Dimatteo wins in wild Legends finish; Morin and Forte split twin Bandolero races; Ryan and D’addario also race winners
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl’s event Wednesday night proved up to its Wild ‘n Wacky moniker, with several wild finishes and racing action keeping the crowd entertained. Dana Dimatteo of Farmington returned to the winner’s circle in unexpected fashion in the Legends Cars, overcoming a final lap incident by the leaders. In twin Bandolero features, it was Ken Morin Jr. of Old Saybrook and Rachel Forte of Douglas, MA sharing the accolades. Dan D’addario of Columbia won the X-Car race by the slimmest of margins in an exciting conclusion. Ed Ryan of Preston was declared the Super X-Car feature winner and Onie Pierce of Norwich won the night’s Wacky Race. Jason Palmer took the lead in the 20-lap Legends Cars feature following a lap-2 caution flag when three cars had come together on the frontstretch.
Palmer darted inside early leader Carl Blandina following the restart then stretched his lead over the field. As the laps clicked off the scoreboard and the race moved past halfway, Joey Mucciacciaro had raced to second position, Dana Dimatteo was in third with the division’s hottest driver Dave Garbo Jr. challenging him for that position. Caution waved again on lap-14 when David Caissie spun on the front chute causing a brief delay.
Racing resumed with Palmer moving out into the lead. Garbo was inside of Mucciacciaro for second once the green was out. Garbo secured the spot then applied pressure to Palmer, one of the division’s most successful drivers at the track. As the race came down to its final three laps the action really heated up at the front, setting up a finish that left the crowd buzzing.
Garbo was trying to set up an inside move on Palmer. Headed into turn one of lap-18, Garbo looked high on Palmer then crossing over, however the division veteran defended. A lap later with the white flag flying, Garbo again set up high in turn one, then dove underneath Palmer exiting turn two. Down the backstretch contact was made between the leaders with Palmer pirouetting across the track in a series of spins. Mucciacciaro charged up the outside of the leaders entering turn three but also went sideways, spinning into the wall between turns three and four. Garbo came through turns three in the lead however could not keep control of his car, spinning exiting turn four.
Dimatteo was able to come out of the chaos in the final half-lap to reach the checkered flag first. Angelo Belsito was second, with Troy Talman, Ed Field, and Blandina also coming out unscathed to round out the top-five.
Daniel Stolte jumped out to the race lead from the outside pole position in the first of twin 20-lap Bandolero features, however his lead was short lived as caution waved when Jordan Churchill spun in turn two with just one lap complete. Morin took the race lead on the restart, but caution waved again on lap-4 when Nicholas Sowa spun from the top-five, collecting Alan Eastman.
Following the lap-4 restart Morin, Taylor Martin, Rachel Forte and Cory Dimatteo were all in the mix with Stolte still in the top-five. Martin looked poised to strike from second position as the race neared halfway, racing inside Morin to take the lead out of turn four on lap-10. Behind the battle for the lead, Dimatteo got underneath Forte for third place.
The top-four raced side-by-side with Stolte fifth tight behind the leaders. They raced in tight position over the next five circuits before Dimatteo broke out of line and streaked underneath Martin through turns three and four on lap-16 in an attempt to take the lead. They made contact, sliding sideways with Dimatteo ending up in the grass before saving his car.
Morin kept his momentum in the outside lane to race outside both and take back over out front in an exchange that had the crowd on edge. The new running order was Morin, Dimatteo and Stolte. Churchill recovered from his spin to take fourth from Martin who dropped back after the contact with Dimatteo. They would finish the race under green, and in that order with Morin scoring the win.
In the second 20-lap Bandolero feature it was Forte who looked strong from the drop of the green flag. Visiting driver Ryan Messer, track champion in New Brunswick, Canada, led the opening laps before Forte powered around his outside on lap-3. A scary incident occurred on lap-5 when Dimatteo challenged the inside of Messer. The two came together sending Messer’s car crashing violently in turn two, coming to rest on its wheels. The incident also collected Martin and drew the red flag, however Messer was uninjured in the melee.
Forte powered out to the lead following the restart, withstood a final restart on lap-10 before going on to victory. She held back the charges of Churchill over much of the race. After several laps of stalking Forte, Churchill turned second place over to Morin coming to the white flag.
Morin chased Forte to the checkered flag but could not make a bid for a second win on the night. Morin finished second with Churchill, Stolte and Sowa completing the top-five.
A wild X-Car 20-lapper saw exciting three and four wide battles along with several competitors getting bounced around, culminating in a photo finish. Several of the division’s contenders were mixed up in action over the opening laps. The early leader was Michael Marvin who held a dominating lead of up to a straightaway advantage at times over the first half of the race.
Early casualties of the intense battles included Jeremy Bourbeau, Shawn Stula and points leader Randy Johnston. D’addario raced through the turmoil to emerge in second position and was tracking down Marvin. Todd Nadeau and Onie Pierce came together battling just outside the top-five on lap-13, ending with Nadeau stranded in the center of the infield drawing a caution flag. During that caution Marvin pulled his car to pit road, relinquishing his lead. The turn of events reset the field for an exciting conclusion.
D’addario was the new leader and got a good restart. Behind D’addario, Patrick Williams, Chris Garside, Pete Zaikarite and Brad Voglesong were all in contention jockeying for position. Over the final three circuits Williams was outside D’addario for the race lead making for a thrilling finish. Out of turn four for the final time, Zaikarite made an inside move on both leaders coming to the checkered flag. While Zaikarite’s effort fell short, D’addario was able to nip Williams in a photo finish to take the race win. Zaikarite finished third, with Voglesong and Chris Garside overcoming adversity early in the race to take down fourth and fifth.
In the Super X-Car race Ryan was declared the 20-lap race winner following technical inspection. John Yagmin took the race lead and moved out to a commanding lead over a battle for second which endured much of the race.
Ryan was among the top-five throughout, however saw both Mike Maskell and Peter Pollard race by into podium finishing positions at the checkered flag. Each of the top three, however, failed inspection handing the win to Ryan, who crossed the line in fourth position at the time. The top-five finishers behind Ryan ended up being Dan Moon, Jim Boyle, Robert Norman and Mark Boisvert.
Pierce won an unpredictable Wacky Race that saw teammates Patrick Williams and Brad Voglesong each run into problems late in the Toll Booth Race event. Pierce proved an early start then cautious conclusion hitting his “toll fees” due was the winning strategy.
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 7/27 Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Results:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 2. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 3. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 4. Ed Field, Deep River; 5. Carl Blandina, Milford; 6. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 7. Dan Butler, Waterford; 8. David Caissie, Marlboro, MA; 9. Matt Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 10. Arthur Maurero, Baltic; 11. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 12. Joey Mucciacciaro, Wolcott; 13. Dave Garbo Jr., Stonington; 14. Daniel McNamara, Watermill, NY; 15. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 16. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 17. Nicholas Lascuola, Brockton, MA
Standings after eleven events: 1. Dimatteo, 492; 2. Mucciacciaro, 448; 3. Garbo, 431; 4. Belsito, 422; 5. Field, 406; 6. Giarratana, 404; 7. Palmer, 765; 8. Blandina, 334; 9. Talman, 330; 10. Butler, 240
Bandoleros Race #1 (20-laps): 1. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 2. Cory Dimatteo, Farmington; 3. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 4. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 5. Taylor Martin, Windham, NH; 6. Jacob Urch, West Suffield; 7. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 8. Rachel Forte, Douglas, MA; 9. Chace Wood, Danielson; 10. Ryan Messer, Harvey, NB; 11. Drew Greenlaw, Eastport, ME; 12. Rene Morgillo, Niantic; 13. Derek Debbis, Oakdale; 14. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 15. Alan Eastman, Fishers Island, NY; 16. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck
Bandoleros Race #2 (20-laps): 1. Forte; 2. Morin; 3. Churchill; 4. Stolte; 5. Sowa; 6. Martin; 7. Urch; 8. Greenlaw; 9. Debbis; 10. Dimatteo; 11. Wood; 12. Morgillo; 13. Comeroski; 14. Perry; 15. Messer; 16. Eastman
Standings after fourteen events: 1. Forte, 601; 2. Churchill, 585; 3. Dimatteo, 564; 4. Martin, 559; 5. Ternullo, 527; 6. Urch, 488; 7. Morin, 425; 8. (tie) Perry, Andrew Molleur, 398; 10. Perry, 396
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Ed Ryan, Preston; 2. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 3. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 4. Robert Norman, Clinton; 5. Mark Boisvert, Uxbridge, MA; 6. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 7. Ken Downing III, Branford; 8. Bill Reiman, Southington; 9. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 10. Bob Tetreault, Dover Foxcroft, ME; 11. Ken Cassidy Sr., Lisbon; 12. R.J. Cunningham, Durham; 13. John Brouwer Jr., Groton; DQ – John Yagmin, Tolland; DQ – Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; DQ – Peter Pollard, Old Lyme
Unofficial Standings after eleven events: 1. Alessio, 470; 2. Maskell, 458; 2. Pollard, 437; 4. Ryan, 425; 5. Boyle, 403; 6. D. Moon, 398; 7. Downing, 396; 8. Yagmin, 391; 9. Norman, 352; 10. Reiman, 284
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Dan D’addario, Columbia; 2. Patrick Williams, Middletown; 3. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 4. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 5. Chris Garside, Waterford; 6. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 7. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 8. John Bowes, Willington; 9. Christopher Ivory, Oakdale; 10. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 11. David Amspacher, Uncasville; 12. Javier Rivera, Willimantic; 13. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 14. Richard Mollo, Seymour; 15. David Lloyd, Mystic; 16. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 17. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 18. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City; 19. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 20. Martin Seagraves, Plainfield; 21. Michele Cicio, Baltic; 22. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 23. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 24. Todd Nadeau, Ledyard; 25. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 26. Jeremy Bourbeau, Taftville; 27. Shawn Stula, Colchester
Standings after eleven events: 1. Johnston, 519; 2. Voglesong, 506; 3. Zaikarite, 504; 4. Williams, 482; 5. Garside, 433; 6. Trask, 388; 7. Limkemann, 372; 8. Ivory, 362; 9. Stula, 344; 10. Amspacher, 314
Wacky X-Car Toll Booth race (top-five): 1. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 2. Richard Mollo, Seymour; 3. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 4. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 5. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR