Wild N Wacky Wednesday 09/11 Results
Waterford, CT — The final Wild ‘n Wacky race program of the season was held at Waterford Speedbowl Wednesday evening, placing the final winners of the year into Victory Lane. In addition, track championships in all divisions were settled. Picking up race wins included Angelo Belsito of Auburn, MA in the INEX Legend Cars, Dave Yardley of Berlin in the Super X-Cars, Larry Loomis Jr. of Moosup in the X-Car division and Anthony Marvin of Colchester in the INEX Bandoleros.
Track championships were claimed by Joey Ternullo of Middletown in the INEX Legend Cars, the youngest champion in the history of the Legend Cars division at the track at 14 years of age. In the X-Cars, a tight points battle saw Brad Voglesong of Middletown edge out New London’s Zach Thomas. The Super X-Car title went to Bill Reiman of Southington as he overtook Frank Alessio of Colchester in the final race. Marvin’s victory in the INEX Bandoleros vaulted him to the division title ahead of Corey Comeroski of Lebanon. Peter Pollard of Old Lyme and Chuck McDonald of Groton earned titles in the Super X-Car and X-Car Wacky Race standings. All champions are unofficial pending official review by the track. They will be confirmed in the coming week.
The 25-lap X-Car race saw Loomis run the outside of the track to perfection, racing to his second victory on the year. Loomis took the lead from Chris Thomas on lap-14, rolling to the victory once in the lead. Behind a great battle up front between Loomis, Chris Thomas and others, title contenders Voglesong and Zach Thomas had their own drama filled 25-lap feature to settle the championship. Both nearly got caught up in a skirmish early in the race that bounced both around in turn one. The incident drew the caution flag when Mitch Bombard was turned the wrong way and while Thomas was able to stay on the track, Voglesong pitted for repairs after some minor contact, resuming from deep in the field. Both drivers made their way back through the field to keep their championship battle up in the air until the final lap. Zach Thomas was able to get by Chris Thomas to finish second in the closing laps while Voglesong finished sixth, good enough to unofficially claim the title by just three points.
Yardley raced to his third Super X-Car win in the final four races to close out the season, picking up another 25-lap race win. He used a stellar move to go from sixth to second following a lap-14 restart, then passed race leader Ken Downing of Branford of lap-16 to power ahead. Yardley was able to open up some breathing room over the final laps on his way to the victory. Ray Reed finished in second and Downing ended up third. The championship battle was never able to heat up as Alessio, the point leader headed into the race, was involved in severe crash on the opening lap that sidelined him for the night. Reiman was able to coast safely near the back half of the field most of the race and finished ninth, unofficially good enough to lift him to the championship.
Belsito won another 25-lap INEX Legend Cars feature, passing Stephen Kopcik for the lead on lap-14. Belsito was forced into a green-white-checkered finish after a hard crash with one lap remaining drew the caution and red flags to stop the race. Josh Zentek spun out turn four and was broadsided by Darrel Taggart. Both drivers were able to exit their badly damaged cars to receive medical assistance and were transported to a local hospital for further evaluation. After the delay, Belsito got away from his competition on the restart to take the win. Daniel Stolte finished second and Michael Blaskey used a late charge and three-wide maneuver on the final restart to claim third. Kopcik finished second to Ternullo in the championship. Ternullo finished the race in seventh position.
Marvin made a furious rally late in the 20-lap INEX Bandolero feature to claim the victory and the division championship. Marvin was in third position much of the race, not high enough to take the title when things changed on lap-17. Marvin trailed second place Derek Debbiswhen Debbis made a daring move to the inside of leader Alex McCollum. Debbis got inside of McCollum in turn three to take the lead and Marvin followed into second. Debbis pushed up the track in turn one, enabling Marvin to go from third to first in a half-lap to take the lead with just two laps remaining. Marvin closed out the run to take the win, which also unofficially vaulted him to the title by three points over Corey Comeroski. Comeroski led the standings headed into the event, but finished the race in fifth.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 9/11 Results & standings:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 2. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 3. Michael Blaskey, Waterbury; 4. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; 5. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 6. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 7. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 8. Carl Blandina, Milford; 9. David Johnson, Arlingham, MA; 10. Colin Haley, Ashford; 11. Chris Bakaj, Lebanon; 12. Art Marrero, Baltic; 13. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 14. Tim DePizzol, North Franklin; 15. Josh Zentek, East Haven; 16. Darrel Taggart, Colchester; 17. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 18. David Lespinasse, Milford
INEX Bandoleros (20-laps): 1. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 2. Derek Debbis, Oakdale; 3. Alex McCollum, Phillipsburg, NJ; 4. Jonathon Puleo, Branford; 5. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 6. Nicholas Franco, Ashaway, RI; 7. Mason Etman, Uncasville; 8. Dominic Franco, Ashaway, RI; 9. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 10. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook
X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Larry Loomis Jr., Moosup; 2. Zach Thomas, New London; 3. Chris Thomas, Waterford; 4. John Bowes, Willington; 5. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 6. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 7. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 8. Dave Gargaro Jr., Cranston, RI; 9. Mark Shepard, Bozrah; 10. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 11. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 12. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 13. Nate Bryington, Webster, MA; 14. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 15. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 16. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 17. Matthew Westover, Gales Ferry; 18. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 19. Craig Tavernier, Moosup; 20. Dustin Gage, Clinton; 21. Aaron Sypher-Piper, Clinton; 22. Mitch Bombard, Willimantic; 23. Ray Herman, Norwich; 24. Elizabeth Gaston, Chaplin; 25. Zach Ezzell, Plainfield; 26. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 27. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill
Super X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Dave Yardley, Berlin; 2. Ray Reed, Norwich; 3. Ken Downing III, Branford; 4. Robert Goulet, Southington; 5. Dan Butler, Waterford; 6. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 7. Ed Reed Jr., Groton; 8. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 9. Bill Reiman, Southington; 10. John Yagmin, Tolland; 11. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 12. Marc Shafer, Groton; 13. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 14. John Kazersky, Niantic; 15. James Maher, Shelton; 16. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 17. Ray Phillips, Canterbury; 18. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 19. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 20. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR