Waterford Speedbowl 7/20 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl beat an early rain shower before returning to NASCAR racing on Saturday evening after a scheduled week off. The track’s INEX racing divisions were vaulted to the spotlight, landing two race winners a spot in a national event for each the Bandolero and Legend Car divisions. Defending Legend Cars champion Paul Kusheba of Monroe won in a photo finish in a great race while Anthony Marvin of Colchester won the Bandolero feature. In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing, Todd Ceravolo of Gales Ferry continued his solid season by picking up his first victory of the year in the SK Modifieds®. Two-time Street Stock champion Al Stone of Durham won his second race of the year in that division while Lisbon’s Ken Cassidy Jr. picked up his fifth Mini Stock victory. Randy Churchill Jr. of Oakdale rounded out the night’s winners, scoring his fourth SK Light Modified race honors.
The 35-lap feature race for the SK Modified® division saw the return of a familiar name to the winner’s circle at the track. Ceravolo, the 1997 track champion, took his first win since the 2010 season after running a nearly flawless race. He was patient in the opening laps as the running order settled in as Frank Mucciacciaro took the race lead from pole sitter Nichole Morgillo to lead lap-1. Joe Gada held third behind the top two with Ceravolo rounding out the top four cars.
Ceravolo lined up outside of Mucciacciaro when the race was able to restart cleanly. He spent two laps on the outside racing hard for the lead before tucking in line behind Mucciacciaro. A lap later, Ceravolo dove inside Mucciacciaro in turn three to lead the way on lap-9. Once clear of Mucciacciaro, Ceravolo pulled away to a large lead as the race ran without further incident the rest of the way.
Behind Ceravolo action was red hot as Mucciacciaro held back the advances of Tyler Chadwick, who took third from Joe Gada on lap-12. Keith Rocco followed Chadwick to fourth position. They joined Mucciacciaro in a tight three-car battle for second position that endured for several laps. As the trio put on a spirited battle Ceravolo continued to pull further ahead. On lap-23 Chadwick found the momentum to barrel underneath Mucciacciaro in turn three, bringing Rocco with him as they advanced to second and third.
Out front Ceravolo was untouchable. Rocco pestered Chadwick until he finally made the move to his inside down the front chute on lap-27, taking away second. Over the final eight laps Rocco tried to run down Ceravolo, however the lead was too much. As Ceravolo went on to his 22nd career win at the track, Rocco wound up second and Chadwick third. Mucciacciaro finished in fourth and Craig Lutz took home fifth.
Stone won for the 33rd time of his career in the 25-lap Street Stock division. Once in front he dominated the race which ran without a yellow flag until just three laps remained. Ryan Waterman of Danielson moved to second on the restart and gave Stone a shot to the rear bumper in turn one of the final lap trying to disrupt his rhythm, but Stone hung on and drove to the checkered flag. Waterman finished second and Phil Evans of Uncasville put forth a season-best effort to take third.
Cassidy was the third leader of the race in the 25-lap Mini Stock feature. He battled with the front runners to come through the field as Joe Liskiewicz of Taftville led the early going after starting in the pole position. Liskiewicz showed the way until Garrett Denton of Hope Valley, RI took over with an inside move on lap-6. Cassidy moved to third position and took advantage of a lap-14 restart to take second position from Liskiewicz. Cassidy used an inside maneuver to pull even with Denton on the bottom of the track on lap-18 before pulling ahead to lead lap-19. Denton hung tough to Cassidy’s outside for three laps before Cassidy rode to his fifth win of the season and 48th career Mini Stock victory, the most all-time at the track. Denton was second and Wayne Burroughs Jr. of Oakdale placed third.
Churchill avoided a big wreck between the two leaders on a lap-4 restart in the 25-lap SK Light Modified race. The incident saw leader Corey Barry of Plainfield and Glenn Griswold of Vernon come together sending Griswold’s car hard into the turn one wall. Churchill inherited the lead after the wreck and moved out to a big lead as the race went the rest of the way caution-free. Victoria Bergenty moved to second and tried to run down Churchill, but came up short. Churchill bolstered his points lead with his fourth victory of the year. Bergenty, from Plainville, finished second and defending champion Paul French of Andover was third.
Kusheba won a nail-biter in the 50-lap INEX Legend Cars feature. He led easily over a long green flag run in the race before having to survive two late caution flags. Dylan Izzo of Westport stormed into contention and ran outside of Kusheba following the final restart on lap-45. The two traded the lead multiple times over the final five laps. After losing the lead to Izzo on lap-48, Kusheba rallied back to lead lap-49 inside of Izzo. The two raced even on the final lap right to the checkered flag in a thrilling finish. Kusheba won by inches over Izzo, an official margin of victory of .001 seconds, earning a guaranteed starting position in the 2013 Legend Cars Asphalt Nationals. The event will be held at Lake Erie Speedway in Pennsylvania and welcome competitors from across the country.
Marvin led the duration of the 20-lap INEX Bandolero race, which was good for an automatic starting berth in the Asphalt Nationals event for that class.
Saturday 7/20 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds® (35-laps): 1. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry; 2. Keith Rocco, Meriden; 3. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 4. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford; 5. Craig Lutz, Miller Place, NY; 6. Joe Gada, Salem; 7. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 8. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 9. Ed Puleo, Branford; 10. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 11. Ted Christopher, Plainville; 12. Brett Gonyaw, Manchester; 13. Adam Gada, Bozrah; 14. Corey Coates, Ledyard; 15. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 16. Tyler Jackson, Milford; 17. Nichole Morgillo, Wallingford; 18. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 19. Rich Duranti, Quaker Hill; 20. Jeffrey Gallup, Agawam, MA
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stocks (25-laps): 1. Al Stone III, Durham; 2. Ryan Waterman, Danielson; 3. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 4. Joe Arena, Bristol; 5. Chris Meyer, North Franklin; 6. Josh Galvin, Franklin; 7. Dwayne Dorr, Ledyard; 8. Corey Hutchings, Salem; 9. Norm Root Jr., Old Saybrook; 10. Dan Darnstaedt, Durham; 11. Don Spence Jr., Oakdale; 12. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 13. Monte Gibbs, Higganum
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Mini Stocks (25-laps): 1. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 2. Garrett Denton, Hope Valley, RI; 3. Wayne Burroughs Jr., Oakdale; 4. Joe Liskiewicz, Taftville; 5. Ray Christian III, Groton; 6. Bill Leonard, Charlestown, RI; 7. Chris Ivory, Oakdale; 8. Nick Pappacoda, North Branford; 9. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI; 10. Doug Curry, Groton; 11. Jeffrey Lee, Uncasville; 12. Ian Brew, Wood River Junction, RI
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modifieds (25-laps): 1. Randy Churchill, Oakdale; 2. Victoria Bergenty, Plainville; 3. Paul French, Andover; 4. Chris Ignazio, Colchester; 5. Larry Goss, North Windham; 6. Alan Benincaso, Westport; 7. Jeff Fialkovich, Shelton; 8. William Benoit, Milford; 9. Corey Barry, Plainfield; 10. Glenn Griswold, Vernon; 11. Paul Buzel, Trumbull; DNS – Alan Tirrell, North Stonington
INEX Legend Cars (50-laps): 1. Paul Kusheba, Monroe; 2. Dylan Izzo, Westport; 3. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 4. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 5. Nick Ladyga, Voluntown; 6. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 7. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 8. Michael Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 9. Carl Blandina, Milford; 10. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 11. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 12. Cory Dimatteo, Farmington; 13. Peter Cirilli, Farmington; 14. Raven Schrantz, Slatington, PA; 15. Sean Fitzmaurice, Woodstock; 16. Nick Hadden, Vernon; 17. Keith Rocco, Meriden; 18. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 19. Timothy DePizzol, North Franklin; 20. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; 21. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 22. Joshua Zentek, East Haven
INEX Bandoleros National Qualifier (20-laps): 1. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 2. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 3. Derek Debbis, Oakdale; 4. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 5. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 6. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR