Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesdays 8/8 Results
Waterford, CT –Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday was back on track at Waterford Speedbowl Wednesday evening with a six-event racing program. Picking up the victories included Dave Garbo Jr. of Stonington who took the night’s Legend Cars victory, while Derek Debbis of Oakdale continued his hot streak in the Bandolero class by winning both races of a doubleheader on the night. Craig Miner of Higganum won his second consecutive X-Car race and Dan Butler of Waterford was back in the winner’s circle following the Super X-Car feature. Chuck McDonald of Groton mastered the night’s Wacky Race, combining racing with a hot dog eating contest during the event.
The 20-lap Legend Cars feature showcased another late race showdown between Garbo and Dana Dimatteo. A week ago the two staged a memorable event that was too close to call at the checkered flag. This week Garbo was the first to the front, rocketing his way through the field over the opening laps. He took the race lead on lap-2 from the younger of the Dimatteo brothers, Cory. Once in the lead Garbo survived two caution periods, including a red flag on lap-6 when Brendon Bock lost an engine causing a flash fire, and dropped fluid on the track which sent several cars wrecking behind him going into turn one. All drivers were ok following the incident.
After the cleanup Garbo streaked out to the lead as Dana Dimatteo raced to second position. Garbo was well ahead when Cory Dimatteo and Nicholas Lascuola spun in turn one on the final lap while dueling for third position to bring out the caution flag. The green-white-checkered restart pitted Garbo vs. Dimatteo in a final fight for the win. Garbo raced ahead off turn two coming to the white flag and went on to the victory. Dimatteo placed second while first-year Legend Cars driver Nicholas Sowa placed his best finish in the division with third.
Debbis rolled to the win in each of twin 20-lap Bandolero features on the night. The victories allowed him to rack up five straight in the division. In the first race, Debbis used the opening laps to move through the lead pack to. Forte, the defending division champion, was unable to hold back a surging Debbis who used a veteran maneuver on lap-11 to take the race lead. He looked high, then darted off turn four low to get a great run on the leader. Once in the lead, he never looked back. Forte hung with Debbis the rest of the way to finish just three car lengths behind at the checkered flag. The race was completed without incident.
In the second feature, Alan Eastman Jr. was the early lead of the race. He was challenged by Forte who moved in to pressure for the lead on lap-5. On lap-7, Forte had a run underneath Eastman entering turn three. Contact was made between the two leaders with Eastman spinning through turn four in front of the field. All drivers took evasive action in a close call, but all made it through unscathed as Eastman spun off the racing surface to bring out the only caution flag of the race. After the green flag came out Debbis was the hottest car on the track, moving past Forte again in the second race into the lead on lap-11. This time, Debbis used the outside of the race track to make his move by Forte into the top spot. As in the first race, Forte again stayed with Debbis until the checkered flag, even mounting a final lap run to pressure Debbis to the finish line.
The 20-lap X-Car feature was action packed throughout the race. Several of the starting field battled for top-ten positions over the duration in a cleanly run race that was completed without a caution flag. Mitchell Bombard led until Miner made an inside move on lap-4 to take command. Scott Limkemann was on Miner’s tail to race to second position and the two raced out to a healthy advantage over a host of competitors further back. The pair were a half-straightaway ahead of third position at halfway of the race. Miner held back Limkemann to take his second consecutive checkered flag in the division. Limkemann was second while Randy Johnston came out on top of the race-long pursuit for third place.
The roughest race of the night was turned in by the Super X-Car division. Their 20-lap feature was slowed by five caution periods for incidents, but the action was kept wild and wacky to entertain the fans. Butler muscled the lead away from John Yagmin early on in the race, then held back all challengers the rest of the way. Butler received a serious threat from Ed Ryan, who raced side-by-side with Butler for several laps over the second half of the race. A late race caution cooled the battle for the lead momentarily, but Ryan stormed back on the final half-lap to make a late race bid. Butler prevailed while Ryan took second, while R.J. Cunningham placed third.
In the night’s Wacky Race, McDonald mastered the Hot Dog eating contest to come away with the victory. He was the first to finish and then held back everyone else on the track the remainder of the event to score his win.
Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/8 Results:
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Dave Garbo Jr., Stonington; 2. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 3. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 4. Peter Cirilli, Farmington; 5. Nicholas Lascuola, Brockton, MA; 6. Cory Dimatteo, Farmington; 7. David Johnson, Arlingham, MA; 8. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 9. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 10. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 11. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 12. Christopher Kearney, Ellington; 13. Arthur Marrero, Baltic; 14. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 15. John O’Sullivan, Salem; 16. Brendon Bock, Franklin Square, NY; 17. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 18. Richard Avery III, Southington
Bandoleros (20-laps) Race #1: 1. Derek Debbis, Oakdale; 2. Rachel Forte, Douglas, MA; 3. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 4. Alan Eastman Jr., Fishers Island, NY; 5. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 6. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 7. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 8. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook;
Bandoleros (20-laps) Race #2: 1. Debbis; 2. Forte; 3. K. Morin Jr.; 4. Eastman; 5. Marvin; 6. Perry; 7. Comeroski; 8. A. Morin
Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Dan Butler, Waterford; 2. Ed Ryan, Preston; 3. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 4. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 5. John Yagmin, Tolland; 6. Mike Maskell, Niantic; 7. Eric Finkbein, Columbia; 8. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 9. Ken Downing III, Branford; 10. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 11. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 12. Steve Bray, East Hartford; 13. Bruce Lee, Groton; 14. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 15. James Maher, Shelton; 16. Shawn Perkins, Salem; 17. Ray Reed, Norwich; 18. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 19. Bo Norman, Clinton; 20. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; DNS – Daryl Stratford, Manchester; DQ – Eric Finkbein Jr., Manchester
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Craig Miner, Higganum; 2. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 3. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 4. John Bowes, Willington; 5. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 6. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 7. Glen Thomas Jr., Groton; 8. Christopher Thomas, East Hampton; 9. Mitchell Bombard, Willimantic; 10. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 11. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 12. Larry Loomis, Moosup; 13. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 14. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 15. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 16. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 17. Nate Bryington, Webster, MA; 18. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 19. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 20. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 21. Ron Dimauro, Plymouth; 22. Zach Ezzell, Plainfield; 23. Frank Shepard, Bozrah; 24. Henry Lavallee, Uncasville; 25. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City; 26. Wayne Shifflett, Preston
Wacky X-Car Hot Dog Race (top-three): 1. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 2. Kristie Hamel, Jewett City; 3. Christopher Lee, Uncasville
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR