New London-Waterford Speedbowl Thursday Night Thunder 9/3 Results
Waterford, CT (September 3, 2015) – New London-Waterford Speedbowl hosted its final Thursday Night Thunder motorsports program of the 2015 season on Thursday. Seven race winners were celebrated and the remaining three championships battles were unofficially settled. In the INEX Legend Cars, Dana DiMatteo of Farmington won the feature and Jordan Churchill of Lisbon won the division championship. A pair of Rhode Island drivers swept the night’s X-Car honors, as Randy Johnston of Westerly claimed Thursday’s feature while Dave Gargaro Jr. of Cranston took the division title. Dave Yardley of Berlin won the Super-X-Car feature and Brian Norman of Clinton wrapped up the championship. The INEX Bandoleros saw division champion Nickolas Hovey of Chaplin win the race. Hovey already clinched the title last week. The night’s mechanics races in the X-Car and Super X-Car divisions went to Kyle McPherson of Waterford and David Berge of Uncasville, respectively. The Officials Race was won by Corey Caddick.
DiMatteo stormed to the front in the 25-lap INEX Legend Cars feature after beginning the race in tenth. By the time the second and final yellow flag of the race fell on lap-9, DiMatteo was already in the lead. The race began with Noah Korner in the lead, showing the way while DiMatteo picked cars off one at a time to march into contention. DiMatteo took command with an inside maneuver as the field completed lap-9, just before the caution flew for a wreck between Rachel Forte and Glenn Korner.
DiMatteo had company on his rear bumper when the green flag returned, having to hold back the charges of Mikey Flynn the rest of the way. While the top two cars pulled out to a several car length advantage, former champion Joey Ternullo held third looking to keep his challengers at bay. The top three finished in order as the race ran through the checkered flag. The division title went to Churchill, who safely rode to a tenth place finish to lock in his first ever title.
Johnston held back all challenges in the 25-lap X-Car race. Johnston was fortuitous with a pole starting position, however he was competing in an unfamiliar car. After an opening lap yellow flag, the field ran the next twenty one laps without incident highlighted by great racing among the top ten cars during the stretch. Johnston had Richard Nye shadowing his every move for much of that time but held on out front. A three-car tangle battling for third place on lap-21 slowed the race and put Nye outside of Johnston for the restart. Johnston resumed at the front and Jordan Hadley was able to turn his first start of the year into a runner-up finish. Nye ended up third. With a fifth place finish, the division championship went to Gargaro.
Yardley turned in a strong effort to claim his first win of the season in final event for the Super X-Cars. Like Johnston, Yardley also turned a pole starting position into good fortune. He distance himself ahead of his competition in a dominating performance over the 25-lapper. Yardley survived three caution flags and restarts along the way. Shawn Gaedeke finished second and Norman used a third place finish to secure his first championship.
Hovey cemented his championship with his eighth INEX Bandolero feature victory. He led from start to finish, going the 20-lap distance at the front of the field. For the final fifteen circuits Hovey had a two-time champion on his rear bumper in Anthony Marvin. Marvin had one opportunity to line up alongside Hovey for a lap-16 restart. Hovey was too strong and powered back into the lead and ultimately victory. Marvin settled for second and Ethan Durocher finished third.
Saturday, NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action moves to its final month of action at the Speedbowl with a five division racing program highlighted by an INEX Legend Cars National Qualifier. The winner of the special 50-lap feature race will secure an automatic starting position in next month’s Legend Cars Nationals event in South Carolina. Sunday, the annual Back to School Bash thrill show rocks Labor Day holiday weekend with a school bus demolition derby, monster trucks and more. Detailed event schedules and pricing for the upcoming week of events may be found online at Speedbowl.com.
Unofficial New London-Waterford Speedbowl Thursday Night Thunder 9/3 Results & Championship Standings:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Dana DiMatteo, Farmington; 2. Cornelius Flynn, Hampden, MA; 3. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 4. Mike Blaskey, Waterbury; 5. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 6. Joe Graf, Mahwah, NJ; 7. Tim DePizzol, North Franklin; 8. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 9. Cassandra Cole, Westbrook; 10. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 11. Caterina LaBella, Plainville; 12. Glenn Korner, Canton; 13. Connor Holderbach, Wolcott; 14. Josh Zentek, East Haven; 15. David Lespinasse, Milford; 16. Noah Korner, Canton; 17. John O’Sullivan III, Salem; 18. Rachel Forte, Douglas, MA
Unofficial Championship Standings (top-ten): 1. Churchill, 525; 2. Blaskey, 511; 3. Molleur, 492; 4. Ternullo, 474; 5. O’Sullivan, 424; 6. Lespinasse, 389; 7. Cole, 365; 8. Flynn, 344; 9. Pantani, 337; 10. N. Korner, 298
INEX Bandoleros (20-laps): 1. Nickolas Hovey, Chaplin; 2. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 3. Ethan Durocher, Plainfield; 4. Anthony Morin, Saybrook; 5. Ethan Simmons, Pawcatuck; 6. Nicholas Oloski, Salem; 7. Hailey Desaulniers, Windham
Unofficial Championship Standings (top-five): 1. Hovey, 536; 2. Durocher, 490; 3. Simmons, 487; 4. Desaulniers, 486; 5. Morin, 431
X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 2. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; 3. Richard Nye, North Stonington; 4. Christopher Thomas, Waterford; 5. David Gargaro Jr., Cranston, RI; 6. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 7. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 8. Craig Tavernier, Moosup; 9. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 10. Dylan Cabral, Richmond, RI; 11. Michael Olsen, Deep River; 12. Richard Mollo, Seymour; 13. Matthew Westover, Norfolk, VA; 14. David Grengs, Ledyard; 15. Steven Olsen, Essex; 16. Tom Sheehan, Baltic; 17. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 18. Jeffrey Leone, Uncasville; 19. William Rheaume, Uncasville; 20. John Bowes, Willington; 21. Eric Finkbein Jr., Manchester; 22. Christopher Lee, Waterford; 23. Justin Cunningham, Groton; 24. Bruce Sperry, Waterford; 25. Garrett Kuhn, Waterford; 26. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield
Unofficial Championship Standings (top-ten): 1. Gargaro, 530; 2. Thomas, 518; 3. Rheaume, 473; 4. Johnston, 472; 5. Lee, 460; 6. Shifflett, 447; 7. Burdick, 421; 8. Finkbein, 403; 9. Mollo, 376; 10. Loomis, 345
Super X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Dave Yardley III, Berlin; 2. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 3. Brian Norman, Clinton; 4. Jaysin Beal, Ledyard; 5. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 6. Bill Reiman, Southington; 7. Don Berge, Uncasville; 8. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; 9. Keith Scalia, Branford; 10. Scott Bellisle, Wauregan; 11. Duke Place, Charlestown, RI; 12. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 13. James Maher, Beacon Falls; 14. Marc Shafer, Groton; 15. Todd Taylor, North Stonington; 16. Ray Reed, Norwich; DNS – Frank Alessio, Colchester; DNS – Ed Gould, Warwick, RI; DNS – Richard Murray, Norwich; DNS – Ray Phillips, Canterbury
Unofficial Championship Standings (top-ten): 1. Norman, 520; 2. Reed, 502; 3. K. Moon, 500; 4. Gaedeke, 453; 5. Shafer, 449; 6. Taylor, 403; 7. Beal, 389; 8. Reiman, 374; 9. Bellisle, 239; 10. Kevin Finkbein, 233
X-Cars Mechanics Race top-ten (10-laps): 1. Kyle McPherson; 2. Jon Pereira; 3. Jim Stewart; 4. Pete DePizzol; 5. Robert Strange; 6. Gilbert Bradstreet; 7. Onie Pierce; 8. Tom Johnston; 9. Tom Gedney; 10. Rich Brooks
Super X-Cars Mechanics Race top-five (10-laps): 1. David Berge; 2. Bill Schmitt; 3. Josh Barrie; 4. Kevin Talbot; 5. Victoria Finkbein
Officials Race (10-laps): 1. Corey Caddick; 2. Shawn Monahan; 3. Tom McCarthy; 4. John Kelly; 5. Steve Barrett
Sources: Mike Serluca/New London-Waterford Speedbowl PR