Waterford Speedbowl Budweiser Blastoff Saturday 4/6 Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl opened its 63rd consecutive season Saturday, hosting qualifying and seven main events as part of Budweiser Blastoff weekend. Saturday’s main events saw Randy Churchill of Oakdale winning the evening’s NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modified race, Keith Rocco of Meriden scoring the honors in the NEMA Lite touring series race, and Chris Turbush of Riverhead, NY won in the visiting New England Truck Series. In INEX racing, Dana Dimatteo of Farmington claimed the win in the opening day Legend Cars feature and New Jersey driver Alex McCollum won the Bandolero feature. Other winners included Jon Porter of Canterbury in Super X-Cars and Wayne Shifflett of Preston in the X-Cars.
Rocco was spectacular in the 25-lap NEMA Lites feature. He started back in the field and methodically worked his way to the front, culminating in a lap-23 pass on the outside of leader Randy Cabral. Only one caution slowed the pace.
Churchill was equally impressive in the 25-lap SK Light Modified race. He started in third position but quickly worked into the lead on lap-3. Churchill had to fend off the challenges of Cam McDermott over much of the second half of the race in a spirited battle between the two. Troy Talman raced strong in third and capitalized when McDermott made contact with the wall on lap-21 trying to wrestle the lead away from Churchill. Churchill mastered a final restart attempt and fended off a bold move by Talman in turn three with two laps to go before taking the checkered flag.
Photo Galleries:
[Sat.] by Adam Fohlin
[Sun.] by Adam Fohlin
[Fri.] by Nicholas Teto
[Sat.] by Nicholas Teto
[Sun.] by Nicholas Teto
The 20-lap INEX Legend Cars feature saw Dimatteo leading from the start. Keith Rocco, looking for a second victory on the day, was an early challenger to Dimatteo before defending Saturday Legend Cars champion Paul Kusheba IV made his way to challenge for the lead. Dimatteo was able to hold off both over multiple restarts late in the race to take down the win.
Chris Turbush came out on top of a mid-race scuffle for the lead involving himself, Duane Noll and Roger Turbush. Following a lap-10 restart, he came away in the lead after a three-wide battle resulted in Noll and Roger Turbush against the turn three wall. He went on to win comfortably ahead of the field the remainder of the way.
Porter came out on top in the Super X-Car race after biding his time and working through the top-five runners in their 20-lap feature. Porter was comfortable in the outside lane to make most of his passes, unseating Ed Ryan from the top spot in the latter stages of the race to take the win, his second in a row in the season opener.
A wild 20-lap X-Car feature saw lapped traffic play a pivotal role in the race’s outcome. As the leaders continually navigated packs of lapped cars, trouble broke out just ahead of the leaders in the final five laps. The top three cars of Brad Voglesong, Zac Thomas and Scott Limkemann all made contact during a traffic jam exiting turn four. In the end, Shifflett survived unscathed to take down the victory.
McCollum was riding in second with five laps remaining in the 15-lap INEX Bandolero feature when the lead car spun just ahead of him in turn two. He steered clear of Anthony Marvin’s spinning car, which collected two other cars, resulting in a red flag delay. During the stoppage, the race was red-checkered with McCollum picking up a career first win at the Speedbowl.
Leading the way in qualifying for Sunday’s Budweiser Blastoff races were Chris Pasteryak of Lisbon, Jeff Rocco of Wallingford and Louie Mechalides of Tyngsboro, MA who each picked up qualifying race wins in preparation of the 100-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series feature. 2009 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified® track champion Ron Yuhas Jr. of Groton won pole position honors in the division’s 63-lap feature Sunday. In addition to those two events, the NEMA Midgets will compete in a 25-lapper on Sunday as well as NASCAR Whelen All-American Series action for the Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models (50-laps), Street Stocks (30-laps) and Mini Stocks (30-laps).
A pre-racing Pit Party begins Sunday’s festivities where fans can meet and greet the cars and drivers on the track at 10:00am. Racing begins just after noon.
Saturday Budweiser Blastoff 4/6 Results:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modifieds (25-laps): 1. Randy Churchill, Oakdale; 2. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 3. Corey Barry, Plainfield; 4. Dylan Menditto, Brooklyn; 5. Chris Ignazio, Colchester; 6. Jeff Fialkovich, Shelton; 7. Travis Jurcik, Chaplin; 8. Glenn Griswold, Vernon; 9. Keith McDermott, Scituate, RI
New England Truck Series (25-laps): 1. Chris Turbush, Riverhead, NY; 2. Brad Caddick, Hope Valley, RI; 3. Tom Metcalf, North Stonington; 4. Tony Lafo, Higganum; 5. Keith Chapman, Mystic; 6. Roger Turbush, Riverhead, NY; 7. Glen Noll, Naugatuck; 8. Duane Noll, Monroe; 9. Dan Butler, Waterford; 10. Pete Cayer, Bristol
NEMA Lites (25-laps): 1. Keith Rocco, Meriden; 2. Randy Cabral, Plymouth, MA; 3. Carl Medeiros, Westport, MA; 4. Jake Stergios, Candia, NH; 5. Brandon Igo, Enfield; 6. Christian Briggs, Mattapoissett, MA; 7. Avery Stoehr, Lakeville, MA; 8. Dana Shaw, Danielson; 9. D.J. Moniz, Fairhaven, MA; 10. Ryan Bigelow, East Hampton; 11. Paul Bigelow, Kensington; 12. Logan Rayvals, Brockton, Ontario, CA; 13. Joe Cugini, Marshfield, MA; 14. Kelly Ferrell, Chaplin; 15. Andy Barrows, New Ipswich, NH; 16. Danny Cugini, Marshfield, MA
Legends Cars (25-laps): 1. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 2. Paul Kusheba IV, Monroe; 3. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 4. Dylan Izzo, Westport; 5. Keith Rocco, Meriden; 6. Jeff Goodale, Riverhead, NY; 7. Kyle Ellwood, Riverhead, NY; 8. Brendon Bock, Franklin Square, NY; 9. Nick Ladyga, Voluntown; 10. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 11. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 12. Joe Ferrigno, East Hartford; 13. Michael Blaskey, Bethany; 14. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 15. Michael Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 16. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 17. Timothy DePizzol, North Franklin; 18. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 19. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 20. Cory Dimatteo, Farmington; 21. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 22. David Johnson, Arlington, MA; 23. Kyle Hardwick, Vernon; 24. Joe Mucciacciaro, Wolcott; 25. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 26. Calvin Therrien, Vernon
Bandoleros (10-laps): 1. Alex McCollum, Phillipsburg, NJ; 2. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 3. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 4. Christian Eckes, Middletown, NY; 5. A.J. Eastman, Fishers Island, NY
Super X-Cars (20 laps): 1. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 2. Eric Finkbein Jr., East Hartford; 3. Ed Ryan, Preston; 4. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 5. Ken Downing III, Branford; 6. Ray Phillips, Canterbury; 7. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 8. Eric Finkbein Sr., Columbia; 9. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 10. Shawn Butler, Jewett City; 11. Bill Reiman, Southington; 12. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton
X-Cars (20-laps): 1. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 2. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 3. Kyle McPherson, Waterford; 4. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 5. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 6. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 7. C.P. Burdick; 8. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 9. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; 10. Frank Shepard, Bozrah; 11. Nate Bryington, Webster, MA; 12. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 13. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 14. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 15. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 16. Terry Bombard, Willimantic; 17. Zac Thomas, New London; 18. Aaron Sypher-Piper, Clinton; 19. Matthew Ryan; 20. Elizabeth Gaston, Vernon; 21. David Gargaro Jr., Cranston, RI
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR