Ron Yuhas Jr. grabs first SK Modified checkered flag of 2009; Dave Shullick Jr. wins ISMA SuperModified event; Thomas Jr., Galvin, Leonard win
Waterford, CT — Groton native Ron Yuhas Jr. nearly won the Waterford Speedbowl’s opening Saturday night event in April before Keith Rocco stole the win by mere inches, but on Saturday night Yuhas would not be denied going on to win the 35-lap SK Modified main event. Ohio native Dave Shullick Jr. won the 50-lap ISMA SuperModified special in a caution filled event, Bruce Thomas Jr. the Late Model event, Josh Galvin in the Street Stocks, and Bill Leonard was the Mini Stock winner.
The SK Modifieds kicked off a great night of racing with their 35-lap main event. Corey Hutchings jumped to the lead over Jeff Pearl on the initial green, and the field would stretch out over an extended period of green flag racing. Hutchings would pull a straightaway lead over the competition as laps clicked away. By halfway, Ron Yuhas Jr. and Keith Rocco were asserting themselves working through traffic. Yuhas jumped to the outside lane to move his way through the top five and into the top three. The event’s first caution flew on lap 28 when Jeff Paul, running second, went up in smoke in turn three ending his strong run to that point. Paul turned in the event’s fastest lap.
On the restart the action heated up with Yuhas looking outside Hutchings. Meanwhile, Rocco applied pressure to both Hutchings and Yuhas from third place. The entertaining action would be interrupted by caution when Justin Gaydosh spun on the backstretch with four laps to go. Yuhas battled his way into the lead in the outside lane on the restart, overcoming Hutchings with three laps remaining. The event’s final caution waved with two laps remaining setting up a green-white-checkered finish and a restart rematch with Hutchings outside Yuhas. Hutchings could not muster the steam from the outside, and would tuck into second behind Yuhas who would go on to win by a car length. Rocco took an impressive third, Tyler Chadwick ran a good race for fourth, and Rob Janovic Jr. rallied to finish fifth at the stripe.
The 35th season of ISMA SuperModified racing again began at Waterford’s historic shoreline oval with Jamie Timmons and Dave Shullick Jr. leading the stout 26-car field to green. Shullick had already hit lapped traffic by lap five. The car of perennial favorite and 2001 ISMA champ Dave McKnight shot into the turn one wall hitting head on with richter scale force, bringing out the red flag on lap eight. A wheel from the McKnight car came free and ‘Rocket’ Robbie Summers, the Speedbowl’s 2005 SK Modified champion, had nowhere to go and was collected. Summers car came to rest against the turn two wall. On lap 15 another hard hit brought out red flag yet again when a melee ended with cars making contact into the turn four tire barrier.
Five-time ISMA champion Russ Wood spun out of the top five in turn four when the field stacked up on a lap 16 restart. Defending NASCAR Camping World Truck Series champion Johnny Benson Jr., competing for the first time at the Speedbowl, entered the top-five running order on lap 19 after making some impressive moves through the field.
At halfway Shullick continued to lead over Lou Cicconi, Chris Perley – who had moved into third in impressive fashion putting the Speedbowl’s outside groove to good use, while Benson began pressuring Dave Holbrook for fourth. Benson suddenly dropped off the pace, coming to a halt in turn one on lap 28 to bring out caution and forcing him to retire from the event. When racing resumed, the “Rowley Rocket” Perley overtook Cicconi for second on lap 31 with another outside move. The event ran green through the end, but Perley had nothing left to challenge Shullick who went on to a convincing season-opening win.
In the 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model race, Larry Goss was the early leader before contact in the front sent Goss and second place Vin Esposito around in turn one causing the field behind to scramble. Rich Stastowski and Bruce Thomas Jr. restarted on the front row, with Thomas powering through the outside lane to lead lap 10. The event would remain caution-free to the checkered flag and Thomas would cruise to his fourth win in five events.
The Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock 20-lapper got under way with Randy Churchill Jr. making a bold three wide move on the backstretch to jump into second behind Bill Leonard, who took the initial lead from his pole starting spot. Churchill would continue to dog Leonard for the top spot, applying heavy pressure through the event’s halfway point before caution waved for a car in turn two. When racing resumed, two-time defending division champion Ken Cassidy Jr. was trying to shake the early season bugs out and challenged Churchill for second in the low groove. Cassidy moved past Churchill and the inside lane was open to move alongside the leader Leonard with just three laps to go. Cassidy got loose out of turn two with two laps remaining, allowing Leonard to slip away to take the white flag in sole control of the lead. Leonard went on to win over Churchill, Danny Field, Cassidy who slipped to fourth, and Kyle James.
The competitive Street Stock feature saw early leader Ed Puleo forced to the infield during a caution when the rear brakes of his car caught fire. Josh Galvin inherited the lead and would stretch out his advantage over second place Jim Procaccini over the final 13 laps of green flag racing to score his second checkered flag of the season. Al Stone III edged Brandon Plemons in a tight battle for third, with Jonathon Avery claiming fifth.
