Waterford Speedbowl 4/19 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results
Waterford, CT (April 19, 2014) – Waterford Speedbowl returned to racing action Saturday night with an action packed six division race program. Taking victories in NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing events included Tyler Chadwick of Ledyard, who came away with a well-earned triumph in the SK Modified® division. Berlin’s Keith Rocco won his third consecutive Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature to begin the year while Corey Barry of Plainfield nailed a victory in the SK Light Modified ranks. Second generation racer Mike Christopher Jr. of Wolcott took his first victory in the night’s INEX Legend Cars race. Al Stone of Durham was awarded the victory in the Street Stock event and Christopher Ivory of Oakdale was credited with his first-ever victory in the Mini Stock division.
Chadwick worked hard during his run to victory in the 35-lap SK Modified® race. After he assumed control on lap-12 from Agawam’s Jeff Gallup, he held back a charging Keith Rocco over the final 17 laps in an entertaining high speed duel. Nichole Morgillo led the field to the green flag with her pole starting position as Gallup lined up to her outside. The two drag raced on the opening lap side-by-side with Gallup leading by a nose at the completion of lap-1.
The top cars eventually singled out and Gallup led Morgillo, Chadwick, Rob Janovic Jr. and Ted Christopher over the opening laps. They ran in order until lap-8 when Christopher pulled out of line and challenged Janovic for fourth. Christopher spent two laps working the outside of the track before he prevailed to take the spot and began to test the outside of Chadwick. Just ahead of them Morgillo got crossed up in turn four on lap-11 and slid off the track to the infield, coming to rest on the racing surface at the exit of turn four to bring out the first of two caution flags in the race.
Gallup had Chadwick to his outside following the lineup change after the yellow. Chadwick stayed even with Gallup and was able to inch his way to the top spot as the pair raced to lap-12. Janovic was next to get around the outside of Gallup to move to second position on lap-13 when Rocco emerged in the picture. He restarted the race in sixth after using the opening green flag run to move through the back half of the top ten and was up to fourth behind Gallup when the second and final caution of the race waved on lap-14. Todd Ceravolo and Kyle James came together down the front chute sending both cars into the turn one wall. Ceravolo was done for the night while James pitted for repairs.
Chadwick resumed his lead after the restart after a brief fight from Janovic in the outside lane. Gallup tried to sneak to the inside of Janovic to no avail and by lap-16 Gallup was under fire from Rocco. Rocco went to the outside to take third position on lap-17 and then attacked Janovic’s second place position a lap later. He powered past to move in behind Chadwick on lap-18 to set the stage for the pair’s memorable finish.
Rocco tried several different maneuvers to try and rattle Chadwick including some timely raps to his rear bumper. Rocco was unable to find the momentum to make an outside move work on multiple occasions. Chadwick, the 2012 division champion, was able to keep his car settled on the bottom of the track as Rocco tried to unseat him with a crossover move exiting the corners. Chadwick had that covered as well to hold back the former national champion.
The stretch run through the checkered flag had fans on the edge of their seats as Rocco tested Chadwick’s rear bumper on multiple occasions. Chadwick proved unflappable however, including contact entering turn three on lap-30 that slowed both as they kept their cars under control. Janovic and Christopher trailed and engaged in their own battle for third position over the final five laps. Christopher looked to the top of the track for a way to land a podium finish as Chadwick finished off his impressive win. Rocco came home second while Janovic was able to hold off Christopher for third, finishing strong outings for each. Opening night winner Ed Puleo was fifth.
Rocco won his third straight Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature. He ran third behind early leader Jeff Smith and second place Bruce Thomas Jr. Smith headed to the pits during a lap-6 caution flag, the final of the race, after making contact with the backstretch wall while battling for the lead on lap-3. Thomas inherited the lead with Rocco to his outside for the restart. Rocco took command to lead lap-7 and never relinquished his lead thereafter. Thomas finished four car lengths back in second and Jason Palmer was third in the 30-lapper.
Barry came out on top of a 25-lap SK Light Modified feature that began smooth and ended ragged. He battled his way through the top five cars early on to be in contention following a lap-10 melee that saw defending champion Randy Churchill Jr. make contact with a lapped car as he battled for the race lead, causing a caution flag as Chris Ignazio became collected. While Churchill pitted and resumed from the rear, Barry moved up to contend with leaders Larry Goss and Victoria Bergenty. Barry used the outside lane to get past Goss for the race lead on lap-12. He had to hold back both Goss and Bergenty over the second half including over three additional restarts that proved tough for the field to navigate without encountering trouble. Bergenty wound up second and Goss third in the final rundown.
Stone was awarded the Street Stock victory after the winner on the track failed post-race technical inspection. Josh Galvin appeared to win his second consecutive Street Stock race after turning in another dominant performance, however his car was sighted for having illegal shocks following the event. Stone, a two-time division champion, was declared the 25-lap race winner. The move of the race for Stone turned out to be a battle with early leader Norm Root Jr. Root succumbed to Stone on lap-7 as he motored by the inside. Stone was passed by Galvin on the track during the green-to-checkered flag race, however his effort was able to catapult him to the victory. Root ended up with second place and pole position starter Greg Moran Jr. was third.
Ivory came away as the winner of record in the 25-lap Mini Stock feature after four of the original top-five finishers failed post-race technical inspection. Ivory put forward a solid effort in the non-stop 25-lap race. He watched as early leader Nick Pappacoda was chased down by Ken Cassidy in the second half of the race. Cassidy worked past Pappacoda on lap-19. Garrett Denton got by Pappacoda and finished behind Cassidy, however each were disqualified for spindle modification allowing Ivory’s third-place finish on the track to lift him to the win. It is the first-ever division win at the track for Ivory, a graduate of the track’s Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday race program. Doug Curry was credited with second place and Ray Christian III came away third.
In INEX Legend Car action, Mike Christopher Jr. came away with his first career victory after a rough and tumble 25-lap race. Christopher took the lead on lap-5 with an impressive move to the inside of defending champion Dylan Izzo. He survived six late race restarts as the field behind him had trouble circling the three-eighths mile oval. Christopher bested John O’Sullivan and Jordan Lamothe. Christopher Jr. is the nephew of standout racer Ted Christopher and son of former Modified competitor Mike Christopher. He is fifteen years old and is in his second season competing in the Legend Cars division.
The Speedbowl returns to action next week with a five-division program highlighted by a 50-lap Street Stock Showdown event plus the return of the New England Truck Series. Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday returns on May 7 and Friday night’s Sho & Go at the ‘Bowl kicks off its season on May 9. Schedule information for all upcoming track events is available at Speedbowl.com.
Unofficial Waterford Speedbowl Saturday 4/19 NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Results:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds® (35-laps): 1. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 2. Keith Rocco, Berlin; 3. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 4. Ted Christopher, Plainville; 5. Ed Puleo, Branford; 6. Jeff Gallup, Agawam, MA; 7. Shawn Thibeault, Plainville; 8. Tim Jordan, Plainfield; 9. Craig Lutz, Miller Place, NY; 10. Nichole Morgillo, Southington; 11. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 12. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford; 13. Joe Gada, Salem; 14. Shawn Monahan, Waterford; 15. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 16. Brent Sweet, Monroe; 17. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 18. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry; 19. Justin Gaydosh, Newtown
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Valenti Auto Mall Late Models (30-laps): 1. Keith Rocco, Berlin; 2. Bruce Thomas Jr., Groton; 3. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 4. Anthony Ryan, Danbury; 5. Vin Esposito, Seymour; 6. Corey Hutchings, Salem; 7. Mike Sweeney Jr., Meriden; 8. Chris Garside, Waterford; 9. Nick Sowa, Middletown; 10. Joe Gada, Salem; 11. Rich Duranti, Quaker Hill; 12. Jeff Smith, Old Lyme; 13. Ryan Morgan, Mystic; DNS – Glenn Boss, Danielson
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stocks (25-laps): 1. Al Stone III, Durham; 2. Norm Root Jr., Old Saybrook; 3. Greg Moran Jr., Preston; 4. Ryan Waterman, Danielson; 5. Joe Arena, Bristol; 6. Travis Jurcik, Chaplin; 7. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 8. Monte Gibbs, Higganum; 9. Steve Barrett, Preston; 10. Chris Meyer, North Franklin; 11. Nate Appell, Westbrook; 12. Jake Bercham, West Greenwich, RI; DNS – Lloyd Anderson Jr., Wauregan; DQ – Josh Galvin, Franklin
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Mini Stocks (25-laps): 1. Chris Ivory, Oakdale; 2. Doug Curry, Groton; 3. Ray Christian III, Groton; 4. Joe Liskiewicz, Peston; 5. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 6. Wayne Burroughs Jr., Oakdale; 7. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield; 8. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI; 9. John Bowes, Willington; 10. Melissa Clavette, Bozrah; 11. Jeff Lee, Uncasville; 12. Sean Caron, East Hampton; DDNS – Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; DQ – Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; DQ – Garrett Denton, Hope Valley, RI; DQ – Ian Brew, Wood River Junction, RI; DQ – Nick Pappacoda
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Light Modifieds (25-laps): 1. Corey Barry, Plainfield; 2. Victoria Bergenty, Plainville; 3. Larry Goss, North Windham; 4. Randy Churchill Jr., Oakdale; 5. Rick Williams, Haddam; 6. Calvin Therrien, Vernon; 7. Joe Fraulino Jr., East Hampton; 8. Jeff Fialkovich, Shelton; 9. Chris Ignazio, Colchester; 10. Chris Correll, Uncasville; 11. Paul French, Andover
Saturday INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Mike Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 2. John O’Sullivan, Salem; 3. Jordan Lamothe, Woodstock; 4. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon; 5. Connor Holderbach, Wolcott; 6. Dylan Izzo, Westport; 7. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 8. Scott Limkemann, East Lyme; 9. Cornelius Flynn, Hampden, MA; 10. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 11. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 12. Ryan Lutz, Miller Place, NY; 13. Timothy DePizzol, North Franklin; DNS – Cory Dimatteo, Farmington; DNS – Peter DePizzol, North Franklin
Sources: Brian Darling/Waterford Speedbowl PR