Anderson Turns Back Clock in SK Modifieds

Palmer Rolls to Third Straight Late Model Win; Burroughs Finds SK Lite Comfort Level; Curry Wins, Grabs Street Stock Point Lead; Silva Dominates Mini Stocks; Boyle Goes From Last to First in Trucks; O’Sullivan Captures Sixth Legends Win

WATERFORD — Race drivers never actually retire —they keep waiting for one more great ride to come along.

After being idle since 2002, Bill Anderson obtained that great ride — an SK Modified owned by Billy “Bear” Calicchio of Berlin.

During Saturday’s 35-lap SK Modified feature at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl, Anderson demonstrated he still knew how to find the winner’s circle.

Anderson led almost every lap to grab his first feature win since July, 2002. In other Speedbowl action, Jason Palmer remained hot, storming to his third Late Model victory in a row.

Not only did Doug Curry win his second straight Street Stock Feature, he moved into the point lead. Tom Silva struck gold in the Mini Stock feature for the fifth time this season, while Wayne Burroughs, back in his own car, won in the SK Lite Modifieds.

After missing his heat race because of truck trouble, Jim Boyle stampeded from the rear of the field to win the 25-lap event and John O’Sullivan held off a late charge from Brody Monahan for his sixth Legend win of 2021.
Anderson, however, had only driven a handful of races since his last win in 2002. He was sharp Saturday, however, holding off Todd Owen over the final five laps.

“This is so unbelievable,” Anderson said. “To come back like this after all these years, this is a dream come true. The car might have been a little tight at the end, but for the most part, the car was great. The Bear gave me an awesome car.”

Tim Jordan, who had won three in a row, and Andrew Molleur were sidelined early after fracturing the Turn 3 wall.

Owen gave Anderson a scare over the final five laps, but could get no closer than 0.2 of the lead.
Palmer also had an awesome car as he took the lead from Charles Bailey III on an outside power move with eight laps to go and maintained it the rest of the way.

“Charles had an awesome car, and I’m sure he didn’t want to give me a lane,” Palmer said. “But he did and I took advantage of it.”

When a caution flag came out with two laps to go, Palmer had to hold off Ray Christian for the win.
“Me and Ray always race good,” Palmer said. “It was a tough two laps.”

With point-leader Ryan Waterman and Jason Chicolas, the third place man in points, sidelined early after hitting the wall, Curry was able to move through the field. He took the lead from Nickolas Hovey in the late stages and then held off Eric Lutz at the end.

“Two in a row. Are you serious,” Curry said in victory lane. “It was an awesome race. I knew if we had a late caution and I could get to the bottom I would have a chance, and that’s what happened.”

Silva took his second consecutive Mini Stock race and his fifth of the season by finally figuring out a way to get past an aggressive David Dorr at the midway mark. Chris Garside made a late charge but came up short.

“I just had to keep him to the outside,” Silva said. “I pinned him out there. The last thing I wanted to do was go sideways.”

After suffering motor problems, defending SK Lite champion Burroughs borrowed a ride last week and finished fifth.

He returned to his regular ride Saturday with a repaired motor and blew the field away for his third 2021 win.

Burroughs usually is a slow starter, but he took the lead from Jake Hines on lap 6 and cruised the rest of the way.

Boyle had to start at the rear of the field after missing his heat race with mechanical woes.. But he didn’t stay in the back for long. He blistered his way to the lead, taking the top spot from Josh Stringer, as he thundered to his fourth win of the year. He also opened up a 5-point lead over Ken Cassidy in the standings.

O’Sullivan had some nervous moments with four laps to go in the Legends feature when Monahan tried to carve underneath him.

“We both went sideways, but Brody it lost a lot more,” O’Sullivan said. “His car was spot on today. We were lucky to win.”

Racing resumes on Wednesday with the Legends cars, the Super X-Cars, the X-Cars, and the Bandoleros appearing for Wild-n-Wacky Wednesday.

1. Bill Anderson. Wolcott; 2. Todd Owen, Somers; 3. Cory DiMatteo, Farmington; 4. Joe Gada, Uncasville,; 5. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 6. Rob Janovic Jr, Waterford; 7. Jeff Malave, Manchester; 8. Paul Buzel, Trumbull; 9. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 10. Adam Gada, Bozrah.

25-lap SK Lite Modifieds: 1. Wayne Burroughs, Oakdale; 2. Jake Hines, North Haven; 3. Paul Charette, Woodstock; 4. RJ Marcotte, Millville; 5. Jason Chapman, Ellington; 6. John O’Sullivan III, Salem; 7. Corey Caddick, Richmond; 8. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 9. Tyler Alkas. Kensington; 10. Tyler Chapman, Ellington.

30-lap Late Models: 1. Jason Palmer; 2. Raymond Christian, Uncasville; 3. Glen Thomas Jr., West Bridgewater, MA; 4. Isaiah Newcomb, Plymouth,; 5. Michael Benevides, Westerly; 6. Keith Scalia, North Branford; 7. Paul Heard, Lisbon; 8. Charles Bailey III, Lisbon; 9. Charles Bailey IV, Lisbon, ; 10. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill,

25-lap Street Stocks: 1. Douglas Curry, Groton; 2. Eric Lutz, Miller Place, NY; 3. Nickolas Hovey, Chaplin; 4. Shawn Monahan, Waterford; 5. Shawn Gaedeke, Groton; 6. Al Stone III, Durham; 7. Brian Norman, Clinton; 8. Jon Porter, East Lyme,; 9. Tyler Cinamella, Willimantic; 10. Ray Downing Jr., Canterbury.

25-lap Mini Stocks: 1. Tommy Silva, Gales Ferry; 2. Christopher Garside, Groton; 3. Kevin Moore, Moosup; 4. David Dorr, Gales Ferry; 5. Nicholas Pappacoda North Branford; 6. Hailey Beal, Ledyard; 7. Jesse Oloski, Salem’ 8. Jared Roy, Sterling; 9. Wayne Taylor, Moosup; 10. Bill Sylvia, Preston.

25-lap Speedbowl Trucks: 1. Jim Boyle; Dayville; 2. Tyler Chapman, Mystic; 3. Joshua Stringer, Dayville,; 4. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon,; 5. Jeff Karns, Quaker Hill,; 6. Rick Ashlaw, Manchester; 7. Andrew Pellegrini, North Grosvenordale; 8. Ari Jencik, Canton,; 9. Mercedes Caron, East Hampton’ 10. Todd Taylor, Stonington.
20-lap Legends: 1. John O’Sullivan III, Salem,; 2. Brody Monahan; 3. Joel Newcomb, Plymouth; 4. Dylan Cote; Griswold; 5. Scott Limkemann, Lebanon; 6. Scott Kinsman, Berlin, CT