Saturday May 30, the rescheduled Modified Nationals event will be in the spotlight featuring the $5,000 to win SK-150. The Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models will go 50-laps in distance, while the Street Stocks and Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks will both run 30-laps events. The touring Pro 4 Modifieds will also join the racing action for a 25-lap main event. The evening kicks off with the popular ‘pit party’ at 5:00pm, where the fans can see the cars and meet the stars for an autograph session. It will also be Scout Night, with any Scout or Scout leader in uniform admitted free.
Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday returns on May 27 with the non-stop action from the Legends Cars, X-Cars, Super X-Cars, and X-Modifieds. The ladies will join the action, getting behind the wheel of the Super X Cars for a turn around the shoreline oval. For more information on these and all upcoming events, visit www.speedbowl.com or contact the track office at 860.442.1585.
Speedbowl 5/23 finishers, hometown:
ISMA SuperModifieds (50-laps): 1. Dave Shullick Jr., Amherst, OH; 2. Chris Perley, Rowley, MA; 3. Lou Cicconi, 4. Jeff Holbrook, Oswego, NY; 5. Mike Ordway Jr., Fremont, NH; 6. Mark Sammut, London, Ontario; 7. Russ Wood, Pelham, NH; 8. Bobby Bond, Mexico, NY; 9. Jamie Timmons, N. Andover, MA; 10. Danny Lane, Essex, MA; 11. Dave Sanborn, Tilton, NH; 12. Artie Rousseau, Ipswich, MA; 13. David Duggan Jr., Milford, NH; 14. Craig Rayvals, Brockville, Ontario; 15. Brandon Bellinger, Fulton, NY; 16. Johnny Benson Jr., Cornelius, NC; 17. Jeff Abold, Baldwinsville, NY; 18. Mike Lichty, Innerkip, Ontario; 19. Larry Lehnert, New London, OH; 20. Eric Lewis, Solvay, NY; 21. Jeff Locke, Raymond, NH; 22. Dave McKnight, Brampton, Ontario; 23. Rob Summers, Vernon; 24. Vern Romanoski, Strong, ME; 25. Eric Emhoff, Union; 26. Ben Seitz, Bourne, MA
SK Modifieds (35-laps): 1. Ron Yuhas Jr., Groton; 2. Corey Hutchings, Salem; 3. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 4. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 5. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 6. Dennis Gada, Salem; 7. Shawn Solomito, Islip, NY; 8. Jeff Pearl, Salem; 9. Doug Coby, Milford; 10. Bert Marvin, New London; 11. Wayne Arute, Berlin; 12. Justin Gaydosh, Newtown; 13. Mike Sweeney, Middletown; 14. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 15. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford; 16. Joe Perry, Ashaway, RI; 17. Jeffrey Paul, Ledyard; 18. Don Fowler, Clinton; 19. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 20. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry
Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models (30-laps): 1. Bruce Thomas Jr., Groton; 2. Rich Staskowski, Hope Valley, RI; 3. Jeff Smith, Old Lyme; 4. Dennis Stampfl, Norwood, MA; 5. Vin Esposito, Seymour; 6. Joe Curioso, Pawcatuck; 7. Lawrence Goss, N. Windham; 8. Mark Hudson, Norton, MA; 9. Robert Leblanc Jr., Norwalk; 10. Jimmy Rosenfield, Middleboro, MA; 11. Allen Coates, Ledyard; 12. Ernie Bertrand, N. Branford; DNS – Brian Andronaco Jr., Wilton
Street Stocks (20-laps): 1. Josh Galvin, Uncasville; 2. Jim Procaccini, Trumbull; 3. Al Stone III, New Haven; 4. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 5. Ronnie Oldham Jr., Old Saybrook; 6. Jonathon Avery, Quaker Hill; 7. Steve Barrett, Preston; 8. Mark Cooper, Northford; 9. Ed Lamb, New Haven; 10. Walt Hovey Jr., Chaplin; 11. Ted Dupre, Westbrook; 12. Greg Moran, Jr., Preston; 13. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale; 14. Randy Waterman, Danielson; 15. Kevin Burr, Waterford; 16. John Puglisi, Orange; 17. Kevin Talbot, Moosup; 18. Kevin Gambacorta, Ellington; 19. Jim Bavolacco Sr., Stratford; 20. Ed Puleo, Branford; 21. Nate Appell, Westbrook; 22. Chris Meyer, N. Franklin; 23. Jesse Smith, Moodus
Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks (20-laps): 1. Bill Leonard, Wood River Jct, RI; 2. Randy Churchill Jr., Niantic; 3. Danny Field, Deep River; 4. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 5. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 6. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 7. Mark Panaroni, Ivoryton; 8. Ian Brew, Wood River Jct., RI; 9. Louis Bellisle III, Lisbon; 10. Sean Caron, Hartford; 11. Nick Pappacoda, N. Branford; 12. Chris Correll, Old Lyme; 13. Jeff Mehlenbacher, Groton; 14. Ken Lyke III, Orange; 15. Greg Moran Sr., Preston; 16. Charles Canfield, New Haven; 17. Chris Williams, Niantic; 18. Christina Cunliffe, Stratford; 19. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR