Garbo wins Legends; Stolte and Dimatteo split twin Bandolero features; Johnston and Boyle claim first wins of year
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl was forced to wait out a brief rain delay on Wednesday evening before its Wild ‘n Wacky race program could be completed. In racing action on the night, Dave Garbo Jr. of Stonington won his first race of the season in the Legends Cars.
Daniel Stolte of Northbridge, MA and Corey Dimatteo of Farmington shared the honors in the night’s twin Bandolero division features. Randy Johnston of Westerly, RI won the X-Car event and Jim Boyle of East Windsor won the night’s Super X-Car race.
The 20-lap Legends Cars feature had Carl Blandina out front in the opening laps with Dave Garbo Jr. pressuring Troy Talman for second position, eventually taking the spot before caution waved for the first time on lap-5 when Art Maurero spun on the front chute.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
When racing resumed Garbo used his position outside Blandina to power into the race lead. Dana Dimatteo followed Garbo past Blandina to claim second position as caution was out again as four cars came together in turns three and four drawing the caution and red flags on lap-9. Among those collected were Taylor Martin, Nick Lascuola and Cal Therrien.
When racing was back under green flag, Garbo was able to race back into the lead. He was able to keep Dimatteo, the division’s hottest driver, at bay by a car length or greater over the remaining laps. Garbo took down his first victory on the season in fine fashion. Dimatteo was second while Giovanni Giarratana finished in third.
The Bandolero feature began with Corey Dimatteo taking the early lead over Jordan Lamothe. Rachel Forte held third when the only caution flag in the race waved on lap-3 when Jordan Churchill had spun in turn one.
On the restart, Nicholas Sowa and Ken Morin Jr. battled three-wide for third position with Forte. Sowa came out on top for the spot, dropping Forte back to fourth and Morin to fifth. Stotle was mired back battling for the top-five in the first half as the racing remained tight and competitive among the top half of the field.
By lap-10 Stotle was in fifth and was at the back end of a breakaway by the top-five. Behind them, defending champion Taylor Martin led a second pack of cars who were trying to track down the leaders. Once in fifth Stolte was able to maneuver his way by Forte and was looking to break into the top three. Meanwhile, Sowa was able to get around Dimatteo for the race lead.
Stotle got by Dimatteo on lap-12, then spent four laps sizing up Sowa. Stotle was able to lead with an inside move on lap-16, then cruised to the win, his first on the season, by several lengths at the checkered flag.
The final 17 laps were run under green. Behind Stolte at the finish were Sowa, Forte, Morin and Martin. Points leader Joey Ternullo finished in eighth.
In the second 20-lap Bandolero race, Ternullo was involved in an opening lap skirmish, sidelining him from the event. Second points runner Martin was unable to start the race, setting up for a tightening of the points race. When racing was able to finally settle in, the field ran to completion. Dimatteo led from lap-2 to the finish in the second race, but not without challenge.
The field behind Dimatteo jostled their running order over the first half of the race. By halfway Sowa was in second with Forte charging strong up to third. Forte was stalking Sowa for second, eventually making the move on the inside of the track on lap-14. From there, Forte appeared poised to make a move on Dimatteo, however could not find the room. Dimatteo withstood a challenge to the white flag by Forte, then won by a car length at the checkered flag. Behind the top two, Morin, Sowa and Robby Jones.
The 20-lap X-Car race was interrupted by rain 12 laps into the event. Jeremy Bourbeau was out to a commanding early lead over the first half of the race up until the rain brought out the first caution flag. The cars were removed from the track for a delay which spanned over 90 minutes in length for rain and ensuing track drying efforts.
When racing resumed, championship points leader Randy Johnston challenged Bourbeau’s outside, with the pair racing even for the next several laps. Johnston would actually lead lap-15 by a nose before Bourbeau rallied back on the inside lane to lead lap-16. The duo stayed glued together until a lapped car interfered in turn two on lap-18, giving Johnston the edge in the outside lane. Bourbeau tucked in behind Johnston intent on keeping the pressure on in the final laps. Behind the two, Patrick Williams closed in from third position to make it a three-car race for the checkered flag.
On the final lap Bourbeau was on Johnston’s bumper, with the second-year driver hungry for a career first victory. He drove in turn three hard getting loose, allowing Williams to take over second position. Johnston took the win, with Williams, Bourbeau, Onie Pierce and Shawn Stula completing the top-five finishers.
In Super X-Car action, Boyle wired the field in a 20-lap feature that went caution free. He distanced himself over a battle for second position that lasted the duration of the race. Robert Norman held back Frank Alessio for much of that time, right up until the checkered flag. Mike Maskell was also in the mix, at one point late in the race moving to third before Alessio rallied back to take the position. Boyle won by a straightaway advantage at the stripe over Norman. Alessio, Maskell and John Yagmin completed the top-five.
The Wacky X-Car race was postponed from the night’s activities after the delays and late hour.
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 7/13 Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Results:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Dave Garbo Jr., Stonington; 2. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 3. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 4. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 5. Joey Mucciacciaro, Wolcott; 6. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 7. Ed Field, Deep River; 8. Dan Butler, Waterford; 9. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 10. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 11. Kyle Hardwick, Chaplin; 12. Matt Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 13. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 14. Carl Blandina, Milford; 15. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 16. Michael Blaskey, Waterbury; 17. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 18. Nicholas Lascuola, Brockton, MA; 19. Calvin Therrien, Vernon; 20. Arthur Maurero, Baltic; DNS – Stan Carpenter, Auburn, MA
Standings after nine events: 1. Dimatteo, 391; 2. Mucciacciaro, 380; 3. Garbo, 350; 4. Giarratana, 336; 5. Belsito, 330; 6. Palmer, 321; 7. Field, 320; 8. Blandina, 306; 9. Talman, 248; 10. Nick Ladyga, 192
Bandoleros Race #1 (20-laps): 1. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 2. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 3. Rachel Forte, Douglas, MA; 4. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 5. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 6. Jordan Lamothe, Woodstock; 7. Corey Dimatteo, Farmington; 8. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 9. Robby Jones, Waterbury; 10. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 11. Jacob Urch, West Suffield; 12. Chace Wood, Danielson; 13. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 14. Alan Eastman Jr., Fishers Island, NY; 15. Andrew Molleur, Shelton
Bandoleros Race #2 (20-laps): 1. Dimatteo; 2. Forte; 3. Morin; 4. Sowa; 5. Jones; 6. Churchill; 7. Molleur; 8. Urch; 9. Eastman; 10. Lamothe; 11. Perry; 12.Ternullo; 13. Wood; DNS – Stolte; DNS – Martin
Standings after eleven events: 1. Ternullo, 485; 2. Churchill, 465; 3. Forte, 455; 4. Dimatteo, 444; 5. Martin, 439; 6. Urch, 410; 7. Molleur, 398; 8. Jones, 396; 9. Perry, 320; 10. Lamothe, 300
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 2. Robert Norman, Clinton; 3. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 4. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; 5.John Yagmin, Tolland; 6. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 7. John Brouwer Jr., Groton; 8. Ed Ryan, Preston; 9. Shawn Perkins, Salem; 10. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge, MA; 11. Bill Reiman, Southington; 12. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 13. Eric Finkbein, Columbia; 14. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 15. R.J. Cunningham, Durham; DNS – Bob Tetreault, Dover Foxcroft, ME
Standings after nine events: 1. Maskell, 412; 2. Pollard, 389; 3. Alessio, 381; 4. Yagmin, 347; 5. Ryan, 336; 6. Boyle, 325; 7. Ken Downing III, 322; 8. Moon, 308; 9. Norman, 278; 10. Perkins, 250
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 2. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 3. Jeremy Bourbeau, Taftville; 4. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 5. Shawn Stula, Colchester; 6. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 7. Christopher Ivory, Oakdale; 8. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 9. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 10. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 11. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 12. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 13. Danny Gervais, East Hartford; 14. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 15. David Amspacher, Uncasville; 16. Richard Mollo, Seymour; 17. Christopher Garside, Waterford; 18. John Bowes, Willington; 19. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 20. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 21. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City; 22. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 23. Michele Cicio, Baltic; 24. Robert Butler, Norwich; 25. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 26. Javier Rivera, Willimantic; 27. Todd Nadeau, Ledyard; DNS – Ron Dimauro, Plymouth
Standings after nine events: 1. Johnston, 469; 2. Zaikarite, 420; 3. Voglesong, 418; 4. Williams, 394; 5. Garside, 391; 6. Stula, 342; 7. Trask, 326; 8. Ivory, 302; 9. Limkemann, 290; 10. Amspacher, 264
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR