Double X-Car races to Bowes and Zaikarite while LaRose lands Super X win; Palmer again in Legends
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl completed another Wild ‘n Wacky race program under warm sunny conditions. The X-Cars competed in two events with John Bowes and Pete Zaikarite winning. Jason Palmer returned to his second home, Speedbowl victory lane, in the Legends Cars. Steve LaRose ended up with the Super X-Car win and Paul French was a first time winner in the X-Modifieds.
The Legends Cars completed lap one of their 20-lap feature when calamity struck on the frontstretch near the rear of the field eliminating youngsters Troy Talman, Christian Pedersen, and Adam Gada. When the green flag was back out Dennis Pantani of Branford took the lead from Deep River driver Ed Field, but that move proved to be short lived when veteran Carl Blandina of Milford moved to the pin.
Jason Palmer of Berlin, who has simply dominated the Legends Car division this year, moved his way through the field into contention by the midway point. Palmer moved inside Blandina and completed the pass for the lead at halfway.
Palmer went on to win by four car lengths over Blandina who ran strong all night for second. Tony Flannery of East Hampton recovered from a lap four spin to finish third. Justin Rau of Farmington and New Jersey competitor Roger Coss were fourth and fifth.
The X-Cars completed the remaining 16 laps of their 20-lap feature begun last Wednesday when rain interrupted the action. The race ran caution free when it resumed. Patrick Williams, the points leader headed into the evening, ran into trouble on the backstretch when the race began when he went spinning but continued on.
Up front, Mike Marvin of Colchester picked up where he left off a week ago and was chased by Dustin Gage of Madison, Tom Johnston of Westerly, RI, Rich Hurne of Groton and John Bowes of Willington. Marvin moved out to a several car length lead while Bowes and multiple event winner Curt D’addario Sr. of Columbia were moving up through the field. Bowes moved to third on lap 14 with D’addario following. The pair advanced to second and third respectively on lap 16.
The leaders encountered heavy lapped traffic in the final three laps. Bowes was able to close to Marvin’s bumper and look inside as they raced to the white flag. Marvin held the spot into turn one. Meanwhile Bowes closed in to make it a three car race to the checkered. Bowes again moved inside Marvin in turn three of the final lap, making the move to claim the win. D’addario snuck past the outside of Marvin to nip him for second at the stripe. Hurne, and new points leader Brad Voglesong of Middletown completed the top five.
In the second X-Car race, Pete Zaikarite of East Hartford and Gage were the major contenders, moving out to a sizeable lead as the race stayed green through the first 11 laps. All the top runners had moved in behind the top two, but several met misfortunate in the waning laps.
Dan D’addario had moved to second but ended against the turn three wall. Voglesong, who had picked up the points lead after race #1, suffered the same fate on a restart attempt. Curt D’addario retired pitside. The third attempt at a green-white-checkered finish was success, with Zaikarite getting his second 20-lap event win of the season. Gage put in his best effort for second with Bowes third, Hurne fourth, and Daniel Madore of Sterling in fifth.
The Super X-Car race was a dandy at the front of the field for an exciting 20-lap race. The field shook itself out during the early laps with Taylor-Marie Moran of Preston, Steve LaRose of Griswold, Mike Maskell of Quaker Hill and Charles Beal of Ledyard emerging as threats. Maskell spun into turn three on lap seven after some intense three wide racing, resuming from the rear after caution.
On the restart Moran began asserting herself, looking impressive in moving past Alex Canestrari to take the lead at halfway. Beal and LaRose were closing behind, and a three car battle for the lead was brewing. Points leader John Yagmin had just reached the top five when he spun off the fronstretch becoming stranded to bring out caution on lap 12.
The battle at the front waged on once green flag racing returned. Moran had it, and Beal and LaRose wanted it. Beal looked outside, inching alongside Moran who was having her best effort of the season. Beal was able to edge ahead with 5 laps remaining, and LaRose challenged Moran on the outside for second eventually claiming the spot after a hard fought battle.
That was the way the field would finish, with Beal crossing the stripe to seeming earn his fifth win of the season. The Beal machine failed post-race technical inspection, moving LaRose to the event win. Moran was a popular podium finisher with the Speedbowl fans and moved to second. Rob Corey of Windsor, Michael Caprio of New Haven, and Canestrari rounded out the top five.
Paul French of Andover was an upset winner in the X-Modified 15-lapper, leading from start to finish to go unchallenged to his first career win. Dean Christensen of Granby moved to second but could not catch French. Bubby Brouwer of Waterford held off points leader Dave Flammia Jr. of Waterbury for third.
Matt Carpenter of Auburn, MA won the 10-lap Bandolero race, besting last week’s winner Chris Lomartire.
The Speedbowl is in action next on Saturday with the return of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing, with all Waterford residents receiving free grandstands admission with proof of residency. The SK Modifieds headline the racing card with a 35-lap event. Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models, Street Stocks, Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks, and Legends Cars will also compete. The action gets underway with qualifying races at approximately 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.
Unofficial Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/19 finishers, hometown:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. Carl Blandina, Milford; 3. Tony Flannery, E. Hampton; 4. Justin Rau, Farmington; 5. Roger Coss, Lafayette, NJ; 6. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 7. Alessandro Vitelli, Woodbridge; 8. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 9. Ed Field, Deep River; 10.William Munro, N. Branford; 11. Richard White, N. Stonington; 12. Stan Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 13. Dave Garbo, Stonington; 14. Matt Maring, Newtown, NJ; 15. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 16. Arthur Maurero, Baltic; 17. Peter Cirilli, Farmington; 18. Dylan Liseo, E. Hartford; 19. Matt Cavanaugh, E. Hampton; 20. Dana DiMatteo, Farmington; 21. Christian Pedersen, New Canaan; 22. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 23. Adam Gada, Bozrah
Unofficial standings following 8/19 event (top-ten): 1. Palmer, 590; 2. Flannery, 464; 3. Pantani, 426; 4. George Whitney, 420; 5. Blandina, 418; 6. Giarratana, 414; 7. Coss, 354; 8. Field, 340; 9. Vitelli, 314; 10.(tie) Rau; DiMatteo, 280
X-Cars #1 (20-lap make up of 8/12): 1. John Bowes, Willington; 2. Curt D’addario Sr., Columbia; 3. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 4. Rich Hurne, Groton; 5. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 6. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 7. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 8. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 9. Dustin Gage, Madison; 10. Bruce Hall, Ledyard; 11. Jeremy Violette, Canterbury; 12. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 13. David D’allesandro; 14. James Tirrell, Stonington; 15. Gary Stone Jr., Northford; 16. Chris Garside, Waterford; 17. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 18. Nicole Harris, Groton; 19. Shawn Butler; 20. Arthur Phillips, Norwich; 21. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 22. Jeffrey Lee, Norwich; 23. Aaron Hillbush, Norwich; 24. Paul Smith, Clinton; 25. Pete Zaikarite, E. Hartford; 26. Dan Madore, Sterling; 27. Dan D’addario, Columbia; 28. Devin Widger, 29. Ken Holbrook, Shannock, RI
X-Cars #2 (20-laps): 1. Zaikarite; 2. Gage; 3. Bowes; 4. Hurne; 5. Madore; 6. Williams; 7. Johnston; 8. Trask; 9. Marvin; 10. Shifflett; 11. Garside; 12. Stone; 13. Tirrell; 14. Len Platt, Lisbon; 15. Smith; 16. Barrie; 17. Nathan Lloyd, Mystic; 18. Lee; 19. Harris; 20. Voglesong; 21. D. D’addario; 22. Pierce; 23. J. Violette; 24. Hillbush; 25. Butler; 26. Phillips; 27. D’allesandro; 28. C. D’addario; 29. Hall; 30. Amspacher
Unofficial standings following 8/19 events (top-ten): 1. Williams, 486; 2. Voglesong, 472; 3. Bowes, 464; 4.(tie) Hurne; Johnston, 404; 6. Madore, 372; 7. Shifflett, 342; 8. Zaikarite, 336; 9. D’allesandro, 274; 10. Trask, 264
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Steve LaRose, Griswold; 2. Taylor-Marie Moran, Preston; 3. Rob Corey, Windsor; 4. Michael Caprio, New Haven; 5. Alex Canestrari, Ledyard; 6. Joe Bertholet, Higganum; 7. Robert Norman, Clinton; 8. Ken Downing III, Branford; 9. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 10. James Consalvo, E. Hartford; 11. Shawn Perkins, Groton; 12. Robert Carlson, Rockfall; 13. John Yagmin, Tolland; 14. Dan Yagmin, Wethersfield; 15. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 16. Bill Schmitt, Wyoming, RI; 17. Al Potter, Waterford; 18. Paul Sheldon, Guilford; 19. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 20. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 21. Tylor DiFrancesca, Lisbon; 22. Mike Maskell III, Quaker Hill; 23. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge, MA; 24. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; DNS – Rodney Iannotti, Hope Valley, RI; DQ – Charles Beal, Ledyard
Unofficial standings following 8/19 event (top-ten): 1. Yagmin, 502; 2. Consalvo, 492; 3. LaRose, 438; 4. Beal, 432; 5. Corey, 424; 6. Maskell, 382; 7. Perkins, 380; 8. Downing, 338; 9. Potter, 324; 10. Caprio, 296
X-Modifieds (15-laps): 1. Paul French, Andover; 2. Dean Christensen, Granby; 3. “Bubby” Brouwer, Waterford; 4. David Flammia Jr., Waterbury; 5. Rick Ceravolo, Groton; 6. Brian Dimartino, Cromwell; 7. Rich Schlegel, Griswold; 8. Jeremy Caswell, Groton; DNS – Rob Gallaer, Sherman
Unofficial standings following 8/19 event (top-five): 1. Flammia, 564; 2. Christensen, 556; 3. Brouwer, 480; 4. Brian Rondeau, 346; 5. David O’Leary, 308
Bandoleros (10-laps): 1. Matt Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 2. Chris Lomartire, Millbury, MA; 3. Andrew Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 4. Tyler Chalue, Dudley, MA; 5. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 6. Nicholas Matera, Warwick, RI
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR