Wild N Wacky Wednesday 8/21 Results
Waterford, CT — Wild ‘n Wacky racing returned to the race track Wednesday evening at Waterford Speedbowl with five event winners taking honors on the night. A first time victor emerged in the Super X-Car division as Dave Yardley of Berlin won his first-ever race at the Speedbowl. Preston’s Wayne Shifflett won the night’s X-Car feature and in INEX racing, Angelo Belsito of Auburn, MA and Jonathon Puleo of Branford won the respective Legend Car and Bandolero division feature races. The night’s Wacky Race featured a relay race among teams of competitors which entertained fans in attendance.
The 25-lap X-Car race was hotly contested as a large 29-car field, one of the biggest of the season, took the initial green flag at the start. Just one yellow flag slowed the pace, which came out on lap-4 for a one car spin. Jordan Hadley led the early laps through the lone caution period. Hadley, racing in his first season at the track, looked impressive and continued to lead after the restart until Shifflett got to his inside through turns three and four on lap-10. After the two bumped wheels through the corner, Shifflett took command. Point leader Brad Voglesong raced to second position and chased Shifflett the rest of the way as the two distanced themselves from the rest of the field. They encountered heavy lapped traffic over the final ten laps, however Voglesong could not muster a challenge to pull alongside Shifflett. Shifflett, in fact, was able to increase his lead over the final two circuits to pick up the victory. Voglesong took home a solid effort in second to keep hold of his lead in a tight championship battle. Hadley finished third, a career-best for the first year driver.
Yardley scored his career first win in the night’s 25-lap Super X-Car race after starting deep in the 21-car field. He benefitted by three caution periods in the first four laps to chip away at the competition, then used a long green flag of racing that closed the race to pick off the competitors between him and the lead one at a time. Yardley was in a fight for second position among several drivers that endured over the middle of the race before finally working himself into the spot on lap-18. He then ran down leader Kevin Moon and pulled to his outside with two laps remaining. The pair raced side-by-side to the white flag before Yardley moved ahead out of turn two on the final lap to take the win. Moon was second and Ken Downing finished third.
Belsito came out on top of a 25-lap INEX Legend Cars that was slowed by four caution flags in addition to a red flag for a medical issue in the grandstands during the feature. Despite the interruptions, Belsito was able to focus to race his way through the top five cars to emerge in front by lap-13.
Jordan Churchill took the lead on the opening lap and showed the way through the first caution on lap-4 when debris littered the track on the back chute. On the restart as the field thundered into turn one, Joey Ternullo spun just outside the top-five collecting Brendon Bock, whose car took a hard trip into the wall and got airborne from the impact before coming to rest on the track. Ternullo resumed at the rear while Bock’s car was towed from the speedway.
T.J. Thompson raced to the lead when the green flag returned, using the inside lane to get past Churchill. Thompson led for two laps when Michael Blaskey got past his inside off turn four to lead lap-8, bringing Stephen Kopcik to second and Belsito to third. As Thompson dropped back in the outside lane the next caution flag was shown as two cars came together in turn two. Belsito restarted the race in third position, then raced past Kopcik and Blaskey to move to the lead by lap-13.
Once in front, Belsito was not challenged on his route to victory. He survived a final restart with three laps remaining, getting away from Blaskey to get to the checkered flag. Kopcik was able to take second position over the final sprint to the finish while Thompson recorded a season best third place finish as Blaskey dropped to fourth.
Puleo was unstoppable in the 20-lap INEX Bandolero feature. He rocketed out to the lead after three attempts to start the race were called back by race officials. Once the race began, Puleo used the outside lane to get by Corey Comeroski on the opening lap and pulled away to an easy victory. No further yellow flags slowed Puleo, who recorded his second victory of the year. Comeroski finished second to maintain his lead in the point standings over Anthony Marvin, who finished the race in third.
In a Speedbowl first, the night’s Wacky Race was a relay among six teams of three competitors each. The combination of Chris Thomas of Waterford, Voglesong, and Robert Goulet of Southington completed the six-lap event first. The trio each raced two laps before passing a “baton” to the next team member in the relay, located in the track infield.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/21 Results:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 2. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 3. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; 4. Michael Blaskey, Bethany; 5. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 6. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 7. David Johnson, Arlingham, MA; 8. Colin Haley, Ashford; 9. Art Marrero, Baltic; 10. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 11. Carl Blandina, Milford; 12. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 13. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 14. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 15. David Lespinasse, Milford; 16. Josh Zentek, East Haven; 17. Brendon Bock, Franklin Square, NY
INEX Bandoleros (20-laps): 1. Jonathon Puleo, Branford; 2. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 3. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 4. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook; 5. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 6. Mason Etman, Uncasville
X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 2. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 3. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; 4. Zach Thomas, New London; 5. John Bowes, Willington; 6. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 7. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 8. Chris Thomas, Waterford; 9. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 10. Larry Loomis Jr., Moosup; 11. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 12. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 13. Matt Westover, Gales Ferry; 14. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 15. Nate Bryington, Webster, MA; 16. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 17. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 18. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 19. David D’Alessandro Jr., Coventry; 20. Henry Lavallee, Stonington; 21. Mitchell Bombard, Willimantic; 22. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 23. Elizabeth Gaston, Chaplin; 24. Craig Tavernier, Moosup; 25. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 26. David Gargaro Jr., Cranston, RI; 27. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 28. Mark Shepard, Griswold; 29. Frank Shepard, Bozrah; DNS – C.P. Burdick, Deep River
Super X-Cars top-five (25-laps): 1. Dave Yardley, 2. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 3. Ken Downing III, Branford; 4. Ed Ryan, Preston; 5. Bill Reiman, Southington; 6. Ray Reed, Norwich; 7. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 8. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 9. John Yagmin, Tolland; 10. Ed Reed Jr., Waterford; 11. Robert Goulet, Southington; 12. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 13. Marc Shafer, Groton; 14. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 15. Eric Finkbein Sr. Columbia; 16. John Kazersky, Niantic; 17. James Maher, Shelton; 18. Ray Phillips, Canterbury; 19. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 20. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; DQ – Jon Porter, Canterbury
Wacky Relay Race winner: team of Chris Thomas; Brad Voglesong and Robert Goulet
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR