Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 5/14 Results
Waterford, CT (May 14, 2014) – Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday racing was back at Waterford Speedbowl with another entertaining night of motorsports landing five drivers into the winner’s circle. Mike Christopher Jr. of Wolcott continued his hot streak in the INEX Legend Cars, Jon Porter of Canterbury took home the Super X-Car accolades and Zac Thomas of New London was awarded the win in the X-Cars. Anthony Marvin of Colchester won for the second time in as many week in the INEX Bandoleros and Dave Gargaro Jr. of Cranston, RI was tops in the night’s Wacky Race.
Christopher rolled to his second consecutive 25-lap INEX Legend Cars victory on Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday and third overall in the division at the Speedbowl this season. The excitement started on lap-1 when Scott Limkemann spun in turn one from mid-pack, looping his machine but kept going allowing the race to continue on . T.J. Thompson took command over Dennis Pantani to lead lap-1.
Thompson led John O’Sullivan Jr. and Christopher, who was up to third in the opening laps. Christopher slipped by O’Sullivan’s inside on lap-5 to move to second and went after Thompson. He spent two laps tailing Thompson before he saw daylight to the leader’s inside exiting turn four on lap-7. Christopher spent a lap and a half battling Thompson for the top spot before pulling ahead.
Thompson stuck with Christopher through the second and final caution flag of the race on lap-17. Christopher controlled the restart to get away from Thompson by turn one, cruising to the win. Thompson took home a career best finish with second position and last year’s division champion Joey Ternullo finished third.
The 25-lap X-Car race win went to Thomas after apparent race winner Jordan Hadley failed post-race technical inspection. Hadley jumped to the lead from his pole starting position into the lead on lap-1, rolling to the apparent victory in a non-stop race. The winning move from Thomas came racing through traffic, emerging with second position before halfway. Thomas continued to chase Hadley, but finished nearly a half track behind. However, his efforts were good enough to lift him to the win. Randy Johnston ended up as the runner-up and Matthew Westover was credited with third.
Porter emerged with the lead with a strong run following a caution flag on lap-12. Porter restarted the race in third but quickly worked his way past Ray Reed, who had led from lap-1. Reed fell back into a battle for second and third position over the second half of the race as Dave Yardley moved into contention. He couldn’t keep pace with Porter but had a final shot to steal the win with two late race restarts coming with two laps remaining. Porter pulled ahead each time to finish off the win. Yardley finished second and Dan Butler finished third.
Marvin controlled the pace of the 15-lap INEX Bandolero race for the second consecutive week. A red flag just before halfway in the race didn’t hinder Marvin’s focus. When the race resumed he continued to lead, never missing a beat. He beat Jonathon Puleo and Nickolas Hovey, who made his first ever start in the division.
Gargaro was master of the night’s Wacky Race, which was a Musical Car Race for the X-Cars. Gargaro advanced each round and came out on top of a final battle with Uncasville’s Christopher Lee in the final round.
The Speedbowl takes a break from its Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday series next week on May 21. The series makes a cameo appearance on Saturday, May 24 when the Legend Cars, X-Cars and Super X-Cars join the track’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing program for the track’s Super Saturday Showdown event, featuring a reduced adult grandstand admission price of just $12.00 for adults with youth admitted free. Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday racing returns on Wednesday, May 28. More information on the Speedbowl’s upcoming event schedule can be found online at Speedbowl.com.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 5/14 Results & standings:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Michael Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 2. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; 3. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 4. George Whitney, Westbrook; 5. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 6. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 7. Colin Haley, Ashford; 8. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 9. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 10. Josh Zentek, East Haven; 11. Connor Holderbach, Wolcott; 12. David Lespinasse, Milford; 13. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 14. David Johnson, Arlington, MA; 15. Michael Blaskey, Waterbury
INEX Bandoleros (15-laps): 1. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 2. Jonathon Puleo, Branford; 3. Nickolas Hovey, Chaplin
X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Zac Thomas, New London; 2. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 3. Matt Westover, Gales Ferry; 4. Richard Nye, Stonington; 5. Kyle McPherson, Waterford; 6. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 7. Mitch Bombard, Willimantic; 8. Mark Shepard, Griswold; 9. Ray Herman, Gales Ferry; 10. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 11. Eric Finkbein Jr., East Hartford; 12. David Gargaro, Cranston, RI; 13. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 14. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 15. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 16. Richard Mollo, Seymour; 17. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 18. Michael Olsen, Deep River; 19. Matthew Ryan, Groton; 2. Elizabeth Gaston, Vernon; 21. Garrett Kuhn, Waterford; DQ – Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; DNS – Andrew Lee, New London
Super X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 2. Dave Yardley, Berlin; 3. Dan Butler, Waterford; 4. Ray Reed, Norwich; 5. Ken Downing III, Branford; 6. Bill Reiman, Southington; 7. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 8. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 9. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 10. Shane Peele, Wales, MA; 11. Matthew Carlson, Griswold; 12. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 13. Marc Shafer, Groton; 14. James Maher, Beacon Falls; 15. Thomas Brayman, Plainfield; 16. Todd Taylor, Waterford; 17. Mike Maskell, New London; DNS – John Kazersky, Niantic
Wacky Musical X-Cars Race Winner: 1. David Gargaro Jr., Cranston, RI
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR