Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 7/31 Results
Waterford, CT — Waterford Speedbowl hosted a jam packed grandstand for its popular mid-week Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday family fun program. Picking up victories on the night of motorsports included Nick Ladyga of Voluntown in the INEX Legend Cars, his first of the season in the Wednesday series. Jon Porter of Canterbury won another Super X-Car race, while Willmantic’s Mitch Bombard won his first X-Car feature of the year. Ken Morin Jr. of Old Saybrook won a thrilling INEX Bandolero race that went down to the wire and the Wacky Hot Dog eating race went to Peter Pollard of Old Lyme. An aerial fireworks display capped the night of action on the track.
The 25-lap INEX Legend Cars race was a dandy, going down to the final lap between Ladyga and Michael Christopher Jr. Ladyga became the third leader of the race after he took command following a lap-6 restart. Ladyga restarted third and got past second place Christopher in turns one and two, then went after race leader Joey Ternullo in turns three and four. Ladyga streaked past the inside of Ternullo into the lead on lap-7. Christopher got by Ternullo on lap-8 to move up to second position where he remained until a caution flag on lap-15 set up the race’s final restart. Ladyga was up to the task, momentarily getting away from Christopher. Christopher, however, stayed with Ladyga until the finish.
As the final laps began, Christopher began a barrage of attacks to the rear bumper of Ladyga. On the final lap with Ladyga still holding the lead, Christopher tried to get underneath him in turn two seeking his first-ever victory in the division. He couldn’t find the room and headed into turn three Christopher again took his final shots at Ladyga, to no avail. Ladyga masterfully held on for the win while Christopher settled for second. Christopther’s father Mike is a multi-time winner in Northeast racing while his uncle Ted Christopher is one of the all-time best racers in the region. Stephen Kopcik finished third in the race. Ternullo used a fourth place effort combined with misfortune for Nicholas Sowa to cut the deficit in the championship standings in half, as he now trails by 29 marks to Sowa.
The X-Car division went 30-laps in a special extra distance race, their longest of the Wednesday series season. Christopher Lee led the opening lap but Melissa Clavette barnstormed her way past in the outside lane to take over on lap-2. Clavette raced out to a large lead before caution on lap-5 erased her advantage. Bombard used patience in getting to the front of the field, lining up fifth for the restart. Scott Limkemann took over from Clavette on lap-6 as Bombard moved up to third. He got by Clavette and then was on Limkemann’s tail as the race moved past halfway. Bombard had just made his move on Limkemann for the lead and showed the way when caution returned on the speedway on lap-16. Once out front Bombard had to best the field on two additional retarts. Zach Thomas was able to work into second position late in the event, benefitting by the extra laps. Limkemann wound up third. The victory was Bombard’s first of the season.
Porter landed in Victory Lane in the 25-lap Super X-Car race, rebounding from a conclusion one week ago which saw him lose the lead and victory late in the going. This week Porter refused to back down, leading early by an easy margin and surviving three yellow flags during the race, the final one coming with just a half-lap remaining. That caution put Ed Ryan to Porter’s outside for a green-white-checkered restart, the same position Porter found himself in a week prior when he lost the race. This time Porter would not be denied the win, getting away from Ryan who had to hold off a challenge for second position from Frank Alessio. As Porter raced to the win, Ryan held off Alessio, the leader in the championship standings, for second.
The 20-lap INEX Bandolero feature shaped up to be a three-car stalemate late in the going between Corey Comeroski, David French and Morin. Comeroski battled with French from the first lap, a duel which continued over the first half of the race. French spent several laps to the outside of Comeroski in an entertaining battle for the lead while Morin ran down the lead two cars. The chess match at th e front among the three continued until the final laps in the caution-free event. French was finally able to take control outside of Comeroski coming to the white flag, however when he moved down the track to pull in line ahead of Comeroski the outside lane was left open for Morin. Morin took advantage, charging up the outside of the track to get by Comeroski out of turn two and then past French over the final half-lap to take an exciting come-from-behind win. French took second and Comeroski had to settle for third.
Pollard combined racing with a hot dog eating contest to best a field of 10 drivers to take their shot at the wackiest driver of the night. After the green flag came out on the 5-lap sprint race, Pollard made his required “pit stop” to the center of the track and downed two hot dogs before climbing back in his racecar. He was the first to complete the 5-lap distance after eating his hot dogs. Pollard bested Chuck McDonald in a close race.
Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 7/31 Results:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Nick Ladyga, Voluntown; 2. Michael Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 3. Stephen Kopcik, Newtown; 4. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 5. Daniel Stolte, Northbridge, MA; 6. Michael Blaskey, Bethany; 7. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 8. Carl Blandina, Southington; 9. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 10. Joe Ferrigno, East Hartford; 11. David Johnson, Arlingham, MA; 12. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 13. Colin Haley, Ashford; 14. Art Marrero, Baltic; 15. Joshua Zentek, East Haven; 16. David Lespinasse, Milford; 17. T.J. Thompson, Lisbon; 18. Nicholas Sowa, Middletown; 19. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA
INEX Bandoleros (20-laps): 1. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 2. David French, Rome, PA; 3. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 4. Christian Eckes, Middletown, NY; 5. Alex McCollum, Phillipsburg, NJ; 6. A.J. Eastman, Fishers Island, NY; 7. Neil Rutt, Toms River, NJ; 8. Jonathon Puleo, Branford; 9. Gillian Kirkpatrick, Washingtonville, NY; 10. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook
X-Cars (30-laps): 1. Mitch Bombard, Willimantic; 2. Zach Thomas, New London; 3. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 4. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 5. Brad Voglesong, Middletown; 6. Chris Thomas, Waterford; 7. Jeff Dombrowski, Oakdale; 8. Wayne Shifflett, Preston; 9. David Gargaro Jr., Cranston, RI; 10. Larry Loomis Jr., Moosup; 11. Michael Marvin, Colchester; 12. Mike Trask, Plainfield; 13. Mark Shepard, Griswold; 14. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 15. C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 16. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 17. Matt Westover, Gales Ferry; 18. Nate Bryington, Webster, MA; 19. Kim Bickford, Griswold; 20. Craig Tavernier, Moosup; 21. Onie Pierce, Norwich; 22. Matt Ryan, Gales Ferry; 23. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 24. Garrett Kuhn, Waterford; 25. Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; 26. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 27. John Bowes, Willington
Super X-Cars top-five (25-laps): 1. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 2. Ed Ryan, Preston; 3. Frank Alessio, Colchester; 4. Bill Reiman, Southington; 5. Ken Downing III, Branford; 6. Mike Maskell, Quaker Hill; 7. Ray Reed, Norwich; 8. Robert Goulet, Southington; 9. Matt Carlson, Griswold; 10. Marc Shafer, Groton; 11. Kevin Moon, Exeter, RI; 12. Todd Taylor, Waterford; 13. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme; 14. Ray Phillips, Canterbury; 15. John Kazersky, Niantic; 16. James Maher, Shelton; 17. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 18. R.J. Cunningham, Clinton; 19. Shawn Gaedeke, Southington; 20. John Yagmin, Tolland
Wacky X-Car Hot Dog Race winner: 1. Peter Pollard, Old Lyme
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR