Keith Rocco Wins Fifth SK Modified Race of Season; Meyer First-Time Winner; Cassidy, Coates & Flannery Among Speedbowl Victors
Waterford, CT — A five division program of NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing was completed Saturday night at Waterford Speedbowl with national Series points leader Keith Rocco of Wallingford picking up another win in the SK Modifieds®, his fifth in six events held at the track this season. Eighteen year old Chris Meyer of North Franklin was a first time winner dominating the Street Stock race. Fifteen year old racer Anthony Flannery of East Hampton continued a hot start to the Legends Cars season and Allen Coates of Ledyard showed his Speedbowl prowess in checkering another A.B. CDL Training Center Truck race.
The ground pounding SK Modifieds® rolled out for their 35-lap feature with former Legends Cars champion Mark Bakaj moving out to the race lead from his pole starting position. Kyle James moved to second, Dennis Charette third, and Jeff Paul to fourth in the opening circuits. Further back the field was sorting itself out with multiple side by side battles taking place back through the field. Tom Abele Jr., Ron Yuhas, Jeff Pearl and Rocco were all working hard, successfully using the Speedbowl’s outside groove to advance. The first yellow flag waved on lap 11 when Mike Finkeldey slid through the turn two grass and came to rest off the apron of the track.
Bakaj restarted strong but James came on like gangbusters to pull alongside down the back chute. Bakaj fought him off, with James falling back to the clutches of Charette who moved to his inside. The action continued to be great all over the three-eighths mile Speedbowl oval as both the high and low grooves were working well for the competition. Charette eventually took second from Bakaj and brought Yuhas with him into third.
As the race reached halfway, Yuhas darted outside Charette to secure second. Rocco continued his forward progress and moved inside James to take the fourth position. Tyler Chadwick followed suit to round out the top five at lap 20. With Rocco in pursuit and in the top three, Yuhas jumped all over Bakaj for the lead. He looked high and low for a way around. Meanwhile Rocco moved outside Charette and took the second spot. One lap later Yuhas raced to the outside of Bakaj for the lead. The two raced side by side for three laps before Yuhas finally took command on lap 24. That action was slowed by a three car spin in turn four.
Yuhas powered to the lead on the restart. Rocco moved inside and took second from Bakaj and stayed glued to Yuhas’ back bumper. Only a lap was complete when Joe Perry and Joe Gada got together betweens turn 1 and 2, setting up a restart showdown between Yuhas and Rocco with ten laps remaining.
The pair raced even when the green flag waved for the restart. Rocco was able to pull ahead using the outside lane to lead lap 26. With Rocco out front only one more lap would be completed when Todd Ceravolo spun in turn four to bring out the fourth caution of the race and stage another restart between the two with Rocco in the preferred groove.
Rocco bested Yuhas over three more restarts and endured a red flag situation when several cars came together exiting turn two, creating a lengthy cleanup. He went on to his fifth win in six events held this season, padding his points lead over Yuhas in the process. Yuhas ended up second in the event with Chadwick third, Rob Janovic Jr. fourth and Pearl finishing fifth.
Nate Appell led the Street Stock race to green for a great 25-lap event. The first five laps was all out full contact door to door racing amidst the top five. That ended when contact caused Appell and Jim Procaccini to get together, sending Procaccini around in turn one to bring out the event’s only caution.
The tight action at the front continued when the race resumed under green. Meyer settled that by taking control, easing ahead of Ed Puleo and slowly pulled out to a half straightaway advantage when the race had reached halfway at lap 13. Josh Galvin came to life, looking inside Puleo for the second spot and finally completing the pass on lap 14. Al Stone III and Ronnie Oldham were racing hard towards the front and completed the top five runners at lap 15.
Stone finished off a terrific side by side battle with Oldham then moved inside Puleo for the third spot. Lapped traffic interfered with the move and Stone had to tuck back in line. After a brief break, Stone resumed his quest for the third spot. He moved by with just five laps to go, with Oldham in tow behind. Up front it was all Meyer. His advantage remained untouchable over Galvin.
The race would finish green with an enthusiastic Meyer picking up a career first victory. Galvin ran a strong second. Oldham snuck past Stone at the stripe for third to put the finishing touch on a great run. Stone was impressive for fourth with points leader Walt Hovey Jr. in fifth.
The 25-lap Norwich Bulletin Mini Stock feature was led in the early laps by Ray Christian III, before Charles Canfield took over. Canfield continued to lead through the event’s first caution, which waved on lap seven when Ben Bargnesi spun in turn two. Christian challenged on the restart, and actually regained the top spot momentarily on lap eight before Canfield raced back out front. Christian ran into trouble under the next caution on lap 12 when his machine caught fire momentarily and mechanical failure forced him to surrender his second position. That moved Chris Williams up to the position.
Following the restart, the battles at the head of the field heated up. Canfield, Williams and Cassidy would go three wide at one point, with Canfield still holding the top spot briefly. He finally succumbed to Cassidy on lap 13 as the event reached halfway. Chris Williams and Dan Field were behind Cassidy as the top three. Field worked his way by Williams on lap 19 turning the race into a battle between a pair of drivers claiming the last five division titles.
Cassidy and Field would go on to duel over the next four laps. Field actually pulled ahead to lead laps 22 and 23. But as they continued their heated battle, it boiled over coming to the with two laps remaining. Off turn four Cassidy had a nose under Field. Both drivers raced hard for the advantage and the same piece of real estate on the Speedbowl asphalt. Contact between the cars sent Field spinning and bringing out caution.
Cassidy held off a hard charging Glenn Colvin in the remaining two lap sprint to the finish. Sean Caron was third with Williams fourth and Mark Panaroni in fifth. Field ended up eleventh but was able to maintain his points lead over Cassidy during the wild finish.
Coates won a caution free A.B. CDL Training Center Truck 25-lapper, going on to another victory in a storied Speedbowl career. He went unchallenged to the win, stretching his points lead in the process. A great battle for second place between Howard Payne and Keith Rocco was waged throughout much of the event. They swapped the spot and put on a great display of hard-nosed short track racing at its best. Rocco eventually won that battle to claim second at the checkered flag in just his second start in the division. Payne was third, Bill Leonard finished fourth and Allen Coates’ son Corey finished in fifth.
The Legends Cars kicked off the program with a 20-lap main event. Dave Garbo led from the pole before Dana Dimatteo took over with outside move on lap one. Flannery didn’t waste any time attacking the new leader, as he dived under Dimatteo to claim the lead on lap two. Last year’s division champion Jason Palmer moved up to third in the early laps and began pressuring Dimatteo for the second position. The red flag came out on lap five when Nick Ladyga made contact with the backstretch wall and tumbled down the track before his machine landed on its wheels. Ladyga was ok following the incident.
Flannery resumed his lead when the green flag came back out on the field. He pulled away while Palmer worked over Dimatteo for the second spot. Palmer made the move on lap six to take the position and set his radar on chasing down Flannery. Over the next several circuits he slowly closed to Flannery’s back bumper. Just when things started to get interesting at the front, the caution flag waved for a spin in turn four by Peter Cirilli on lap 14.
That proved to be the final restart and Flannery mastered it. He pulled out to a two car length lead over Palmer and would hold that advantage through to the win. Palmer was second at the checkered flag. Veteran George Whitney finished third, Dimatteo fourth and Ed Field was fifth.
Next Saturday night the Speedbowl hosts another five division NASCAR Whelen All-American Series program for the SK Modifieds®, the Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Models, Street Stocks, Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks and visiting Allison Legacy Series Legends Cars will be in action. Qualifying begins at 5:30pm and main events begin at 7:00pm. More information is available online at Speedbowl.com or by calling the track info line at 860.442.1585.
Saturday 5/15 Results:
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modifieds® (35 laps): 1. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 2. Ron Yuhas Jr., Groton; 3. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 4. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 5. Jeff Pearl, Salem; 6. Mark Bakaj, Lebanon; 7. Dennis Charette, Southington; 8. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 9. Jeff Paul, Ledyard; 10. Glenn Griswold, Vernon; 11. Todd Ceravolo, Gales Ferry; 12. Glenn Pressell III, Gales Ferry; 13. Kyle James, Ashaway, RI; 14. Joe Perry, Ashaway, RI; 15. Adam Gada, Bozrah; 16. Joe Gada, Salem; 17. Mike Finkeldey, Clinton; 18. Justin Gaydosh, Newtown; 19. Tom Abele Jr., Norwich; 20. Shawn Solomito, Islip, NY; 21. Frank Mucciacciaro Jr., Milford
Standings after six events (top-ten): 1. Rocco, 303; 2. Yuhas, 277; 3. Chadwick, 224; 4. Janovic, 222; 5. Monahan, 220; 6. Charette, 210; 7. (tie) Paul, Pearl, 194; 9. Gaydosh, 186; 10. Finkeldey, 180
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series A.B. CDL Training Center Trucks (25 laps): 1. Allen Coates, Ledyard; 2. Keith Rocco, Berlin; 3. Howard Payne, Shelton; 4. Bill Leonard, Wood River Junction, RI; 5. Corey Coates, Ledyard; 6. Chris Correll, