Yuhas back in SK Modified® Winner’s Circle; Hovey and Flannery continue winning ways while Leonard and Coates record first wins
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl was in action on Saturday night, with a wild night of racing that put defending SK Modified® track champion Ron Yuhas Jr. of Groton back in the winner’s circle after a several month drought. Walt Hovey Jr. of Chaplin gave his points lead a boost with a win in the Street Stocks, as he continues to seek out his first track championship over the final weeks of the season. Bill Leonard of Wood River Junction, Rhode Island took his first win of the year in the Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock feature. Ledyard teenager Corey Coates earned his first career victory in the A.B. CDL Driver Training Center Truck race, continuing a winning family tradition. Anthony Flannery of East Hampton won another Legends Cars feature in his record-setting season.
The 35-lap SK Modified® race had Nichole Morgillo on the pole, with Kyle James and Joe Perry making up the top three positions. Perry was able to shoot by Morgillo on lap-1 to take the race lead, bringing Doug Coby up to second as Morgillo spun to bring out the first caution period on lap-2.
Perry continued his lead on the restart while Coby pressured Perry for the race lead. Jeffrey Paul battled with Coby for second, resulting in contact that sent Coby into the wall on the front stretch. Unfortunately for Coby, he was slammed by Tom Abele Jr. to bring out the caution and red flags after lap-3. Several other competitors were collected, pitting for repair.
Perry still had the lead for the restart, Tucker Reynolds was second and Rob Janovic was up to third. Janovic took second immediately when the green flag waved. Yuhas made his way into the top three early, taking third from Reynolds on lap-5. Todd Ceravolo, winner of two straight events the last two weeks, was on the move and came up through the top five. He got around Reynolds into fourth position on lap-6.
Janovic and Yuhas found their way around Perry to drop the early leader back to third by lap-10. Ceravolo bolted his way by Perry on lap-14 while out front Janovic and Yuhas continued to set the pace, pulling out to a sizeable advantage. Meanwhile, Tyler Chadwick moved to fourth getting by Perry, who rounded out the top five positions by halfway.
Yuhas took over the lead from Janovic on lap-18, giving Ceravolo opportunity to close in and challenge Janovic for second. He got by Janovic on lap-22, looking prime to position himself for a third consecutive win. Caution waved again when Jim Larsen, making his first start on the season, spun in turn three of lap-23.
Yuhas got the jump for the restart, but Janovic and Ceravolo swapped second however another yellow came out when Glenn Pressell spun into the turn two wall on lap-25. Yuhas held serve for another restart with Ceravolo reclaiming second in his battle with Janovic. Chadwick moved in looking for a way around Janovic, with the veteran able to hold his ground and onto the third spot. Jeffrey Gallup and Pressell came together in turn three on lap-33 to bring out a caution and set up the finish.
Yuhas was in control again with a great restart but Ceravolo, Janovic, and Chadwick all got collected in a wreck in turn two, dropping each from their great runs. Points leader Keith Rocco moved all the way up to second for the final restart. Yuhas saved his best for last, as Rocco gave him a run for the win. He held on to take his first win since April, and second win on the year. Rocco took second, with Reynolds placing his best effort on the season in third. Perry and Jeff Pearl completed the top five.
The 25-lap Street Stock race started out with points contender Al Stone III headed pitside before the race began with a transmission problem. Jack Aquilina led the opening laps of the race with Josh Galvin moving to the race lead on lap-5. Defending champion Brandon Plemons ran into trouble on lap-14, going up in smoke to bring out the caution flag.
Galvin maintained his lead on the restart when Hovey, who steadily progressed through the field from his mid-pack starting position, emerged as a challenger to Galvin’s lead. Hovey was able to make his way by Galvin into the race lead on lap-16, going on to open up a big advantage on his way to victory. Galvin was second and Aquilina ran great all night to place third. Stone rebounded from his early trouble for fourth with Ed Puleo finishing in fifth.
Louis Bellisle opened up the 25-lap Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock feature with the race lead. Leonard was in the mix from the drop of the green flag, using his second starting position to stay with Bellisle throughout the first half of the event. Chris Williams took third position in the opening laps and ran with the leaders to make it a three-car race at the front.
Leonard found his way around Bellisle on lap-18, using an outside move to finally take command of the race down the back chute. Williams got past Bellisle for second on lap-20, with Ian Brew taking over third from Bellisle a lap later. Further back, an intense battle just outside the top-five saw points leaders Danny Field and Ken Cassidy Jr. locked in a battle for the sixth position.
Out front the leaders remained unchanged, however lap after lap the battle for sixth raged on. As Field and Cassidy raced through turns three and four with the white flag in the air, contact between the two saw Cassidy make hard contact with the wall to bring out the yellow. Field was done for the night for his part in the incident.
Once back to green Leonard continued on to the checkered flag, his first of the season in the division. Williams was second ahead of Brew, Bellisle, and Glen Thomas Jr.
Leonard followed up his victory with the pole position for the 25-lap A.B. CDL Driver Training Center Truck feature. Leonard led the early portion of the race ahead of a duel between Howard Payne and Keith Chapman for the second spot.
Leonard was perfect through three restarts in the first 15 laps of the race. Chapman held second ahead of Keith Rocco, who slipped by Payne into the third position. Caution waved again on lap-16 when Doug Dunleavy spun.
Chapman edged ahead of Leonard on the restart with Rocco now in the mix, challenging Leonard for second. Contact sent Leonard around collecting others, with Rocco going to the rear of the field for the restart.
Corey Coates overtook his father Allen for the second position following the restart, proving to be the pivotal moment of his race. Chapman developed mechanical issues under the hood of his machine, enabling the rookie to get around Chapman for the race lead on lap-20. He never looked back, going on to his first career win. Chapman remained in second ahead of Allen Coates in third. Rocco and Dunleavy rebounded to complete the top-five.
Attrition getting the 20-lap Legends Cars event underway kept things rough at the start, but when racing settled in Dana Dimatteo and Troy Talman battled for the race lead. Dimatteo took the top spot with Alessandro Vitelli running well to come to second, ahead of Flannery who raced to third and looked strong early. Flannery made his way past Vitelli to give chase on Dimatteo.
Dimatteo ran well out front, leading through halfway. As the leaders worked lap-11 Flannery executed a pass underneath Dimatteo to race back to the stripe as the new leader. Dimatteo was able to keep second over Vitelli as the race continued under green. Lapped traffic played a role over the remaining five laps, but neither Dimatteo or Vitelli had an answer for Flannery. He went on to his seventh consecutive win in the Saturday Legends Cars series. Dimatteo, Vitelli, Talman and Joey Mucciacciaro finished behind Flannery.
The Speedbowl returns to NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action next Saturday night, September 25th. The SK Modifieds® are joined by the Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models, Street Stocks, Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks and special twin 20-lap A.B. CDL Driver Training Center Truck races. More information is available at Speedbowl.com.
Saturday 9/18 Results and standings:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds® (35-laps): 1. Ron Yuhas Jr., Groton; 2. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 3. Tucker Reynolds Jr., Westbrook; 4. Joe Perry, Ashaway, RI; 5. Jeff Pearl, Salem; 6. Jim Larsen, East Hartland; 7. Nichole Morgillo, Yalesville; 8. Jeffrey Gallup, Agawam, MA; 9. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 10. Rich Hammann, Tolland; 11. Glenn Pressell III, Gales Ferry; 12. Joe Gada, Salem; 13. Dennis Charette, Southington; 14. Jeffrey Paul, Ledyard; 15. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry; 16. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 17. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 18. Dave Gada, Bozrah; 19. Doug Coby, Milford; 20. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 21. James Monahan, Quaker Hill; 22. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford.
Standings after 22 events (top-ten): 1. Rocco, 1030; 2. Yuhas, 972; 3. Janovic, 892; 4. Chadwick, 841; 5. Paul, 817; 6. Pearl, 764; 7. Abele, 684; 8. J. Gada, 668; 9. Perry,602; 10. Ceravolo, 590.
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stocks (25-laps): 1. Walt Hovey Jr., Chaplin; 2. Josh Galvin, Franklin; 3. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale; 4. Al Stone III, New Haven; 5. Ed Puleo, Branford; 6. Gregory Moran Jr., Preston; 7. Chris Meyer, North Franklin; 8. Norman Root Jr., Old Saybrook; 9. Ronnie Oldham Jr., Westbrook; 10. Matthew Burr, Quaker Hill; 11. Michael Caprio, New Haven; 12. Paul Coutu, Canterbury; 13. Joey Fernandez, Weymouth, MA; 14. Scott Young, Willimantic; 15. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 16. Norm Sears, Andover; 17. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield; 18. Corey Hutchings, Salem; 19. Nate Appell, Westbrook
Standings after 21 events (top-ten): 1. Hovey, 961; 2. Stone III, 944; 3. Puleo, 869; 4. Sears, 828; 5. Plemons, 821; 6. Galvin, 820; 7. Oldham, 671; 8. Moran, 662; 9. Meyer, 643; 10. Appell, 632
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks (25-laps): 1. Bill Leonard, Wood River Jct, RI; 2. Chris Williams, Waterford; 3. Ian Brew, Wood River Jct, RI; 4. Louis Bellisle III, Griswold; 5. Glen Thomas Jr., Groton; 6. Mark Panaroni, Ivortyon; 7. Sean Caron, East Hampton; 8. Greg Moran Sr., Preston; 9. Steve Violette, Canterubry; 10. Ben Bargnesi, Norwich; 11.Charles Canfield, New Haven; 12. Nick Pappacoda, North Branford; 13. Charles Beal, Ledyard; 14. Christina Kellerman, Stratford; 15. Jeffrey M. Cembruch, Wallingford; 16. Dale Sherman, Charleston, RI; 17. Alan Hall Jr., North Haven; 18. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 19. Chuck Rogers, Quaker Hill; 20. Danny Field, Deep River
Standings after 21 events (top-ten): 1. Cassidy, 924; 2. D. Field, 911; 3. Caron, 847; 4. Bellisle, 782; 5. Williams, 755; T-6. Moran, 729; T-6. Brew 729; 8. Violette, 634; 9. Pappacoda, 608; 10. Canfield, 606
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series A.B. CDL Driver Training Center Trucks (25-laps): 1. Corey Coates, Ledyard; 2. Keith Chapman, Mystic; 3. Allen Coates, Ledyard; 4. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 5. Doug Dunleavy Sr., Bridgewater, MA; 6. Howard Payne, Shelton; 7. James Wray, Mystic; 8. Bill Leonard, Wood River Jct, RI; 9. Brandon Warren, Chicopee, MA; 10. Vin Esposito, Seymour; 11. Chris Correll, Old Lyme.
Standings after nine events (top-ten): 1. A. Coates, 499; 2. Payne, 455; 3. Leonard, 416; 4. C. Coates, 358; 5. Rocco, 314; 6. J. Warren, 236; 7. Correll, 226; 8. Chapman, 212; 9. Wray, 180; 10. Greg Butler Jr., 126
Legends Cars (20-laps): 1. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 2. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 3. Alessandro Vitelli, Woodbridge; 4. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 5. Joey Mucciacciaro, Wolcott; 6. Brian Spencer, Edison, NJ; 7.Carl Blandina, Milford; 8. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 9. Peter Cirilli, Farmington; 10. Silas Hiscock Sr., Bridgehampton, NY; 11. Scott McNickle, Ledyard; 12. William Hiscock, Bridgehampton; 13. Joey Campbell, Berlin; 14. Richard Erlandson, Moodus; 15. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 16. David Garbo Jr., Stonington; 17. Ed Field, Deep River; 18. Stan Carpenter, Auburn, MA; 19. Dylan Izzo, Monroe; 20. Carl Bohn, Waterford
Legends Saturday Standings: 1. Flannery, 510; 2. Vitelli, 390; 3. D. Dimatteo, 374; 4. Field, 372; 5. Garbo, 318; 6. Giovanni Giarratana, 301; 7. Belsito, 296; 8. Mucciacciaro, 286; 9. Campbell, 280; 10. Rogers, 258
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR