Gada Takes Finale, Rob Janovic Jr. is 07 SK Champ
Waterford, CT — Dennis Gada lost his bid to become a 7-time SK Modified titlist, but went out a winner in Sunday’s 100-lap Town Fair Tire Finale feature at the Waterford Speedbowl.
He held off veteran Donnie Fowler and newly-crowned champion Rob Janovic Jr. Gada took the lead with five laps remaining. Fowler wrestled with a broken sway bar during the final circuits to finish second.
“Rob was consistent all season, I knew the championship battle was going to be tough,” said Gada. “I had a twenty-fifth place finish early in the season, and we were playing catch-up. That obviously hurt us. Today, Don Fowler ran great, I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to pass him. He gave me all the room I needed. Those last few laps, he drove with a broken sway bar, and that’s not easy. It’s been a while since he’s won a long-distance race, and it was good to see him running with the leaders.”
“With all due respect to Dennis Gada, there’s a new sheriff in town and his name is Rob Janovic Jr.,” stated the newly-crowned SK Modified champion. “The car came to me later in the race, and I was able to race it the way I wanted to. It was to say the least, a tense race for me. In my mind I just knew Dennis was going to win. Once I settled in and adjusted my driving style, we were OK. This has been a heck of a season, and to defeat Dennis is truly an accomplishment. I’ve been racing here a long time, and it feels great to finally get that first championship.”
Diego Monahan and Jeff Pearl rounded out the top-5.
Thomas capped-off his championship season with an impressive win in the 100-lap Late Model feature.
After passing early leader Larry Goss, he pulled ahead during each of the events many restarts. 17-year old Ryan Nolan finished second in his first-ever Speedbowl appearance.
“My car just handles like, let’s just say it’s almost always perfect,” stated the winner. “I owe so much of this to my crew, without them it just wouldn’t have been possible to have a season like this. One of the reasons for our success has been my brother Nate. You won’t find anybody better on the radio, and that’s very important to a driver.”
Following Nolan was Vin Esposito, Rich Staskowski, and Ed Reed Jr.
It was an emotional win for Stone, who fell short in his bid for the championship, but topped-off the season with a win in the 50-lap Sportsman feature.
Capitalizing on a torrid battle for the lead between Jim Procaccini, Chris “Moose” Douton, and champion Dwayne Dorr, the winner executed patience in his bid for victory.
“The way those guys were rubbing, I knew something was going to happen so I just held-back for a few laps,” stated Stone, a 3-time feature winner this year. “We’re glad to be back here in victory lane. Through some bad luck and a few low finishes, we missed out on the championship. Dwayne (Dorr) was just so consistent and our bad finishes hurt us. There’s always next season, and I want people to know that I’m here because of the efforts of my family and crew. We’ll be back in 2008 with a plan to take the title.”
Following was Walt Hovey Jr., Jim Procaccini, Chuck Rogers, and, Ed Clark.
Cassidy won the Mini Stock segment of Finale weekend for the third consecutive year, and wrapped-up the championship.
Following was Danny Field, Joe Godbout III, Kyle James, and Randolph Churchill Jr.
“The car was perfect today,” said Cabral. “We’ve been chasing problems since an accident here back in August when we broke an axle. Track conditions were great, which made the handling even better. Truthfully, I love this place anyway, and look very forward to coming here each year.”
Pete Pernesiglio, Adam Cantor, Andy Shlatz, Aaron Wall, and, Shane Hammond completed the top five.
Mark Bakaj passed Ed Field on lap five, going on to win Saturday’s 25-lap Legends feature at the Waterford Speedbowl. Michael Gervias Jr. was second and captured the championship.
Other Saturday winners were Tayla Orleans (Allison Legacy Cars), Andy Lindenman (All Star Race Trucks), Jeff Zudima (Pro-4 Modifieds), Richard “Bubby” Brouwer (X-Modifieds), Jon Porter (Super X Cars), Brad Voglesong (X Cars), Tracy Moran (Women On Wheels Super X Cars), and, Lisa Voglesong (Women On Wheels X Cars).
SK MODIFIED (100); 1. Dennid Gada, 2. Don Fowler, 3. Rob Janovic Jr., 4. Diego Monahan, 5. Jeff Pearl, 6. Mike Finkeldey, 7. Jeff Paul, 8. Robert Georgiades, 9. Matt Gallo, 10. Dennis Charette, 11. Michael Sabia Jr., 12. Wendell Dailey, 13. Glenn Pressel III, 14. Kevin Shea, 15. Tyler Chadwick, 16. Joe Krawiec, 17. Todd Ceravolo, 18. Ed Reed Jr., 19. Brandon Hansen, 20. Richard “Bubby” Brouwer, 21. Frank Mucciacciaro, 22. Keith Rocco, 23. Cliff Fitzgerald, 24. Mike Sweeney, 25. Chris Drouin Jr., 26. Tom Fox, 27. David Morgenstein, 28. Garrett Kusman, 29. John Agor, 30. Rich Hammann, 31. Bill Benoit.
LATE MODEL (100); 1. Bruce Thomas Jr., 2. Ryan Nolan, 3. Vin Esposito, 4. Rich Staskowski, 5. Ed Reed 6. Larry Goss, 7. Tim Jordan, 8. Joseph Curioso III, 9. Tom Fox, 10. Ernie Bertrand, 11. Dave Zemke, 12. Rich Duranti, 13. Darrel Taggart, 14. Terrance O’Brien, 15. Rick Nelson, 16. Duane Noll, 17. Wendell Dailey, 18. Ed Heffernan.
SPORTSMAN (50); 1. Albert Stone III, 2. Walter Hovey Jr., 3. Jim Procaccini, 4. Chuck Rogers, 5. Ed Clark, 6. John Bercham, 7. Jack Aquilina, 8. John Puglisi, 9. Norm Root, 10. Mark Charette, 11. Travis Robinson, 12. Joe Nogiec, 13. Ed Lamb Jr., 14. Dwayne Dorr, 15. Jonathon Avery, 16. Christopher “Moose” Douton, 17. Josh Avery, 18. Anthony Acanfora, 19. Bill Gertsch Jr.
MINI STOCK (50); 1. Ken Cassidy Jr., 2. Danny Field, 3. Joseph Godbout III, 4. Kyle James, 5. Randolph Churchill Jr., 6. Glenn Colvin, 7. Ben Bargnesi, 8. Mark Panaroni, 9. David Sylvia, 10. Albert “Bo” Norman, 11. Chris Williams, 12. Nate Appell, 13. Mark Caise, 14. Christina Cunliffe, 15. Phil Evans, 16. Nick Pappacoda, 17. Jack Aquilina, 18. Lou Bellisle, 19. Brandon Plemons, 20. Chris Lee, 21. Jeff “Soup” Civardi, 22. Chuck Rogers.
NORTHEASTERN MIDGET ASSOCIATION (25); 1. Randy Cabral, 2. Adam Cantor, 3. Andy Shlatz, 4. Aaron Wall, 5. Shane Hammond, 6. Erica Santos, 7. Mike Keeler, 8. BJ Macdonald, 9. Jeff Horn, 10. John Zych Jr.
LEGENDS (25); 1. Mark Bakaj, 2. Michael Gervais Jr., 3. Chris Bakaj, 4. Justin Rau, 5. Ed Field, 6. Adam Gada, 7. Brian Ouimette, 8. Carl Blandina, 9. Darrell LaPoint Jr., 10. Josh Sylvester, 11. Joe Gada, 12. Justin Holmes, 13. Daniel Bisignano, 14. Art Moran III, 15. Ryan Morgan, 16. Ben Erlandson, 17. Max Zachem, 18. Ricky White, 19. Jason Palmer, 20. Art Moran Jr., 21. Thomas McVay, 22. Stan Carpenter, 23. Jeff Holmes, 24. Daniel McGouren.
X MODIFIEDS (20); 1. Richard “Bubby” Brouwer, 2. Michael Sabia Jr., 3. Rich Hammann, 4. Bill Gerstsch Jr., 5. Doug Brochu, 6. Richard Durkee IV, 7. Robert Barcsansky, 8. Bill Benoit, 9. Ben Lee Sr., 10. Kevin Shea, 11. Brian DiMartino.
SUPER X CARS (20); 1. Jon Porter, 2. Greg Moran Sr., 3. John Yagmin, 4. Thomas Messore, 5. Bill Schmitt, 6. Bob Norman, 7. Mark Cooper, 8. Joe Campbell, 9. R.J. Cunningham Jr., 10. Dan Moon, 11. Kevin Moon, 12. Kevin Talbot, 13. Dirk Eykelhoff, 14. Charles Beal, 15. Chris Austill, 16. Michael Maskell II, 17. Ray Phillips, 18. Brian Norman, 19. Greg Moran Jr., 20. Bruce Lee Sr., 21. Andrew Keeney, 22. Art Moran III.
X CARS (20); 1. Brad Voglesong, 2. Jeff Mehlenbacher, 3. Peter Zaikarite, 4. Mark Caise, 5. Dustin Gage, 6. James Lynch, 7. John Diamantini, 8. Wayne Shifflett, 9. Richard Hurne, 10. James Tirrell, 11. Steve Valliere, 12. Len Platt, 13. Joe Madore, 14. Michael Previti, 15. Keith Michaud, 16. Nathan Lloyd, 17. Dale Sherman, 18. Dave Dellasandro, 19. Mark Myers, 20. Art Phillips, 21, Michael Cicio, 22. Tylor DiFrancesca.
Sources: Dave Dykes/Waterford Speedbowl PR