Yagmin claimed second and began tracking down Alessio, but ran out of time. The event remained caution free and Alessio went on to his first career win by three car lengths over Yagmin, Corey, Porter, and Perkins.
Dean Christensen of Granby ran the table in the 15-lap X-Modified race to win over Waterbury’s Dave Flammia and Sherman competitor Rob Gallaer. The win was not without theatrics – Christensen and Flammia were in a battle for the lead when they approached lapped traffic. They had to navigate the traffic including splitting one with an exciting three-wide maneuver.
Chris Lomartire won the 10-lap Bandolero race to close the points gap. The “spec” Bandolero racecar is available for purchase turn-key at very affordable prices. For more information, please visit www.600racing.com.
Dylan Payea of Vermont captured the New England Champ Kart Series event in an entertaining display of tight racing and passes for position.
Rain came halting the action four laps into the X-Car event. After track drying attempts were made, the remainder of the X-Car race and the Women On Wheels event were cancelled.
Attention turns to Saturday’s blockbuster event of speed for the Speedbowl, the 2nd annual Wings ‘n Wheels. The ISMA SuperModifieds (50-laps) and NEMA Midgets (25-laps) lead the winged brigade, and the True Value Modified Racing Series (100-laps) and SK Modifieds (35-laps) also compete. The four fastest divisions to visit the Speedbowl come together for one night only. The action gets underway with the popular qualifying races at 5:00pm and main events beginning at 7:00pm.
For more pricing and more information, please visit www.speedbowl.com or contact the track office at 860.442.1585.
Official Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/12 finishers, hometown:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Tony Flannery, E. Hampton; 2. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 3. Justin Rau, Farmington; 4. Alessandro Vitelli, Woodbridge; 5. Carl Blandina, Milford; 6. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 7. Christian Pedersen, New Canaan; 8. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 9. Dana DiMatteo, Farmington; 10. William Munro, N. Branford; 11. Stan Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 12. Roger Coss, Lafayette, NJ; 13. Ed Field, Deep River; 14. John Weaver, Ashland, MA; 15. Dylan Liseo, E. Hartford; 16. Dave Garbo, Stonington; 17. Arthur Maurero, Baltic; 18. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 19. Peter Cirilli, Farmington; 20. Matt Maring, Newtown, NJ; 21. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury
X-Cars (20-laps): ppd. rain
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 2. John Yagmin, Tolland; 3. Rob Corey, S. Windsor; 4. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 5. Shawn Perkins, Groton; 6. James Consalvo, E. Hartford; 7. Ken Downing III, Branford; 8. Michael Caprio, New Haven; 9. Steve LaRose, Griswold; 10. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 11. Dan Yagmin, Wethersfield; 12. Charles Beal, Ledyard; 13. Alex Canestrari, Ledyard; 14. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge, MA; 15. Ken Woodward Jr., New Haven; 16. Robert Norman, Clinton; 17. Tylor DiFrancesca, Lisbon; 18. Robert Carlson, Rockville; 19. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 20. Paul Sheldon, Guilford; 21. Al Potter, Waterford; 22. Mike Maskell III, Quaker Hill; 23. Taylor-Marie Moran, Preston
X-Modifieds (15-laps): 1. Dean Christensen, Granby; 2. David Flammia, Waterbury; 3. Rob Gallaer, Sherman; 4. David O’Leary, Putnam; 5. Paul French, Andover; 6. Brian Dimartino, Cromwell; 7. Rich Schlegel, Griswold; 8. Damon O’Palich, Enfield; 9. Corey Larson, Bolton
Bandoleros (10-laps): 1. Chris Lomartire, Millbury, MA; 2. Matt Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 3. Tyler Chalue, Dudley, MA; 4. Dylan Duhaime, Loudon, NH; 5. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 6. Nicholas Matera, Warwick, RI; 7. Andrew Carpenter, Auburn, MA
Women on Wheels – 8 cylinder (10-laps): ppd. rain
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR