08/01 Wild N Wacky Wednesday Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl was back in action for another round of Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday racing earlier Wednesday evening, staging an exciting night of motorsports. The track’s X-Car division had a special event but the Legend Cars division stole the show with a thrilling conclusion in their event. Dana Dimatteo of Farmington walked away a winner after a memorable duel with Dave Garbo Jr. of Stonington over the race’s final two laps. Craig Miner of Higganum took down his first win of the year with an impressive performance in the X-Car race, while Ken Downing III of Branford won in the night’s Super X-Car event. Derek Debbis of Oakdale won his third consecutive Bandolero feature and Victoria Finkbein of Colchester won the evening’s Wacky Musical Car event.
Dimatteo and Garbo put on a spirited battle at the conclusion of the night’s 20-lap Legends Car feature. Dimatteo rocketed into the race lead on lap-5, becoming the race’s third leader. Once out front, Dimatteo moved out to a comfortable advantage while Garbo battled his way into and through the top-five cars. Garbo raced to second position on lap-11 then tracked down Dimatteo over the next several laps.
Garbo reached Dimatteo’s rear bumper and actually made a successful pass for the lead on lap-17, however Dimatteo refused to back down and battled back. On lap-18 Dimatteo got to Garbo’s inside racing to turn one. The pair made contact on multiple occasions over the final lap and a half, including coming to the checkered flag exiting turn four. The final sprint to the finish line saw Dimatteo edge Garbo by the slimmest of margins. The Speedbowl’s Official Scorers had Dimatteo unanimously victorious at the finish line in a photo finish.
A special extra-distance X-Car feature race showcased the division in a 30-lap event. The field was introduced to the crowd prior to the start of the race and the drivers went on to provide a great race for the crowd on hand. Only one caution period slowed the race on lap-7. Following the caution period, Christopher Thomas of East Hampton took the race lead from Onie Pierce of Norwich, who had led since lap-2. Miner then took the top spot from Thomas with his strongest run of the year to lead the race just before lap-10. Once in the lead Miner cruised into lapped traffic as Scott Limkemann of East Lyme and Glen Thomas Jr. of Groton, both multiple time winners on the year, moved in on his rear bumper over the final stages of the race. Miner held off all challenges to claim his first win at the track in several seasons. Limkemann and Thomas ended great runs of their own on the podium in second and third respectively.
In the 20-lap Bandolero feature, Debbis motored to his third consecutive win. He was in fifth behind the top four cars which ran single file ahead of him in the opening laps. Debbis went to the outside groove and passed them all one by one, to reach the top spot by lap-6. Once in the lead Debbis moved away from all challengers to claim the victory. Jacob Perry came out on top of the race-long battle for second position.
The 20-lap Super X-Car feature saw Downing move out front on lap-7 inside of early leader R.J. Cunningham of Clinton. Downing held on through a caution flag on lap-9, moving out ahead of a brief tussle for the top spot over Mike Maskell of Quaker Hill and Ed Ryan of Preston. Downing distanced himself ahead of the battle for second, which was eventually claimed by Ryan. Ryan tracked down Downing over the final laps to make a race of it, but just fell short on the final lap. Maskell finished third.
Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/1 Results:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 2. Dave Garbo Jr., Stonington; 3. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 4. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 5. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 6. Brendon Bock, Franklin Square, NY; 7. George Whitney, Westbrook; 8. Cory Dimatteo, Farmington; 9. Michael Blaskey, Waterbury; 10. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 11. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 12. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 13. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 14. Christopher Kearney, Ellington; 15. Richard Avery, Southington; 16. John O’Sullivan, Salem
Bandoleros (20-laps): 1. Derek Debbis, Oakdale; 2. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 3. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 4. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 5. Alan Eastman Jr., Fishers Island, NY; 6. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 7. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 8. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook; 9. Rachel Forte, Douglas, MA; 10. Rene Morgillo, Niantic
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Ken Downing III, Branford; 2. Ed Ryan, Preston; 3. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; 4. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 5. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 6. Shawn Perkins, Salem; 7. Bo Norman, Clinton; 8. Ken Cassidy Sr., Lisbon; 9. Eric Finkbein, Colchester; 10. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 11. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 12. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 13. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 14. Steve Bray, East Hartford; 15. Dan Butler, Waterford; 16. Ray Reed, Norwich; 17. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 18. Taylor-Marie Moran, Preston; DNS – John Yagmin, Tolland; DNS – Paul Turcotte, East Hartford
X-Cars (30-laps): 1. Craig Miner, Higganum; 2. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 3. Glen Thomas Jr., Groton; 4. Christopher Thomas, East Haddam; 5. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 6. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 7. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 8. John Bowes, Willington; 9. Larry Loomis, Moosup; 10. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 11. Melissa Clavette, Plainfield; 12. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 13. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 14. Nate Bryington; 15. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 16. Eddie Loomis, Moosup; 17. Henry Lavallee, Uncasville; 18. Zach Ezzell, Plainfield; 19. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 20. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 21. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City; 22. David D’Allesandro Jr., Coventry; 23. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 24. Mitchell Bombard, Willimantic; DNS – Josh Barrie, Voluntown
Wacky Super X-Car Musical Cars Race (top-three): 1. Victoria Finkbein, Colchester; 2. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 3. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR