Waterford Speedbowl 4/14 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl returned to action Saturday evening with another round of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing, treating to fans in attendance to a quickly paced and fiercely competed event. Scoring dramatic wins included Keith Rocco of Meriden, who rallied late in the 35-lap SK Modified® feature to come out with his second win of the year and Ken Cassidy Jr. who won his third straight Mini Stock feature to begin the season. Both used moves in the final laps to score wins. Tyler Jackson of Milford picked up his first career win in the SK Light Modified race and Chris Meyer of North Franklin found Victory Lane in the Street Stock feature. In Saturday Showdown Series action, Dan Butler of Waterford won the Super X-Car feature race and Scott Limkemann of East Lyme scored the win in the accompanying X-Car event.
The 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified® feature got underway with Tom Abele Jr. rocketing into the race lead over Nichole Morgillo when the green flag unfurled. Tyler Chadwick raced inside Morgillo, taking second position as the field thundered down the back chute on the opening lap. Ed Puleo settled into fourth position and the top cars singled out and clicked off some quick laps.
By lap-7, the top four remained unchanged with Diego Monahan racing to fifth. Action further back had Keith Rocco looking for racing room at the back half of the top-ten, locked in an entertaining battle with Rob Janovic Jr. Out front, Abele’s lead grew to over a half straightaway ahead of Chadwick. Things heated up on lap-11 when Keith Rocco finally wheeled alongside Janovic for eighth position, clearing him and setting sights on his twin brother Jeff Rocco. Keith got the upper hand on the battle for seventh place on lap-13.
[Photo Gallery] by Nicholas Teto
Monahan pulled out of line next, setting up Puleo to make an inside move off turn four to take over fourth position in turn one on lap-14. A few cars back, Keith Rocco was back on the outside groove racing alongside Jeff Pearl for sixth. After a lap he had the position and was ready to attack Puleo for fifth. Just behind, Janovic tried to fill a gap under Jeff Rocco in turn three however the two made contact, resulting in Jeff Rocco spinning to bring out the first caution flag of the event on lap-15.
On the restart, Abele was back out in front of Chadwick and Monahan successfully made the move to third place. Morgillo dropped to fourth position, and Keith Rocco was up to the fifth position ahead of Puleo. The new running order settled in for another long stretch of green flag racing, during which Morgillo and Keith Rocco put on a spirited battle for fourth position. Morgillo held the spot which Rocco was valiantly trying to pry away. He looked high on several laps only to be fended off by Morgillo. Once Rocco was able to get a wheel alongside on lap-22 the two raced side by side, closing to Monahan’s rear bumper. After four laps, Morgillo still held the position and Rocco was forced to tuck back in line in fifth. Headed into turn three on lap-27, Morgillo shot up the track enabling Rocco to scoot to her inside, taking the spot on the bottom of the track.
With the attention on the battles behind the leaders, Abele again rolled out to a sizable lead over Chadwick, who was riding in second comfortably over Monahan. Once clear of Morgillo, Rocco pulled up to Monahan for third, racing to his outside on lap-29. Rocco cleared Monahan for third, leaving him to battle Morgillo. Monahan and Morgillo made slight contact entering turn one on lap-30, rossing up Monahan. He went for a slide through the infield, coming to a stop on the apron of turn two to bring out the final caution flag of the race. During the caution, Morgillo was penalized for over-aggressive driving, resuming from the rear.
Abele and Chadwick lined up on the front row one final time, with Abele edging ahead when the field went back to green. Chadwick dug deep, throwing everything he had the leader’s way in the final five laps. Rocco filled the hole under Chadwick, who eventually dropped back in the outside lane. Rocco was clear in second on lap-32 and then sized up Abele. On lap-33 the outside lane was available and Rocco seized the opportunity, putting a wheel outside Abele. As the pair came around for the white flag, Rocco was inching alongside and was outside the leader’s door. On the final lap, the pair raced even down the back chute and as they entered
turns three and four, slight contact between the two allowed Rocco to sprint to the checkered flag first. An impressive performance by Abele fell just short as he finished in second. Janovic took third away from Chadwick in the final laps, while Pearl finished fifth.
Cassidy was another to use late race heroics to score his third straight win to start the season in the Mini Stocks. Cassidy positioned himself among the leaders for the conclusion of their 25-lap feature. Sean Caron was the third leader of the race by the time he took over command on lap-3. Cassidy patiently battled his way through the top-five and lined up third on the race’s final restart on lap-15. Cassidy took over second to move in behind Caron on lap-20. He pulled outside on lap-21 and the pair ran side-by-side over the final three laps in a dead heat coming to the checkered flag. Cassidy beat out Caron by a half-car in a thrilling finish.
Chris Meyer came out on top of a wild 25-lap Street Stock finish. Several incidents over the final half of the event saw the top-five exchange hands multiple times. Norm Root took the early race lead, however Josh Galvin took control of the race over the middle stages of the race with a move outside Root following a restart on lap-10. Galvin held the lead over two additional restarts that brought the race to lap-22. Meyer lined up third on that restart, which saw Dan Darnstaedt overtake Galvin for the lead. Meyer got around Galvin before the final caution on lap-23 set up a restart with Darnstaedt. Meyer distanced himself from the pack in the outside lane on the restart to get away from the hard-nosed battles behind and grab the win. Darnstaedt and Galvin completed the top-three.
Jackson took down his first career Speedbowl win in the 25-lap SK Light Modified feature. Jackson ran strong in second position for the first half of the race, led by Chris Correll. The event ran caution free through the halfway point when, on lap-13, Correll’s car began smoking heavily and dropping oil on the speedway. Caution came out to remove the leader from the track, handing the lead to Jackson. Jackson had to hold off a hard charging Shayne Prucker on the race’s only restart, then hit his marks over the remaining laps to nail the victory. Prucker remained on Jackson’s tail to the finish with both racing hard over the final laps. Paul French finished third.
The 20-lap Saturday Showdown Series event for the Super X-Cars had Frank Alessio out to the early race lead. Butler chased Alessio from the beginning, staying with the leader as they pulled ahead of a battle for position among most of the field. Two cautions for pins slowed the early portion of the race, setting up a lap-9 restart which gave Butler the opportunity to pull ahead of Alessio. Butler used the outside lane following the restart to lead lap-10. From there, Butler didn’t budge over three additional caution periods and restart attempts with Alessio. Alessio could not find a way back around, giving Butler the win. Alessio finished second, with Peter Pollard finishing third.
The X-Car race belong to Limkemann from the drop of the green flag. He moved out to the early lead and was never seriously threatened during their 20-lap Saturday Showdown Series feature. One caution slowed the field on lap-2 before the field made quick work of the race. Limkemann proved battle tested against lapped traffic, masterfully working the slower cars to maintain his advantage. Wayne Shifflett chased Limkemann much of the way, but could not muster a challenge. Randy Johnston finished third.
The Speedbowl returns to action next Saturday night, April 21 for another six-division NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event. The Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models return from an off-week and join the SK Modifieds®, Street Stocks and Mini Stocks. The track's INEX racing divisions, the Legends Cars and Bandoleros, join the card as well. Details on the 2012 Speedbowl season can be found on Speedbowl.com.
Waterford Speedbowl Saturday 4/14 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds® (35-laps): 1. Keith Rocco, Meriden; 2. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 3. Rob Janovic Jr.,
Waterford; 4. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 5. Jeff Pearl, Salem; 6. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 7. Ed Puleo, Branford; 8. Jeff Rocco, Wallingford; 9. Jeffrey Gallup, Feeding Hills, MA; 10. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 11. Joe Gada, Salem; 12. Joe Perry, Ashaway, RI; 13. Gregg Hurley, Beverly, MA; 14. Rich Brooks, Groton; 15. Al Stone III, New Haven; 16. Nichole Morgillo, Wallingford; 17. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford; 18. Alan Benincaso, Westport; 19. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 20. Paul French, Andover; 21. Mike Sweeney Jr., Meriden; DQ – Justin Gaydosh, Newtown
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stocks (25-laps): 1. Chris Meyer, North Franklin; 2. Dan Darnstaedt, Durham; 3. Josh Galvin, Franklin; 4. Ted Dupre, Westbrook; 5. Norm Root Jr., Old Saybrook; 6. Norm Sears, Andover; 7. Joe Arena, Bristol; 8. Greg Moran Jr., Preston; 9. Alan Hall Jr., North Haven; 10. Tim Morse, Southbury; 11. Walt Hovey Jr., Chaplin; 12. Scott Young, Willimantic; 13. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 14. Bill McNeil, Preston; 15. Mike Caprio, New Haven; 16. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale; 17. John Blake, North Haven; 18. Ray Downing Jr., Westbrook; 19. Steve Barrett, Preston; 20. Ronnie Oldham Jr., Old Saybrook; DQ – Charles Beal, Ledyard
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Mini Stocks (25-laps): 1. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 2. Sean Caron, East Hampton; 3. Charles Canfield, New Haven; 4. Jeffrey Cembruch, Wallingford; 5. Ian Brew, Wood River Junction, RI; 6. Garrett Denton, Hope Valley, RI; 7. Bill Leonard, Charlestown, RI; 8. Ray Christian III, Norwich; 9. Doug Curry, Groton; 10. Joey DeGregorio, New Haven; 11. Joseph Fogarasi, Columbia; 12. Christina Kellerman, Stratford; 13. Wayne Burroughs Jr., Oakdale; 14. Joseph Godbout, Hope Valley, RI; 15. Chris Garside, Waterford; 16. Christopher Ivory, Oakdale; 17. Floyd Chesbro, Griswold; 18. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI; 19. Jeffrey Lee, Uncasville; DQ – Nick Pappacoda, North Branford
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modifieds (25-laps): 1. Tyler Jackson, Milford; 2. Shayne Prucker, Stafford Springs; 3. Paul French, Andover; 4. Chris Ignazio, Colchester; 5. Corey Barry, Plainfield; 6. Alan Benincaso, Westport; 7. Jason Ferreira, Lowell, MA; 8. Chris Correll, New London; DNS – Corey Larson, Bolton; DQ – Bubby Brouwer, Waterford
Saturday Showdown Series #2 – Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Dan Butler, Waterford; 2. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 3. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 4. Bill Reiman, Southington; 5. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 6. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 7. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 8. Robert Norman, Clinton; 9. Ed Ryan, Preston; 10. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 11. Ken Downing III, Branford; 12. Bill Hine, Ansonia; 13. Eric Finkbein, Columbia; 14. Ken Cassidy Sr., Lisbon; 15. Paul Turcotte, East Hartford
Saturday Showdown Series #2 – X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 2. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 3. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 4. Chris Garside, Waterford; 5. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 6. Shawn Stula, Colchester; 7. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 8. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 9. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 10. Chris Lee, Uncasville; 11. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 12. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 13. Michele Cicio, Baltic; 14. Chris Bissell, Jewett City; 15. Mitchell Bombard, Willimantic; 16. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City; 17. Henry Lavellee, Uncasville; 18. Shaun Parker, Taftville; DNS – Richard Mollo, Seymour
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR