Pearl, Thomas, Puleo and Williams claim NWAAS wins on the night
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl endured a rain delay courtesy of Mother Nature Saturday evening and rebounded to complete a five-division NASCAR Whelen All-American Series race program plus the Beaver Bat Homerun Derby on Little League Night, presented by Suisman Shapiro. Jeff Pearl of Salem bested the field of SK Modifieds® to capture his 35th career victory. Bruce Thomas Jr. of Groton claimed the 45th win of his Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model career, taking the evening’s 30-lap event. Ed Puleo of Branford overcame an intense battle in a special 50-lap Street Stock race, his second victory on the season while Chris Williams of Niantic was the winner of the 25-lap Mini Stock feature. Ryan Bigelow of East Hampton won in the visiting NEMA Lite Series 25-lap race.
Before the main racing events, the Beaver Bat Homerun Derby kicked off Little League Night festivities. Ten Speedbowl racers were teamed up with ten youth from the grandstands in a wiffle ball derby on the Speedbowl frontstretch. Winning the event was 2009 SK Modified® track champion Ron Yuhas Jr. of Groton, who was teamed with nine-year-old Chris White of Montville. Each of the ten youth participating received gifts courtesy of Suisman Shapiro Law Firm and Beaver Bats, as well as autographed material from the Speedbowl drivers.
In racing action, after a false start on the initial attempt to start the 35-lap SK Modified® feature Tucker Reynolds Jr. took command over Glenn Pressel once the race got underway. Nichole Morgillo got out of shape in turn three on lap-1, continuing on without caution at the tail of the field.
Joe Perry and Pearl both moved into the top three by getting past Pressel’s inside on lap-5, bringing Ron Yuhas Jr. and Rob Janovic also by Pressel to make up the top five positions in the race’s opening laps. Pearl then went outside Perry, looking strong in taking over the second position as they raced to lap-6. Yuhas followed suit outside Perry a lap later to move into third, while Pearl shifted his focus to Reynolds out front.
After one circuit sizing up the leader, Pearl looked low off turn four as they completed lap-8 and found room inside Reynolds into turn one. He cleared Reynolds and was scored as the new leader on lap-9. Reynolds recovered to hold second position over Yuhas, while Janovic was up to fourth and Diego Monahan to fifth as Perry slipped back.
As Pearl opened up a three car advantage, Yuhas darted outside Reynolds, battling side-by-side for a lap before taking the second position on lap-15. The race moved past halfway to lap-20, still under the green flag, with Yuhas inching his way to within a half car of Pearl’s rear bumper. The lead two played a game of cat-and-mouse on the track with Pearl maintaining his lead and Yuhas looking for a racing groove that would provide him the momentum needed to challenge.
As the race up front unfolded, the best battle for position on the track was for sixth place as Perry had his hands full holding off a charging Kyle James and defending champion Keith Rocco. Those two got around Perry on lap-25 then looked to close in on the top-five, which had distanced themselves from sixth.
The race continued uninterrupted, setting up Pearl’s run to victory. Yuhas made three attempts in the final seven laps to contend. First, he nearly got a wheel outside Pearl entering turn one but couldn’t make the move stick on lap-28. Then, through turns three and four with five laps remaining, Yuhas first looked high, then ducked low but wasn’t able to make a cross-over move work. Coming to the white flag Yuhas again rallied and attempted a similar move in turn four, to no avail. Pearl went on to a two-car length win over Yuhas, while Reynolds and Janovic ran well for third and fourth. James was able to get by Monahan in the final laps to claim fifth.
The 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature had Thomas out front early, steadily climbing through the top five in the opening circuits. He took over from early leader Ernie Bertrand as the field completed lap-6. A battle for second position broke out between Bertrand, Jeff Smith and Rich Staskowski as racing continued to be clean throughout the field. Smith took second spot on lap-8, then set chase for Thomas who had moved out to a convincing advantage as the race leader. Staskowski got by the inside of Bertrand on lap-14 and the top three drivers began to pull away from the rest of the field.
The race’s first and only caution finally slowed Thomas’ torrid pace on lap-20 when Mark Cooper spun, backing into the turn three barrier. That erased the advantage that Thomas built up and gave Smith and Staskowski a chance to take the race away.
Thomas, however, dominated the restart leaving Smith in the clutches of Staskowski in a battle for second. Things got heated between the two in turn four of lap-21, crossing Smith up in the outside lane. He made a great save, however couldn’t avoid making contact with the frontstretch wall. He somehow held his position and everyone continued on under green. That slip enabled Thomas to pull away once again, cruising the rest of the way on to the victory. Smith hung on to a fading car over the final laps to narrowly edge Staskowski for second position at the checkered flag. Joe Curioso and Anthony Flannery finished fourth and fifth.
The 50-lap Street Stock event was led at the drop of the green flag by Ted Dupre, the division champion in 2000. Defending champion Al Stone used an inside move on Dupre, pulling even and spending a lap side-by-side with him before taking the top spot as they raced back to lap-12. Puleo and Josh Galvin both used the inside lane to get around Dupre to be scored the top-three by lap-14. Eight more laps were logged before Michael Caprio lost an engine in turn three on lap-22, necessitating the race’s first caution for an extended cleanup of fluid from his machine.
Galvin had just taken over second position before the yellow flag, lining him up outside Stone for the restart. Galvin was strong in the outside lane once the green flag returned, giving Stone a run for the race lead. Galvin stayed competitive in the top racing groove long enough to be scored as the leader by just a few feet when caution flew again as the leaders completed lap-24.
Following the lap-24 restart Galvin, Stone and Puleo put on a great three-car battle for the race win over the second half of the extra-distance event. The trio exchanged positions several times with Puleo coming out on top using the outside lane in a battle with Galvin. Galvin exhausted several maneuvers in an attempt to stay alongside and under Puleo, to no avail. Puleo had to hold off Galvin to his outside as well following another late restart, successfully doing so. Stone was able reinsert himself into the mix, using the inside lane to move back to second past Galvin in the closing circuits.
Stone threw more challenges Puleo’s way, but Puleo was able to hold back the charges of both Galvin and Stone over the final 25-laps to his second win of the season in thrilling fashion. Galvin finished third with last week’s winner Norm Root and Ernie Larose completing the top-five.
The 25-lap Mini Stock race began with an opening lap spin off turn two for Sean Caron and Jeffrey Cembruch while competing in the middle of the pack. That drew the first and only caution flag in a very competitive and entertaining feature for the division.
When racing resumed Ray Christian was the race leader over the first ten laps. Williams broke through the pack to rival Christian, finding room to his inside. He spent three laps there inching his way into the lead over Christian, who did not give up in the outside lane. He rallied to pull back ahead on lap-16 in a near mirror image of one of the great Speedbowl duels when a week ago Caron and Ken Cassidy Jr. dazzled the fans for the race win.
Williams wasn’t done, regrouping on the bottom of the track to take back over from Christian on lap-18. Directly behind those two Charles Canfield, Cassidy, Bill Leonard and Glenn Colvin were putting on a tremendous battle for position of their own.
The final seven laps of the race saw Williams pull ahead as Christian fell back. Williams went on to the race win, while Leonard came out on top of the great action for second position. Cassidy, Colvin, and Christian rounded out the top-five finishers.
In the visiting NEMA Lites Series race, Bigelow came out on top in a quickly completed 25-lap feature. He overcame a red flag on lap-3 when a frontstretch accident collected multiple cars and sent Paul Luggelle’s tumbling onto its side. Luggelle was ok following the incident. The final 22 laps were completed in rapid fashion, with Bigelow distancing himself from the field. Jim SantaMaria and Joey Mucciacciaro completed the podium finishers.
The Speedbowl returns to action three nights a week starting next week. Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesdays and Show and Go Friday’s at the ‘Bowl both return, joining next Saturday’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing card. All the information is available for each is available at Speedbowl.com.
Waterford Speedbowl 5/7 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds® (35-laps): 1. Jeff Pearl, Salem; 2. Ron Yuhas Jr., Groton; 3. Tucker Reynolds Jr., Westbrook; 4. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 5. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 6. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 7. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 8. Joe Perry, Ashaway, RI; 9. Glenn Pressel III, Gales Ferry; 10. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 11. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 12. Joe Gada, Salem; 13. Randy Churchill, Niantic; 14. Jeffrey Gallup, Agawam, MA; 15. Nichole Morgillo, Yalesville; 16. Brent Sweet, Monroe; 17. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; DNS – Frank Mucciacciaro, Milford
Standings (top-ten): 1. Pearl, 176; 2. Rocco, 166; 3. Yuhas, 160; 4. James, 156; 5. Abele, 154; 6. Janovic, 150; 7. Morgillo, 148; 8. Chadwick, 147; 9. Perry, 138; 10. Pressel, 128
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models (30-laps): 1. Bruce Thomas Jr., Groton; 2. Jeff Smith, Old Lyme; 3. Rich Staskowski, Hope Valley, RI; 4. Joe Curioso, Pawcatuck; 5. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 6. Brian Andronaco Jr., Wilton; 7. Ernie Bertrand, North Branford; 8. Vin Esposito, Seymour; 9. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 10. Mike Sweeney Jr., Meriden; 11. Greg Butler Jr.; 12. Mark Cooper, Northford; 13. Rich Duranti, Quaker Hill
Standings (top-ten): 1. Thomas, 192; 2. Smith, 191; 3. Staskowski, 182; 4. (tie) Andronaco, Curioso, 166; 6. Esposito, 161; 7. Flannery, 144; 8. Bertrand, 134; 9. Palmer, 120; 10. (tie) Sweeney, Cooper, 118
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stocks (50-laps): 1. Ed Puleo, Branford; 2. Al Stone III, New Haven; 3. Josh Galvin, Franklin; 4. Norm Root Jr., Old Saybrook; 5. Ernie Larose, Moosup; 6. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 7. Steve Barrett, Preston; 8. Charles Beal, Ledyard; 9. Kevin Burr, Waterford; 10. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale; 11. Chris Meyer, North Franklin; 12. Nate Appell, Westbrook; 13. Walt Hovey Jr., Chaplin; 14. Paul Gaedeke, Southington; 15. Joseph Liskiewicz, Preston; 16. Michael Caprio, New Haven; DQ – Ray Downing Jr., Clinton; DQ – Ted Dupre, Westbrook
Standings (top-ten): 1. Puleo, 202; 2. Stone, 180; 3. Plemons, 164; 4. Galvin, 159; 5. Barrett, 150; 6. Meyer, 148; 7. Root, 147; 8. Caprio, 128; 9. Beal, 116; 10. Dupre, 96
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Mini Stocks (25-laps): 1. Chris Williams, Niantic; 2. Bill Leonard, Bradford, RI; 3. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 4. Glenn Colvin, Clinton; 5. Ray Christian III, Preston; 6. Charles Canfield, New Haven; 7. Sean Caron, East Hampton; 8. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 9. Gerald Young Jr., Canterbury; 10. Brian Norman, Clinton; 11. Jeffrey Cembruch, Wallingford; 12. Ian Brew, Wood River Junction, RI; 13. Christina Kellerman, Stratford; 14. Garrett Denton, Hope Valley, RI; 15. Doug Curry, Groton; 16. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI
Standings (top-ten): 1. Leonard, 185; 2. Williams, 165; 3. Evans, 163; 4. Colvin, 162; 5. Brew, 156; 6. Cembruch, 154; 7. (tie) Canfield, Christian, 146; 9. Cassidy, 141; 10. Caron, 140
NEMA Lites (25-laps): 1. Ryan Bigelow, East Hampton; 2. Jim SantaMaria, Burlington; 3. Joey Mucciacciaro, Wolcott; 4. Anthony Nocella, Woburn, MA; 5. Anthony Marvuglio, East Bridgewater, MA; 6. Randy Cabral, Plymouth, MA; 7. Carl Medeiros Jr., Westport, MA; 8. Paul Bigelow, Berlin; 9. Vince Jacobs; 10. Brandon Igo, Wilbraham, MA; 11. Andy Barrows, New Ipswich, NH; 12. Kenney Johnson; 13. Kevin Park, Foxboro, MA; 14. Dave Moniz, Fairhaven, MA; 15. Lanson Fornoro; 16. Seth Carlson,Brimfield, MA; 17. Paul Luggelle, Woburn, MA
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR