Palmer wins in Legends Cars; Dimatteo, Alessio, Thomas and Civardi also take checkered flag
Waterford, CT — Some new faces reached Speedbowl Victory Lane in Wednesday’s Wild ‘n Wacky race program at the popular Waterford oval. Jason Palmer of Berlin put an end to Anthony Flannery’s domination of the Legends Cars thus far this season, winning his first race this year. Corey Dimatteo of Farmington was a first-ever Speedbowl winner, taking the win in the Bandolero’s. Frank Alessio of Colchester checkered his first Super X-Car race of the year, while Groton competitor Glen Thomas Jr. was a repeat winner in the X-Cars. Kathy Civardi of Ledyard Noank won her second Women on Wheels event to round out the winner’s circle.
Peter Cirilli led the opening lap of the 20-lap Legends Cars race before Dennis Pantani took over on the inside. Cirilli got tangled up off turn two collecting Nick Ladyga into the front chute wall to bring out the first caution flag on lap two.
Pantani led on the restart for one more lap before Anthony Flannery spun in turn four, collecting Andrew Carpenter and Cirilli with all the competitors making heavy contact. Each were towed from the track, halting Flannery’s chance at his 14th consecutive win.
Dana Dimatteo took over the lead from Pantani following the restart to the race. Dimatteo had his hands full over the second half of the event holding back the challenges of Palmer after he charged through the field to second position. Palmer tried to make a move to the bottom of the track on Dimatteo for several circuits. He finally made the maneuver stick, racing alongside and eventually edging ahead of Dimatteo on lap 15.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
From there Palmer raced to his first win of the season and 50th of his Speedbowl career. Dimatteo finished second ahead of Ed Field. Troy Talman ran strong to finish fourth with Pantani finishing fifth.
Taylor Martin took the lead on lap one of the Bandolero race, coming from her third starting position in the race. Dimatteo moved to the inside of Martin entering turn one to take over on lap two of the 20-lap race. Behind Martin, Ken Morin, Nick Sowa and Tyler Chalue were swapping positions inside the top five. Morin and Sowa found their past Martin on lap five and quickly closed on Dimatteo out front.
The top three raced nose to tail as the race stayed under green through halfway. Morin was draped all over the rear bumper of Dimatteo when Martin spun exiting turn two on lap 11, bringing out the first caution flag of the race.
On the restart Morin and Sowa continued to pressure Dimatteo. He survived one more restart and held tough on the bottom of the track to maintain control of the race. Over each of the final two laps, Morin dipped low exiting turn four to challenge Dimatteo but the youngster was able to win his first career Speedbowl victory by a half car length advantage. Sowa was close behind in third, followed by early leader Martin and Joey Ternullo as the top-five finishers.
Steve Larose raced out front of the Super X-Car field in the early laps of their 20-lap feature. By lap five Larose had three cars jockeying for the lead behind his machine. Ken Downing III was second, eventually taking over the lead on lap seven with Alessio and defending division champion John Yagmin both looking to move up. They each cleared Larose by halfway at lap 10 of the race.
Larose dropped back into the sights of point leader Rob Corey, Mike Caprio and Charles Beal who ran strong in the middle of the top ten competitors. The race stayed under the green flag and the action was great throughout the lead eight cars. Corey moved by Larose, with Beal and Caprio battling behind. Up front, Alessio was stalking Downing for the lead.
Alessio’s opportunity came on lap 17 with three laps remaining. He darted to the inside of Downing down the back chute, and came out on top as they reached two laps to go. Alessio went on to his first win of the year over Downing. Yagmin, Corey and Beal completed the top-five.
Patrick Williams jumped out to a commanding early advantage in the 20-lap X-Car race. He was out to nearly a straightaway lead when the first caution waved for a three car spin in the rear of the pack on lap three.
Williams faltered on the restart, momentarily causing the field to bottleneck racing to the green flag. Williams was able to rebound, moving back out front ahead of a tough battle for second position between no less than seven cars racing in tight two and three wide formation. Mike Trask and Thomas were able to break out of that tussle to make it a two-car battle for the position. Thomas eventually took sole possession of second and began tracking down Williams at the front.
Williams suddenly dropped off the pace on lap 11, handing the lead to Thomas as he retired his machine to the infield. Michele Cicio made contact with the turn two wall that lap to bring out caution again and reset the field.
Thomas raced to the lead ahead of Dan D’addario on the restart. He was able to maintain a two car advantage as the laps clicked off. D’addario could get no closer and Thomas cruised to his third win of the season. With his win, Thomas also moved into the lead in the point standings. D’addario finished second ahead of a heated battle for third position over the final nine laps. Brad Voglesong took that spot at the finish ahead of
Civardi led all 10-laps of the Women on Wheels race but had to hold off two hungry racers over the closing laps. Civardi checked out to an early lead, but was run down by Kim Bickford and Lisa Voglesong. Bickford challenged Civardi on the top of the track and was able to pull alongside, but could not find the power to overtake her. Voglesong raced behind in third. With the checkered flag in the air, the three cars finished three wide across the stripe to the delight of the crowd.
For more information about Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday and the calendar of events, please visit www.speedbowl.com or contact track offices at 860.442.1585.
Waterfordand Speedbowl 7/7 Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Results:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. Dana DiMatteo, Farmington; 3. Edward Field, Deep River; 4. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 5. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 6. Carlo Blandina, Milford; 7. Joey Mucciaeciaro, Wolcott; 8. Arthur Marrero, Baltic; 9. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 10. Matthew Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 11. Peter Cirilli, Farmington; 12. Nick Laydga, Voluntown
Point Standings after nine events: 1. Flannery, 474; 2. Dimatteo, 390; 3. Field, 384; 4. Blandina, 344; 5. Pantani, 292; 6. Giarratana, 286; 7. Mucciacciaro, 282; 8. Garbo, 242; 9. Ladyga, 236; 10. Spillers, 220
Bandolero’s (20-laps): 1. Corey Dimatteo, Farmington; 2. Kenneth Morin Jr, Old Saybrook; 3. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 4. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 5. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 6. Tyler Chalue, Dudley, MA; 7. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge; 8. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 9. Jordan Lamothe, Woodstock; 10. Garret Denton, Hope Valley, RI; 11. Rachel Forte, Douglas, MA; 12. Chace Wood, Danielson; 13. Andrew Carpenter, Auburn, MA
Point Standings after nine events: 1. Martin, 452; 2. Chalue, 355; 3. Grala, 318; 4. Morin, 310; 5. Ternullo, 303; 6. Denton, 288; 7. Rachel Forte, 286; 8. Dimatteo, 285; 9. Carpenter, 276; 10. Sowa, 274
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Glen Thomas Jr, Groton; 2. Dan D’Addorio, Columbia; 3. Brad Vogelsong, Middletown; 4. Devin Widger, Plainville; 5. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 6. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 7. Daniel Madore, Sterling; 8. Wayne Shiflett, Preston; 9. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 10. Christopher Ivory, Oakdale; 11. Tyler Pagnotta, Preston; 12. Bruce Hall, Ledyard; 13. Christopher Garside, Waterford; 14. Gary Stone Jr, Northford; 15. Kim Bickford, Jewett City; 16. Jeremy Bourbeau, 17. Bill Giles, Stratford; 18. Arthur Phillips, Norwich; 19. Jeffrey Lee, Uncasville; 20. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 21. David Lloyd, Mystic; 22. Rick Mollo, Seymour; 23. Robert Butler, Plainfield; 24. Shawn Stula, Colchester; 25. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 26. Jeremy Violette, Canterbury; 27. Michele Cicio, Baltic; 28. Geoffrey Burdick, East Lyme
Point Standings after nine events: 1. Thomas, 377; 2. D’addario, 375; 3. Widger, 366; 4. Voglesong, 363; 5. Johnston, 338; 6. Trask, 324; 7. Shifflett, 322; 8. Violette, 282; 9. Madore, 280; 10. Hall, 258
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 2. Ken Downing III, Branford; 3. John Yagmin, Tolland; 4. Rob Corey, South Windsor; 5. Charles Beal, Ledyard; 6. Michael Caprio, New Haven; 7. Steve LaRose, Griswold; 8. Mike Maskell II, Quaker Hill; 9. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 10. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 11. Richard Avino, North Haven; 12. James Consalvo, East Hartford; 13. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge, MA; 14. Shawn Perkins, Groton; 15. Paul Sheldon, Guilford; 16. RJ Cunningham, Clinton; 17. Jim Boyle, East Windsor
Point Standings after nine events: 1. Caprio, 375; 2. Corey, 366; 3. Beal, 361; 4. Maskell, 340; 5. Alessio, 309; 6. Boisvert, 296; 7. Perkins, 294; 8. Downing, 287; 9. Pollard, 286; 10. Consalvo, 282
Women on Wheels (8-laps): 1. Kathy Civardi, Noank; 2. Lisa Vogelsong, Middletown; 3. Kim Bickford, Jewett City; 4. Catherine Smith, Fairfield; DNS – Michele Cicio, Baltic
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR