Palmer & Thomas win second consecutive events; Martin, Yagmin and Ceravolo others in Victory Lane
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl competed on Wednesday with another night of Wild ‘n Wacky racing, the first successful night of racing after two consecutive rain-outs. Berlin’s Jason Palmer claimed his second straight win in an exciting Legends Cars race. John Yagmin of Tolland won a tight battle in the Super X-Car event to take the checkered flag. Point leaders Glen Thomas Jr. of Groton and Taylor Martin of New Hampshire won their respective X-Car and Bandolero division races. Rick Ceravolo of Groton was the X-Modified winner.
Dennis Pantani started out the 20-lap Legends Cars event with the lead before the first caution waved after just one lap. Pantani continued to lead with Carl Blandina and George Whitney giving Pantani a run for his money, with Whitney overtaking Pantani for the lead on lap three.
Anthony Flannery began making his move and took over second place from Pantani with Palmer on his tail in third. After eight laps Whitney’s lead had shrunk as Flannery raced on his rear bumper with Palmer not far behind in third. Executing an incredible move, Palmer was able to overtake both Flannery and Whitney for the lead exiting turn two on lap 13.
Flannery and Whitney came together on the backstretch just after, sending both crashing and bringing out the second yellow of race. Palmer took the lead on the restart with Blandina up to second. Alessandro Vitelli was able to take second from Blandina and give Palmer a good run for the lead as the laps counted down. Palmer had to master two final restarts to claim his second consecutive win in an entertaining event. Vitelli gave one last surge in hopes of overtaking Palmer for the win, but had to settle for second at the checkered flag. Blandina was third over Angelo Belsito and Ricky White III.
Taylor Martin opened up a big lead early in the 20-lap Bandolero race but after three laps caution waved. Martin was penalized to third position for jumping the initial green flag, putting Nick Sowa in first and Andy Carpenter in second. Sowa and Martin traded the lead following the restart, with Sowa ultimately holding down the top spot through caution on lap 10.
On the ensuing restart Martin was able to wrestle the lead away from Sowa, and cruised to the win. Tyler Chalue took over third from Ken Morin Jr. on the final restart to finish among the top three. Morin was fourth and Corey Dimatteo finished fifth.
The Super X-Cars started off their 20-lap feature race in turmoil when, after completing lap 1, R.J. Cunningham shot into the turn two wall, coming back down into traffic with previous winner Frank Alessio and championship contender Rob Corey making heavy contact with eachother. All drivers were ok following the incident.
Jon Porter took command of the race when racing went green and the field clicked off laps in rapid fashion. Porter led until Yagmin passed by his inside on lap 8, with Ken Downing III and Charles Beal following suit past Porter. Downing immediately began to pressure Yagmin, looking both in the low lane and the high groove for a way around the defending champion. Beal waited patiently in third.
The top three raced in close quarters over the final five laps, but Yagmin was able to take the win and hold back the advances of Downing. Downing wound up second but had to fight off a charging Beal. Michael Caprio was fourth and Jim Boyle ran a strong race to finish in fifth.
The X-Cars delivered a wild 20-lap race from the get go with many cars racing three and four wide around the track in the opening laps. Patrick Williams emerged as the early leader through two early cautions that slowed the pace. Behind Williams, Mike Marvin, Thomas, Brad Voglesong, Dan D’addario and Devin Widger were in a race to the front to join in the pursuit of Williams.
Thomas benefitted by a caution period on lap 5 to overtake second position from Marvin when the green flag returned. He then looked for racing room on Williams who continued his lead, setting him up with a high move then ducking low off turn two of lap 8 to make the inside pass and become the new leader for lap 9. D’addario moved to second past the outside of Williams on lap 15, but had nothing for Thomas out front. He went on to his second straight Wednesday victory and fourth overall to pad his points lead over D’addario, who finished in second. Devin Widger finished in third over Pete Zaikarite, making his first Wednesday start of the season. Voglesong was fifth.
Rob Gallaer led the opening laps of the 20-lap X-Modified race before Rick Ceravolo used the outside lane to go around Gallaer for the lead. Bubby Brouwer came to second position by lap 13, but had nothing for Ceravolo over the remaining seven laps. Gallaer ended up finishing in third with Paul French and Steve Skenyon rounding out the top-five.
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.
Waterford Speedbowl 7/28 Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Results:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. Alessandro Vitelli, Woodbridge; 3. Carlo Blandina, Milford; 4. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 5. Richard White III, North Stonington; 6. Nick Ladyga, Voluntown; 7. Joey Campbell, Berlin; 8. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 9. Bob Weymouth, Topsham, ME; 10. Scott McNickle, Ledyard; 11. Dana DiMatteo, Farmington; 12. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 13. George Whitney, Westbrook; 14. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 15. David Garbo Jr., Stonington; 16. Mike Beebe, Old Saybrook; 17. Tom Pinson, Colchester; 18. John Hilliker, Harrisburg, NY; 19. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 20. Arthur Marrero, Baltic; 21. Chris Young, Calverton, NY; 22. George Dorothy Jr., Deep River
Point Standings after ten events: 1. Flannery, 498; 2. Dimatteo, 420; 3. Carl Blandina, 390; 4. Ed Field, 384; 5. Pantani, 320; 6. Giovanni Giarratana, 286; 7. Joey Mucciacciaro, 282; 8. Ladyga, 276; 9. Garbo, 264; 10. White, 254
Bandolero’s (20-laps): 1. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 2. Nicolas Sowa, Middletown; 3. Tyler Chalue, Dudley, MA; 4. Kenneth Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 5. Corey DiMatteo, Farmington; 6. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 7. Chace Wood, Danielson; 8. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge; 9. Andrew Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 10. Rachel Forte, Douglas, Ma; 11. Jordan Lamothe, Woodstock; 12. Nicholas Matera, Warwick, RI
Point Standings after ten events: 1. Martin, 507; 2. Chalue, 401; 3. Morin Jr., 354; 4. Ternullo, 343; 5. Dimatteo, 327; 6. Sowa, 22; t-7. Grala, 318, t-7, Forte, 318; 8. Carpenter, 310; 9. Denton, 288; Wood, 266
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. John Yagmin, Tolland; 2. Ken Downing III, Branford; 3. Charles Beal, Ledyard; 4. Michael Caprio, New Haven; 5. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 6. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 7. Shawn Perkins, Groton; 8. James Consalvo, East Hartford; 9. Mike Maskell III, Quaker Hill; 10. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 11. Al Potter IV, Waterford; 12. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge, MA; 13. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 14. Paul Sheldon, Guilford; 15. Richard Avino, North Haven; 16. Steve LaRose, Griswold; 17. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 18. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 19. Rob Corey, South Windsor; 20. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 21. Taylor-Marie Moran, Preston
Point Standings after ten events: 1. Caprio, 419; 2. Beal, 407; 3. Corey, 380; 4. Maskell, 374; 5. Downing, 335; 6. Perkins, 332; 7. Boisvert, 324; 8. Alessio, 321; 9. (tie) Pollard, Consalvo, 318
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Glen Thomas Jr., Groton; 2. Dan D’Addario, Columbia; 3. Devin Widger, Plainville; 4. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 5. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 6. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 7. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 8. Christopher Ivory, Oakdale; 9. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 10. Christopher Garside, Waterford; 11. Jeremy Bourbeau, Taftville; 12. Bruce Hall, Ledyard; 13. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 14. Arthur Phillips, Norwich; 15. David Lloyd, Mystic; 16. Kim Bickford, Jewett City; 17. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 18. Geoffrey Burdick, East Lyme; 19. Michele Cicio, Baltic; 20. Jeffrey Lee, Uncasville; 21. Shawn Stula, Colchester; 22. Robert Butler, Plainfield; 23. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 24. Daniel Madore, Sterling.
Point Standings after ten events: 1. Thomas Jr., 437; 2. D’Addario, 423; 3. Widger, 412; 4. Voglesong, 405; 5. Trask, 358; 6. Johnston, 344; 7. Shifflett, 322; 8. Hall, 286; 9. Madore, 284; 10. Violette, 282.
X-Modifieds (20-laps): 1. Rick Ceravolo, Groton; 2. Richard Brouwer, Waterford; 3. Rob Gallaer, Sherman; 4. Paul French, Andover; 5. Steve Skenyon, S. Windsor; 6. Corey Larson, Bolton; 7. Rich Schlegel, Griswold; 8. Brian Dimartino, Cromwell
Point Standings after seven events: 1. Brouwer, 349; 2. Ceravolo, 334; 3. French, 333; 4. Gallaer, 281; 5. Brenden Shea, 254; 6. Schlegel, 236; 7. Larson, 158; 8. Skenyon, 126; 9. Dimartino, 72; 10. Kevin Bassett, 44
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR