Waterford Speedbowl 5/24 Super Saturday Showdown Results
Waterford, CT (May 24, 2014) – Super Saturday Showdown hit the asphalt at Waterford Speedbowl Saturday with a seven-division racing card. A briskly paced program saw Keith Rocco of Berlin take home his third NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified® win of the year. In other NASCAR action, a new face found the Valenti Auto Mall Late Model winner’s circle as Vin Esposito of Seymour claimed the checkered flag. Franklin’s Josh Galvin won again in the Street Stocks while Hope Valley, RI driver Garrett Denton was victorious in the Mini Stocks. The Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday divisions were also on hand, with Berlin’s Dave Yardley and New London’s Zac Thomas scoring the respective Super X-Car and X-Car wins. Dylan Izzo of Westport won in the night’s INEX Legend Cars feature.
Rocco was back in Victory Lane in SK Modified® action for the first time since May 3 with an impressive performance. After a false start by the front row on the initial green flag, Shawn Thibeault got the jump over Jeff Gallup on the second try to start the 35-lap race. Gallup settled into second and Rob Janovic Jr. third. The first yellow flag flew when Craig Lutz took a hard hit into the front stretch wall on lap-2 battling for a spot among the top-five cars.
Thibeault resumed his pace out front after the restart, pulling away from the pack. Janovic got past Gallup’s inside to take second and behind that, Tyler Chadwick, Keith Rocco and Ted Christiopher were each on the move, arriving in the top-five cars by lap-7. Rocco found room to Chadwick’s inside in turn one on lap-10 and quickly moved in on Janovic. Rocco pressed him for second, finally using the outside lane to wrestle second away on lap-13. Before another lap could be completed, Morgillo was stopped on the high side of the track in turn two, returning the race to caution.
Rocco restarted outside of Thibeault and stayed even with him for two laps, hanging on after the two cars made contact in turn three on lap-15 before driving away. Once in front, Rocco comfortably led Thibeault who continued to run a strong second place. Chadwick and Christopher each got by Janovic’s outside and ran nose to tail for several laps battling for third position. That battle ended with Chadwick turned around in turn one on lap-29 to bring out a yellow flag, with Christopher penalized to the rear for overaggressive driving.
Rocco was masterful over three late race restarts, the final over Ed Puleo who climbed to second, cruising to his third victory of the year. Rocco’s win was the 88th of his Speedbowl career and helped pad his lead in the championship standings. Puleo finished second for the second straight week and Janovic got past Thibeault in the closing laps to finish third. Thibeault and Kyle James rounded out the top-five.
Esposito ended a dry spell with his Valenti Auto Mall Late Model victory. He bolted out to the race lead from his pole starting position at the drop of the green flag in the non-stop 30-lap feature. Keith Rocco moved through the top five cars into second position by lap-13, however could not track down Esposito without the benefit of a yellow flag. Rocco closed rapidly over the final five laps but Esposito was able to hang on to win by three car lengths at the finish. Rocco was second and Jason Palmer rebounded from a hard wreck two weeks ago to finish third in his first race back.
Galvin won for the fourth consecutive week in the Street Stocks, and the fifth time in the past six races for the division. He took the lead from Al Stone on lap-14 with a cross-over move exiting turn two after spending two laps looking to Stone’s outside. Galvin was the third leader of the race following Stone, who took over from Steve Barrett on lap-8. Once in front, Galvin pulled away from a battle for second and survived one caution flag with ten laps remaining for a spin by Scott Sundeen. Ryan Waterman ran a solid race to finish second and Stone came in third.
Denton landed in the winner’s circle for the first time of the year in Mini Stock action after a slow start to the season. After the only caution flag of the 25-lap race came on lap-9 when Doug Curry spun off turn two, Denton was patient behind a battle for the lead between Ian Brew and Ray Christian, the latter seeking his second consecutive win. The two spent several laps side-by-side before Denton eventually got past the inside of both to lead lap-14. He cruised the rest of the way, posting his third consecutive podium finish. Ken Cassidy Jr. came on strong at the close of the race to wind up second, beating out Christian, who ended up third.
Izzo halted Mike Christopher Jr.’s win streak in the INEX Legend Cars. Christopher had won the previous two Saturday series as well as the first two Wednesday night series races in the division, and had the lead again in Saturday’s race. Christopher took command on lap-15 from early race leader Kyle Rogers while Izzo was not far behind, mired in traffic until breaking through behind Christopher on lap-16. The only caution flag of the race came a lap later, giving Izzo the opportunity to restart outside of Christopher. He got the better restart to prevail, leading back to the finish line and went on to the win. It was the third win of the year but first since April 12 for Izzo, last year’s division champion. Christopher finished second and Joey Ternullo was third.
Thomas was strong over the 25-lap X-Car feature to take the victory. He quickly moved through the top-ten cars into the race lead on lap-4, then used a solid restart to hold his lead following a caution flag on lap-14. Thomas bested Rich Nye and Randy Johnston was third.
Yardley put on an exciting display of clean, hard short track racing to come away with the 25-lap Super X-Car race win. He ran outside Mike Maskell in a side-by-side battle for the victory that lasted several laps. Maskell had led from the opening lap and was within inches of Yardley as the two cars took the white flag together. Yardley prevailed through turns three and four on the final lap to win by a fender in a drag race to the finish line. Maskell settled for second and Jim Boyle was third.
Next week the Speedbowl returns with Four Cylinder Fury, highlighting an array of four cylinder racecars including a visit by the Pro Four Modifieds of New England. In addition, Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday is back with free youth admission. Details for the upcoming schedule are available online at Speedbowl.com.
Waterford Speedbowl Saturday 5/24 Super Saturday Showdown Results:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds® (35-laps): 1. Keith Rocco, Berlin; 2. Ed Puleo, Branford; 3. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 4. Shawn Thibeault, Plainville; 5. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 6. Joe Gada, Salem; 7. Tim Jordan, Plainfield; 8. Jeff Gallup, Agawam, MA; 9. Ted Christopher, Plainville; 10. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 11. Paul Kusheba IV, Monroe; 12. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 13. Adam Gada, Bozrah; 14. Nichole Morgillo, Southington; 15. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 16. John Bergenty, Plainville; 17. Craig Lutz, Miller Place, NY; 18. Jeff Rocco, Meriden
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Valenti Auto Mall Late Models (30-laps): 1. Vin Esposito, Seymour; 2. Keith Rocco, Berlin; 3. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 4. Anthony Ryan Jr., Danbury; 5. Bruce Thomas Jr., Groton; 6. Joe Gada, Salem; 7. Mike Sweeney Jr., Meriden; 8. Chris Garside, Waterford; 9. Rich Duranti, Groton; 10. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; DNS – Nick Sowa, Middletown
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stocks (25-laps): 1. Josh Galvin, Franklin; 2. Ryan Waterman, Danielson; 3. Al Stone III, Durham; 4. Steve Barrett, Preston; 5. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 6. Greg Moran Jr., Preston; 7. Norm Root Jr., Old Saybrook; 8. Lloyd Anderson Jr., Wauregan; 9. Travis Jurcik, Chaplin; 10. Nate Appell, Westbrook; 11. Scott Sundeen, Sutton, MA; 12. Chris Meyer, North Franklin; 13. William Hahnel, Uncasville; 14. Brandon Fisher, Plainfield; 15. Kaitlyn Brice, Manchester; 16. Jake Bercham, West Greenwich, RI
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Mini Stocks (25-laps): 1. Garrett Denton, Hope Valley, RI; 2. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 3. Ray Christian III, Groton; 4. Ian Brew, Wood River Junction, RI; 5. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield; 6. Joe Liskiewicz, Preston; 7. Wayne Burroughs Jr., Oakdale; 8. David Arute, Tolland; 9. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 10. Doug Curry, Groton; 11. Jeff Lee, Uncasville; 12. Charles Canfield, New Haven; 13. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI; 14. Nick Pappacoda, North Branford; 15. Chris Ivory, Oakdale; 16. John Bowes, Willington
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Dylan Izzo, Westport; 2. Mike Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 3. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 4. Keith Rocco, Berlin; 5. Tim DePizzol, North Franklin; 6. Kyle Roger, Waterbury; 7. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 8. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 9. Ryan Lutz, Miller Place, NY; 10. Colin Haley, Ashford; 11. Cornelius Flynn, Hampden, MA; 12. Connor Holderbach, Wolcott; 13. David Lespinasse, Milford; 14. Peter DePizzol, North Franklin; 15. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 16. Caterina LaBella, Plainville; 17. Cory Dimatteo, Farmington; 18. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; DNS – Noah Korner, Canton; DNS – Josh Zentek, East Hartford
Wild ‘n Wacky Super X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Dave Yardley, Berlin; 2. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; 3. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 4. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 5. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 6. Bill Reiman, Southington; 7. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 8. Ken Downing III, Branford; 9. Marc Shafer, Groton; 10. Shane Peele, Wales, MA; 11. Ed Ryan, Preston; 12. Ed Flanagan, Warwick, RI; 13. Scott Bellisle, Wauregan; 14. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 15. Dan Butler, Waterford; 16. Ray Reed, Plainfield; 17. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI
Wild ‘n Wacky X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Zac Thomas, New London; 2. Rich Nye, Stonington; 3. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 4. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 5. Kyle McPherson, Waterford; 6. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 7. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 8. Ray Herman, Gales Ferry; 9. Chris Lee, Uncasville; 10. Eric Finkbein Jr., East Hartford; 11. Josh Barrie, Voluntown; 12. Michael Olsen, Deep River; 13. Rich Mollo, Seymour; 14. Mike Shaw, Oakdale; 15. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 16. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 17. Thomas Sheehan, Baltic; 18. Garrett Kuhn, Waterford; 19. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; DNS – Dave Gargaro Jr., Cranston, RI; DNS – Mitchell Bombard, Willimantic
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR