Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 7/3 Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl hosted a large crowd preparing for the Independence Day holiday Wednesday evening for its Wild ‘n Wacky racing program. Giovanni Giarratana of Newington picked up where he left off Saturday, winning another INEX Legend Cars race. Bill Reiman of Southington was a first-ever winner at Waterford in the Super X-Car feature, while Wayne Shifflett of Preston won a nail-biter in the night’s X-Car event. David French of Rome, PA made a long haul worthwhile to win in a photo finish in the INEX Bandolero feature and Peter Pollard of Old Lyme took the night’s Wacky Race. Plainfield’s Luke Emmons treated the fans to a motorcycle stunt show during the evening’s festivities.
The 25-lap INEX Legend Cars feature saw Giarratana take control just past halfway in the race. Daniel Stolte showed the way with an impressive early lead, romping out over John O’Sullivan Jr. when the race took the green flag. As Stolte pulled ahead, O’Sullivan had Dennis Pantani and Michael Christopher Jr. to either side as they moved to second and third, respectively. Carl Blandina was next to get by O’Sullivan, racing past his inside to move fourth. By lap-6 both Stephen Kopcik and Giarratana were streaking forward getting by Blandina to make up the top-five. A lap later, the caution flag waved when newcomer Sean Fitzmaurice spun out of turn for.
Stolte restarted strong and bolted out to a five car length lead. Giarratana stormed his way to second position ahead of Christopher ahead of the the next caution flag, which waved on lap-10 when Fitzmaurice again found trouble exiting turn four. Stolte had Giarratana line up to his outside for the restart, with Christopher and Dennis Pantani in the second row.
Stolte got the lead over Giarratana, but couldn’t shake one of the division’s hottest drivers. Giarratana stayed with Stolte, trying his inside by lap-13. Giarratana spent a lap battling side-by-side with Stolte before powering ahead to lead lap-14. Kopcik continued to impress this season, tailing Stolte for one lap before taking second position on lap-15. Behind the top three, Christopher was being black flagged and was forced to retire from the event, giving up a spot in the top-five on lap-18. That bumped Michael Blaskey and Brenden Bock into a lock for fourth position as they battled for several laps.
Out front, Giarratana stretched his lead over the remainder of the event to win by 1.5 seconds at the checkered flag. Kopcik finished in second and Stolte finished off a strong showing in third. Giarratana turned the fast lap of the race, the only driver to break the 17-second mark for the second straight event.
The conclusion of the 25-lap X-Car race had the fans on the edge of their seats. After a caution flag coming to the initial green flag left Chris Thomas with a bruised race car, he fought his way into second position and lined up on Shifflett’s rear bumper during a long stretch of green flag racing that took the race through the checkered flag. Thomas stalked the leader for several laps over the end of the race to stage the exciting finish.
The two were mired among lapped traffic over the final laps. They successfully navigated the hurdle for multiple laps with Thomas still looking for any opportunity to challenge Shifflett for the victory. Exiting turn two on the final lap with two cars ahead, Thomas saw his chance. He tried a daring move inside of Shifflett and the two lapped cars that were side-by-side ahead. Shifflett threaded the needle between the two lapped cars as Thomas was on the very bottom of the track. The cars went three and nearly four wide, with Shifflett holding his lead into turn three. He bested Thomas through turns three and four to get to the checkered flag first. Thomas settled for second after his crafty move came up just short. Larry Loomis Jr. put in a great performance to finish third.
Reiman picked up the career first victory with a solid outing during the 25-lap Super X-Car feature. He trailed leader Robert Goulet during a long green flag run following a lap-3 restart. During the stretch, the handles on Goulet’s car began to fade enabling Reiman to take advantage. He ducked underneath Goulet exiting turn two on lap-19, pulling away until a final caution flag on lap-22 when Ed Reed Jr. made contact with the wall in turn four. Reiman got a great restart to lead the field to turn one and raced to the win. Ed Ryan and Ken Downing III rounded out the podium finishers.
The 20-lap INEX Bandolero feature went down to the wire for the win between French and A.J. Eastman. A final restart on lap-17 set up the exciting conclusion, however the field remained in tight quarters over the duration of the event. Eastman led throughout until the final restart, while French restarted the race in third. He quickly took second and darted to the outside of Eastman. The two ran the final laps side-by-side. Eastman had a slight advantage through turn four but French powered ahead to the finish line to win by inches. It was the first win of the year from the Pennsylvania native.
This Saturday at the Speedbowl is the Overdrive Radio 300. Extra distance racing highlights the card for the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series divisions, including a 100-lap feature for the SK Modified® division. More information is available by visiting Speedbowl.com.
Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 7/3 Results:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 2. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 3. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 4. Michael Blaskey, Bethany; 5. Brenden Bock, Franklin Square, NY; 6. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 7. Woody Pitkat, Stafford Springs; 8. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 9. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; 10. Joe Ferrigno, East Hartford; 11. Carl Blandina, Milford; 12. Joshua Zentek, East Haven; 13. Sean Fitzmaurice, Woodstock; 14. David Lespinasse, Milford; 15. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 16. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 17. Michael Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 18. Dennis Pantani, Branford
INEX Bandoleros (20-laps): 1. David French, Rome, PA; 2. A.J. Eastman, Fishers Island, NY; 3. Jonathon Puleo, Branford; 4. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 5. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 6. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 7. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook; DNS – Ken Morin, Old Saybrook
Super X-Cars (30-laps): 1. Bill Reiman, Southington; 2. Ed Ryan, Preston; 3. Ken Downing III, Branford; 4. Eric Finkbein Sr., Columbia; 5. Robert Goulet, Southington; 6. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 7. Ray Reed, Norwich; 8. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 9. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 10. Marc Shafer, Groton; 11. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 12. Ray Phillips, Norwich; 13. John Yagmin, Tolland; 14. John Kazersky, Niantic; 15. Ed Reed Jr., Groton; 16. James Maher, Shelton; 17. Todd Taylor, Niantic; 18. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 19. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 20. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; DQ – Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill
X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 2. Chris Thomas, Waterford; 3. Larry Loomis Jr., Moosup; 4. Zach Thomas, New London; 5. Mitchell Bombard, Willimantic; 6. John Bowes, Willington; 7. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 8. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 9. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 10. Nate Bryington, Webster, MA; 11. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 12. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; 13. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 14. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 15. Richard Mollo, Seymour; 16. Matt Westover, Willimantic; 17. David Gargano Jr., Cranston, RI; 18. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 19. Craig Tavernier, Moosup; 20. Mark Tourville, Groton; 21. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 22. Matt Ryan, Groton; 23. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 24. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; DNS – Garrett Kuhn, Waterford; DNS – Chuck McDonald, Groton
Wacky Super X-Car Toll Booth Race: 1. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 2. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 3. Bill Reiman, Southington; 4. Ray Phillips, Canterbury
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR