Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 9/4 Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl was back in action Wednesday evening with a late season round of its popular Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday racing series. Picking up victories included Joey Ternullo of Middletown in the INEX Legend Cars with Colchester’s Anthony Marvin winning the night’s INEX Bandolero feature. In two great races, John Bowes of Willington and Mike Maskell of Quaker Hill won the respective X-Car and Super X-Car feature events. Mastering the night’s Wacky Musical Car race was Jeff Dombrowski of Oakdale. Just one week remains on the Wednesday season.
A stellar 25-lap X-Car feature ran from green to checkered flags without incident. The large 28-car field had Onie Pierce out front for the first nine laps before he was overtaken by Dave Gargaro Jr. Gargaro was impressive as he showed the way with a host of competitors racing through the pack. Chris Thomas moved to second, Bowes up to third and Larry Loomis Jr. was quickly advancing from fourth position. The top four cars tightened up as they raced through lapped traffic, giving Thomas opportunity to make a bid for the lead. Thomas wedged his way underneath Gargaro in turn one on lap-20 but the two cars came together, sending Thomas into the grass and Gargaro scurrying to keep his car under control. Bowes seized the moment, riding the outside of the track past the top two and into the lead. He streaked ahead with Loomis on his tail. Over the remaining laps Gargaro was able to recover to take back second after running a great race. Bowes took the win followed by Gargaro and Loomis.
Maskell led the entire distance in the 25-ap Super X-Car feature. His win was not without some late drama however, as he had to hold back a hard charging duo of Ed Ryan and Dave Yardley. Yardley was after his third consecutive victory but had to come from deep in the starting field, while Maskell enjoyed a starting position among the front after problems have plagued his season in recent weeks. Ryan and Yardley used timely caution flags and heads up racing to climb into contention ahead of the final caution flag on lap-21. Maskell, forced into a backup car, got a good restart but Ryan and Yardley teamed up behind him to make the final lap an exciting one. Ryan found room underneath Maskell and raced even through turn three into the final corner. Maskell sprinted to the checkered flag as Ryan got sideways trying to take the win away, finishing in second. Yardley was third.
A rough and tumble 25-lap INEX Legend Cars feature saw Ternullo survive to pad his lead in the championship standings. He used a good restart on lap-4 to move from third into second, then get inside of Jordan Churchill to take the lead on lap-5. Ternullo had to master a host of restarts as several wrecks behind him marred the event, which took nearly one hour to complete. Ternullo was never really challenged at the front of the field other than the lack of rhythm in the race. He held back Giovanni Giarratana and Mike Christopher Jr. at the finish.
Marvin was impressive on the way to another victory in the INEX Bandolero division. He began the 20-lap race in seventh starting position and quickly worked into third position behind race leader Corey Comeroski and second place Jonathon Puleo. The top three ran single file and as they pulled away, Marvin heated up. He took second position from Puleo on the outside of the track on lap-2, closing in on Comeroski’s rear bumper by lap-6. He spent the next five laps there before pulling out of line and pulling even with Comeroski on lap-11. Marvin cleared Comeroski for good on lap-13, pulling away over the final seven laps for the win. Comeroski finished second and Alex McCollum ran a strong race to finish third. Marvin cut into Comeroski’s point lead headed into the final event.
With just one event remaining, all the division championship standings remain wide open. Comeroski leads Marvin in the INEX Bandoleros by just 10 points. Frank Alessio leads Bill Reiman by 12 marks in the Super X-Car class. The X-Car division is just as tight with Brad Voglesong leading Zach Thomas by 11 points. The biggest advantage belongs to Ternullo in the INEX Legend Cars as he enjoys a 50-point bulge over Stephen Kopcik. All the standings are unofficial pending official review.
Unofficial Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 9/4 Results & standings:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 2. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 3. Michael Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 4. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; 5. Carl Blandina, Milford; 6. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 7. Michael Blaskey, Bethany; 8. Colin Haley, Ashford; 9. David Johnson, Arlingham, MA; 10. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 11. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 12. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 13. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 14. Artie Pedersen III, Center Moriches, NY; 15. Ed Field, Deep River; 16. Darrel Taggart, Colchester; 17. David Lespinasse, Milford; 18. Joe Ferrigno, East Hartford; 19. Allan Pedersen, Center Moriches, NY; 20. Nick Ladyga, Voluntown; 21. Brendon Bock, Franklin Square, NY
INEX Bandoleros (20-laps): 1. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 2. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 3. Alex McCollum, Phillipsburg, NJ; 4. Jonathon Puleo, Branford; 5. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook; 6. Mason Etman, Uncasville; 7. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook
X-Cars (25-laps): 1. John Bowes, Willington; 2. Larry Loomis Jr., Moosup; 3. Dave Gargaro Jr., Cranston, RI; 4. Chris Thomas, Waterford; 5. Zach Thomas, New London; 6. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 7. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; 8. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 9. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 10. Mark Shepard, Griswold; 11. Mitch Bombard, Willimantic; 12. Craig Miner, Higganum; 13. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 14. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 15. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 16. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 17. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 18. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 19. David D’Alessandro Jr., Coventry; 20. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 21. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 22. Matthew Westover, Gales Ferry; 23. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 24. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 25. Craig Tavernier, Moosup; 26. Ray Hreman, Norwich; 27. Frank Shepard, Bozrah; DNS – Nate Bryington, Webster, MA
Super X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; 2. Ed Ryan, Preston; 3. Dave Yardley, Berlin; 4. Robert Goulet, Southington; 5. Ray Reed, Norwich; 6. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 7. John Yagmin, Tolland; 8. Dan Butler, Waterford; 9. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 10. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 11. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 12. Marc Shafter, Groton; 13. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 14. Bill Reiman, Southington; 15. Ken Downing III, Branford; 16. James Maher, Shelton; 17. John Kazersky, Niantic; 18. Tim Brown, Granite City, IL; 19. Bruce Lee, Groton; 20. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington
Wacky Musical X-Cars Race (top-five): 1. Dombrowski; 2. Westover; 3. C. Thomas; 4. McDonald; 5. Voglesong
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR