Palmer takes Legends Cars win; Ternullo and Martin share Bandolero victories; Pollard, D’addario, Porter and Dimauro other winners
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl was busy on Wednesday night for the Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday program. Twin Bandolero and WackyRaces led the action on the evening. In Bandolero racing Joey Ternullo of Middletown and Taylor Martin of Windham, New Hampshire shared the honors, each picking up a win. In the Legends Cars, Jason Palmer of Berlin raced to the win in a hotly contested duel. The Super X-Car feature was taken by Peter Pollard of Old Lyme, a career first. The X-Car race was won by defending division champion Dan D’addario of Columbia.
The 20-lap Legends Cars race began with Dave Garbo Jr. in the race lead from his pole starting position. Tom Gray took command inside Garbo as the field raced to turn one on lap-2. Gray was able to stretch his lead to five lengths ahead of a battle for the remaining top five positions among many cars. Shaun Buffington emerged in third position just ahead of Palmer, who was up to fourth by lap-5.
Buffington and Palmer would not be separated by more than a car length the rest of the way as they battled over the remainder of the event. The race to get to the top spot between the pair was on following a caution flag on lap-7 for a spin in turn two by Carl Blandina. On the restart, the two were able to race their way past Gray to move into first and second position. On lap-12, Palmer used a nifty crossover move exiting turn four to dive under Buffington. They spent several laps battling side-by-side before Palmer was able to pull into the lead. Just behind the leaders, Angelo Belsito made slight contact with Buffington entering turn one, triggering a chain-reaction incident that sent Dana Dimatteo spinning into the turn one wall, bringing out the caution flag.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
On the restart, the race’s final, Palmer jumped out ahead with Buffington tucking in directly behind. As Buffington tried to come up with a move to reclaim the top spot, the laps ticked off and Palmer earned the win.
Buffington was second, Chase Dowling was impressive to take third position with Garbo and Ed Field completing the top-five.
The first of twin-20 lap Bandolero features began the night with Jordan Churchill out to the early lead. He gave way to Ternullo, who made an inside bid on lap-5 in turn one to take over from Churchill. Right behind Ternullo defending champion Taylor Martin tested the outside of Churchill, however could not make the move stick in the top groove. Churchill fought Martin off, bringing Daniel Stolte by into third position on lap-6.
Caution came out on the speedway on lap-8 when Rene Morgillo spun into the grass and back up onto the race surface in turn two.
Ternullo was in control following the race’s only restart but had to hold back a hard-charging Martin as she advanced into the second position by lap-10. The race stayed under green the remainder of the way with Martin stalking Ternullo. With the white flag in the air, the top two reached lapped traffic. Ternullo split a pair of cars down the backchute to overcome the final obstacle, going on to his second checkered flag on the year. Martin stayed with him right to the checkered flag while Churchill finished in third, well behind the leaders.
In the second 20-lap Bandolero race, three early caution periods in the first three laps eliminated multiple competitors including Ternullo, preventing him from a repeat win. When racing settled in Robby Jones led over Martin. They moved out to a comfortable advantage as the race ran stayed under green the rest the final 17 laps.
Martin stayed close behind Jones, sizing up the leader before making her move to the bottom of the track as Jones was struggling to keep the car low through the corners. Martin raced into the lead on lap-17, going on to the win. Jones stayed with Martin the rest of the way but could not rally back. Jacob Urch finished in third.
In Super X-Car action, action heated up on lap-2 in turn two with points leader Frank Alessio collected in a melee that also involved contenders Ken Downing III and Jim Boyle. After the caution flag, Dan Moon was
strong in his efforts to get to the front of the field. He powered to the race lead of the 20-lap feature. While Moon held the lead, John Yagmin and John Brouwer Jr. were both on the move. That ended with Brouwer getting out of shape and into the infield for a yellow flag on lap-8.
Pollard was on a mission however, determined to take his career first checkered flag. He was already in the top three for the restart, then quickly challenged Shawn Perkins for second position. Pollard took that spot, and a lap later charged outside Moon outside down the backstretch, eventually taking over the lead.
Pollard had to hold back the advances of Yagmin on the final two circuits. Yagmin moved to Pollard’s outside through the final corners but his last lap bid fell short by a bumper. Behind the top two, Moon, Perkins and Brouwer completed the top-five finishers.
The 20-lap X-Car feature turned out to be a battle of perseverance as several restart attempts tested the top runners. Among the casualties of the early caution flags was points leader Pete Zaikarite, sent to the pits for lengthy repair early on. Shawn Stula led a portion of the first half of the race but was involved in a caution flag on lap-8 that collected several others.
Patrick Williams, D’addario, Randy Johnston and Brad Voglesong established themselves as the four contenders over a final 8-lap stretch that finished uninterrupted. The race was decided during that run with D’addario and Johnston side-by-side for the race lead. D’addario pulled ahead and onto the win. Johnston and Williams battled hard for second position to the checkered flag, with Johnston taking the spot by a half-car length advantage. Voglesong and Stula completed the top-five.
In a pair of Wacky Musical Car Races, Jon Porter of Canterbury bested Moon to the last cone in thrilling fashion in front of the crowd in the Super X-Car event. In the X-Car counterpart race, Ron Dimauro of Plymouth won the final elimination round over Voglesong.
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.
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR
Waterford Speedbowl 6/29 Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Results:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. Shaun Buffington, Plainfield; 3. Chase Dowling, 4. Dave Garbo Jr., Stonington; 5. Ed Field, Deep River; 6. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 7. Nick Ladyga, Voluntown; 8. Joey Mucciacciaro, Wolcott; 9. Carl Blandina, Milford; 10. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 11. David Caissie, Marlboro, MA; 12. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 13. Dan Butler, Waterford; 14. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 15. Tom Gray, Sprague; 16. Nicholas Lascuola, Brockton, MA; 17. Richard White, North Stonington; 18. Michael Blaskey, Waterbury; 19. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 20. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 21. Stan Carpenter, Auburn, MA
Standings after seven events: 1. Mucciacciaro, 300; 2. Giarratana, 290; 3. Dimatteo, 274; 4. Belsito, 256; 5. Garbo, 249; 6. Field, 240; 7. Blandina, 238; 8. Palmer, 229; 9. Ladyga, 192; 10. (tie) Buffington, Talman, 174
Bandoleros Race #1 (20-laps): 1. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 2. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 3. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 4. Robby Jones, Waterbury; 5. Rachel Forte, Douglas, MA; 6. Jacob Urch, West Suffield; 7. Corey Dimatteo, Farmington; 8. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 9. Alan Eastman, Fishers Island, NY; 10. Rene Morgillo, Niantic; 11. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 12. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; DQ – Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA;
Bandoleros Race #2 (20-laps): 1. Martin; 2. Jones; 3. Urch; 4. Churchill; 5. Molleur; 6. Eastman; 7. Morgillo; 8. Dimatteo; 9. Forte; 10. Ternullo; 11. Stolte; 12. Perry; 13. Morin
Standings after eight events: 1. Ternullo, 366; 2. Martin, 355; 3. Churchill, 349; 4. Forte, 335; 5. Urch, 316; 6. Dimatteo, 303; 7. Molleur, 302; 8. Jones, 274; 9. Perry, 230; 10. Morgillo, 228
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 2. John Yagmin, Tolland; 3. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 4. Shawn Perkins, Salem; 5. John Brouwer Jr., Groton; 6. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; 7. Ed Ryan, Preston; 8. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge, MA; 9. Ken Downing III, Branford; 10. Robert Norman, Clinton; 11. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 12. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 13. Bill Reiman, Southington; 14. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 15. Joseph Choquette, Preston; 16. RJ Cunningham, Durham; DNS – John Bennett, Ledyard
Standings after seven events: 1. Maskell, 320; 2. Alessio, 307; 3. Pollard, 305; 4. Downing, 300; 5. Ryan, 260; 6. Yagmin, 259; 7. Moon, 248; 8. Boyle, 228; 9. Butler, 206; 10. Norman, 196
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Dan D’addario, Columbia; 2. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 3. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 4. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 5. Shawn Stula, Colchester; 6. Chris Garside, Waterford; 7. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 8. John Bowes, Willington; 9. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 10. Todd Nadeau, Ledyard; 11. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 12. David Amspacher, Uncasville; 13. Javier Rivera, Willimantic; 14. Robert Carlson, Rockfall; 15. David Lloyd, Mystic; 16. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 17. Ron Dimauro, Plymouth; 18. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 19. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 20. Christopher Ivory, Oakdale; 21. Rick Mollo, Seymour; 22. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 23. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 24. Jeremy Bourbeau, Taftville; 25. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 26. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 27. Michele Cicio, Baltic; 28. Robert Butler, Norwich; 29. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City
Standings after seven events: 1. Johnston, 366; 2. Garside, 345; 3. Zaikarite, 344; 4. Voglesong, 329; 5. Williams, 300; 6. Stula, 256; 7. Trask, 248; 8. Ivory, 230; 9. Scott Limkemann, 228; 10. Shifflett, 218
Super X-Car Musical Cars Wacky Race: 1. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 2. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 3. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City; 4. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 5. Bill Reiman, Southington
X-Car Musical Cars Wacky Race: 1. Ron Dimauro, Plymouth; 2. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 3. Rick Mollo, Seymour; 4. Ron Carlson, Rockfall