Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/7 Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl was back on track with another round of its Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday series. Picking up wins included Giovanni Giarratana of Newington in the INEX Legend Cars, Ray Reed of Norwich won his first ever race in Super X-Car action and Zach Thomas of New London was awarded the X-Car victory. Sharing the honors in twin INEX Bandolero division races were Ken Morin Jr. of Old Saybrook and Corey Comeroski of Lebanon. The night’s Wacky Race was won by Christopher Lee of Uncasville.
Giarratana raced to the front in a very competitive 25-lap INEX Legend Cars feature to claim another win, beginning August in similar fashion to July when he was the division’s hottest driver before cooling off. Giarratana’s plans for the night changed quickly, as he originally intended to use the event as a practice session for the division’s Saturday series.
The feature began with first-year driver T.J. Thompson in the pole position, jumping out to the lead over fellow newcomer Josh Zentek. Veteran racer Carl Blandina had trouble launching at the green flag, staying at pace speed down the front chute to turn one causing the cars behind to scramble. All stayed pointed in the right direction as Blandina retired to the infield.
As Thompson showed the way, Michael Blaskey moved to second position with Nick Sowa climbing to third. Sowa got past Blaskey’s inside on lap-5, while Giarratana was amidst a tight pack of cars including some of the fastest cars of the night which worked through the top ten. The first caution waved on lap-6 for debris kicked up in the racing groove on the front stretch.
Thompson led the restart to lap-7 but pushed up out of turn four leaving the inside open for Sowa to pounce. Sowa dove to the inside entering turn one in a bid for the lead. Giarratana, who had restarted the race fifth, stayed in the inside lane and charged up behind Sowa. Behind him, Brendon Bock and Nick Ladyga held the inside while the outside lane had Thompson and Blaskey hanging on tough. The top six cars raced in very close quarters as Sowa took the lead. Giarratana got to second while Bock took third ahead of the next caution flag on lap-10 for a spin by Stephen Smith, making his first Speedbowl appearance, in turn two.
Giarratana restarted outside Sowa and stayed there for lap, leading by a nose on lap-11 before taking over command of the race on lap-12. Sowa, Bock and Ladyga went three-wide for second through turns one and two the next circuit, with Ladyga taking that spot as Bock was forced to back out and drop back to fifth. Blaskey was back to third as Sowa dropped to fourth. The top-five singled out with Giarratana three cars ahead of Ladyga when the final caution waved on lap-15 when Colin Haley had spun in turn two.
Giarratana restarted strong to pull ahead of Ladyga on the final restart, aiding Bock who was able to pull underneath Ladyga for second. Bock moved ahead on lap-17 and set chase on Giarratana. He could not come closer than a car length the rest of the way and was never able to mount a serious threat to Giarratana for the victory. Giarratana closed out the win just ahead of Bock, who turned in the quickest lap of the night in his pursuit of the lead with an impressive lap in the 16.7 second bracket. Ladyga wound up third while Sowa and Joey Ternullo, the two series point leaders, finished in fourth and fifth respectively.
Reed was a first-ever winner Super X-Car action. He scored his initial trip to the winner’s circle in convincing fashion, running behind leader John Yagmin through a yellow flag on lap-13. Yagmin was second to early leader R.J. Cunningham before he retired as his car went up in smoke on lap-6. Yagmin and Reed led ahead of the next pack of cars through a caution on lap-13.
Reed got the benefit of lining up outside Yagmin for the restart and powered ahead in the outside lane on lap-14. Once in front Reed would not be denied, staying ahead of Yagmin as Ed Ryan moved in, taking over the runner-up spot before the final caution waved when Matt Carlson of Griswold spun in turn four on lap-21. Reed bested Ryan and went on to the checkered flag. Ryan finished second and Yagmin wound up third. Reed’s father Ed raced at the track for decades while his brother Ed Jr. is a former Late Model and Modified division champion at the track in the past 15 years.
Zach Thomas was lifted to the victory in the 25-lap X-Car feature after post-race inspection found the top two cars to have unapproved suspension modifications. Chris Thomas appeared to have taken his second Wednesday night win in the division on the track, however following the race he and second place finisher Larry Loomis Jr. were disqualified. The key move of the race for Thomas came in the closing laps. He slowly worked his way through the field to arrive among the top-five cars late in the race. He raced under early leader John Bowes on lap-23 to secure third position, which ultimately proved to be the right place to be credited with a win following the race. Bowes ended up with a second place finish and Mike Trask was credited with third.
The first 20-lap INEX Bandolero feature saw Comeroski take the lead from David French early on. Comeroski was unable to pull away from the competition, as Colchester’s Anthony Marvin moved to his rear bumper and trailed him through the only caution flag on lap-17. Comeroski jumped ahead over Marvin, who lost second position over the final laps as Ken Morin Jr. of Old Saybrook surged into the podium. Comeroski held on to win while Morin was second and David French of Rome, PA finished third.
Morin captured the second 20-lap Bandolero race with a great move on the final corner to move from fourth to first. He got around the top three cars as they battled for the win. Comeroski tried making it two in a row on the night with a diving move under French, who led. Marvin made it a three-wide battle through the final corners but Comeroski slipped, pushing all three cars up high, allowing Morin to take an exciting victory. French was second and Comeroski third at the checkered flag.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/7 Results:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 2. Brendon Bock, Franklin Square, NY; 3. Nick Ladyga, Voluntown; 4. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 5. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 6. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 7. Michael Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 8. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; 9. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 10. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 11. Arthur Pederesen III, Center Moriches, NY; 12. Bryan Kelly, Riverhead; 13. Ed Field, Deep River; 14. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 15. Joshua Zentek, East Haven; 16. David Johnson, Arlingham, MA; 17. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 18. Colin Haley, Ashford; 19. Art Marrero, Baltic; 20. Stephen Smith, Jamesport, NY; 21. Michael Blaskey, Bethany; 22. Joe Ferrigno, East Hartford; 23. Joe Sedotto, Mattituck, NY; 24. Allan Pedersen, Center Moriches, NY; 25. David Lespinas se, Milford; 26. Darrel Taggart, Colchester; 27. Carl Blandina, Milford
INEX Bandoleros #1 (20-laps): 1. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 2. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 3. David French, Rome, PA; 4. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 5. Jonathon Puleo, Branford; 6. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook; 7. Mason Etman, Uncasville
INEX Bandoleros #2 (20-laps): 1. K. Morin Jr.; 2. French; 3. Comeroski; 4. Puleo; 5. A. Morin; 6. A. Marvin; 7. Etman
X-Cars (30-laps): 1. Zach Thomas, New London; 2. John Bowes, Willington; 3. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 4. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 5. David Gargaro, Cranston, RI; 6. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 7. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 8. Mitch Bombard, Willimantic; 9. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 10. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 11. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 12. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 13. Bruce Clark, Greenfield, MA; 14. Chris Lee, Uncasville; 15. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 16. Elizabeth Gaston, Chaplin; 17. Nate Bryington, Webster, MA; 18. Craig Tavernier, Moosup; 19. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 20. Craig Miner, Higganum; 21. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; 22. Matt Westover, Gales Ferry; 23. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 24. Mark Shepard, Griswold; 25. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 26. Matthew Ryan, Groton; DQ – Chris Thomas, Waterford; DQ – Larry Loomis Jr., Moosup
Super X-Cars top-five (25-laps): 1. Ray Reed, Norwich; 2. Ed Ryan, Preston; 3. John Yagmin, Tolland; 4. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 5. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; 6. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 7. Marc Shafer, Groton; 8. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 9. Ken Downing III, Branford; 10. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 11. Bill Reiman, Southington; 12. Ray Phillips, Canterbury; 13. John Kazersky, Niantic; 14. James Maher, Shelton; 15. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 16. Eric Finkbein Sr., Columbia; 17. Dave Yardley, Berlin; 18. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 19. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington
Wacky X-Car Flag Pole Race winner: 1. Chris Lee, Uncasville
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR