Waterford Speedbowl 4/13 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl was in action hosting the first Saturday night Whelen All-American Series event of the 2013 season. Claiming the opening Saturday night feature wins in NASCAR action included defending SK Modified® track champion Tyler Chadwick. Keith Rocco and Corey Hutchings each made it two in a row to start the year in the Late Model and Street Stocks respectively, while Ray Christian III was the Mini Stock winner. In INEX action, Dylan Izzo was a first-time winner in the Legend Cars.
The 35–lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified® feature started with trouble on lap-2 when former champions Rob Janovic, Ted Christopher and Keith Rocco got collected along with Ed Puleo exiting turn four. All but Janovic would return.
After the restart, Brent Gonyaw and Jeff Rocco were at the head of the field racing side-by-side until Gonyaw got loose in the bottom line causing he and Rocco to spin, drawing the caution flag. Taking over the lead for the next restart was Kyle James.
James jumped out front bringing Todd Ceravolo and Chadwick into the top three using the inside. By lap-7 Ceravolo ran down James, however before he could make a move for the lead the yellow would fly for a single car spin by Jeff Gallup.
The restart was not clean as Ceravolo got the early jump, while James faltered and did not come up to speed. Several cars get collected behind keeping the race under the yellow flag. The second attempt of the lap-7 restart proved a success and James resumed his lead. While James was checking out ahead the field, Chadwick made an inside bid under Ceravolo on lap-10. Keith Rocco and Christopher were each slicing their way back into contention for positions among the top-five when caution waved again on lap-11.
On the restart James would have a new challenge with Chadwick on his outside. The two battled side-by-side for three laps until Chadwick finally prevailed on the outside lane. On lap-15 Rocco went around the outside of James for second, bringing Ceravolo with him to third. The top three were staging for a memorable battle when, just as Rocco began pestering Chadwick’s outside looking for racing room, his car dropped off the pace exiting turn two on lap-18. Ceravolo, directly behind Rocco, was forced to check up and avoid the ailing car causing him to spin off the back chute. Rocco made the hard right into the pits and retired for the night.
The restart pitted Chadwick on the front row with James to his outside. Chadwick powered back into the lead over James with Christopher up to third. They ran in order through lap-29 when Tom Abele Jr. opened a door under Christopher to take the spot. Craig Lutz also got past Christopher’s inside to move to fourth, dropping Christopher to the fifth position. The race stayed clean and green flag the rest of the way with Chadwick going on to a 10-car length victory. James, Abele, Lutz and Christopher rounded out the top-five. It was Chadwick’s first win of the season.
In the 30-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature, an early tussle for the lead ended with Vin Esposito crashing hard into the wall down the front chute and turn one. After the cleanup, Keith Rocco jumped out to the lead over defending champion Dillon Moltz. The feature ran caution free the rest of the way with Rocco picking up his second straight Late Model feature following.
The 25-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stock feature went wire-to-wire without incident. Al Stone III started on the pole and looked strong over the early portion of the race. Hutchings chased down Stone and made his move with ten laps remaining. Hutchings was able to get by Stone to move into the lead on lap-15, cruising to his second straight win in as many.
Not to be outdone by the Street Stocks, the Mini Stocks also ran a caution free 25-lap feature in NASCAR action. Christian opened up very large lead over the field early on as Garrett Denton, winner of the Budweiser Blastoff event a week ago, cleared traffic and set his sights on Christian. Denton was running down Christian however time was not on his side, and without a caution flag Christian was able to sprint to the victory.
The Legend Cars had an eventful 20-lap feature as multiple caution flags slowed the race. The first caution came on lap-1 when rookie Mike Christopher Jr. lost a right front wheel going down the back chute and found the turn three wall. When racing resumed Keith Rocco made his way to the lead in the opening laps. Dana Dimatteo was hot on Rocco’s heels and the two ran together at the front of the field until contact from Dimatteo sent Rocco spinning to bring out the caution flag. Both drivers would resume from the rear of the field for the restart.
Defending division champion Paul Kusheba IV inherited the lead for the restart. Kusheba looked strong out front until mechanical woes settled in on his machine, causing him to pull off and retire for the remainder of the event. Izzo moved to the front while Rocco and Dimatteo were both marching through the field during the run to move back into contention. With five laps to go a wild side-by-side battle formed at the front of the field including both Rocco and Dimatteo. Hard racing resulted in contact in turns three and four, sending Dimatteo’s car airborn and into the turn four catch fence before eventually landing on its roof. The scary incident drew the red flag. Dimatteo climbed from the car under his own power and walked away from the wreck.
After the delay, the final five laps were run without further interruption and Izzo powered to his first ever Speedbowl victory. Angelo Belsito finished a strong race in second while Rocco settled for third.
The final feature of the night, the 20-lap Saturday Showdown Series Super X-Car event would go to Jon Porter after he hustled his way around Ken Downing III in the closing laps. It was Porter’s second straight victory to open the season.
The Speedbowl returns to action next Saturday night, April 20 for another six-division NASCAR Whelen All-American Series event. Details on the 2013 Speedbowl season can be found on Speedbowl.com.
Waterford Speedbowl Saturday 4/13 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds® (35-laps): 1. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 2. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 3. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 4. Craig Lutz, Miller Place, NY; 5. Ted Christopher, Plainville; 6. Jeff
Rocco, Wallingford; 7. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry; 8. Joe Gada, Salem; 9. Brett Gonyaw, Manchester; 10. Nichole Morgillo, Southington; 11. Ed Puleo, Branford; 12. Corey Coates, Ledyard; 13. Shawn Monahan, Waterford; 14. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford; 15. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 16. Jeffrey Gallup, Feeding Hills, MA; 17. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 18. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 19. Adam Gada, Bozrah; 20. Tyler Jackson, Milford; 21. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 22. Richard Duranti, Quaker Hill
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models (30-laps): 1. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 2. Dillon Moltz, Waterford; 3. Joseph Curioso, Mystic; 4. Richard Staskowski, Hope Valley RI; 5. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 6. Ryan Morgan, Ledyard; 7. Anthony Ryan Jr., Danbury; 8. Allen Coates, Ledyard; 9. Christopher Garside, Waterford; 10. Mike Sweeney, Meriden; 11. Richard Duranti, Quaker Hill; 12. Jeff Smith, Old Lyme; 13. Vincent Esposito, Waterbury
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stocks (25-laps): 1. Corey Hutchings, Salem; 2. Al Stone III, Durham; 3. Chris Meyer, North Franklin; 4. Allen Coates, Ledyard; 5. Josh Galvin, Montville; 6. Dan Darnstaedt, Durham; 7. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 8. Ryan Waterman, Danielson; 9. Norman Root Jr., Old Saybrook; 10. Bill McNeil, Preston; 11. Ted Dupre, Westbrook; 12. Montgomery Gibbs, Killingworth; 13. William Hahnel, Salem; DNS – Donald Spence Jr., Oakdale; DNS – Joseph Arena, Bristol
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Mini Stocks (25-laps): 1. Ray Christian III, Groton; 2. Garrett Denton, Hope Valley, RI; 3. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 4. Bill Leonard, Charlestown, RI; 5. Charles Canfield, New Haven; 6. Wayne Burroughs Jr., Oakdale; 7. Joe Godbout III, Hope Valley, RI; 8. Ian Brew, Wood River Jct, RI; 9. Doug Curry, Groton; 10. Chris Ivory, Oakdale; 11. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI; 12. Jeff Lee, Uncasville; 13. Nick Pappacoda, North Branford
Saturday Showdown Series INEX Legend Cars (20-laps): 1. Dylan Izzo, Westport; 2. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 3. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 4. Brendon Bock, Franklin Square, NY; 5. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 6. Jeff Goodale, Riverhead, NY; 7. Michael Blaskey, Bethany; 8. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 9. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 10. Cory Dimatteo, Farmington; 11. John O’Sullivan Jr, Salem; 12. Colin Haley, Ashford; 13. David Lespinasse, Milford; 14. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 15. Paul Kusheba IV, Monroe; 16. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 17. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 18. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 19. Calvin Therrien, Vernon; 20. Joshua Zentek, East Haven; 21. Timothy DePizzol, North Franklin; 22. Michael Christopher Jr.; Wolcott; DNS Ryan Lutz, Miller Place, NY; DNS Kyle Ellwood, Riverhead, NY
Saturday Showdown Series Super X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Jon Porter,Canterbury; 2. Eric Finkbein Jr, East Hartford; 3. Eric Finkbein Sr,, Columbia; 4. Ed Ryan, Preston; 5. Matthew Carlson, Griswold; 6. Bill Reiman, Southington; 7. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 8. Ray Phillips, Canterbury; 9. Ken Downing III, Branford; 10. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 11. Shawn Butler, Jewett City
Sources: Mark Caise/Waterford Speedbowl PR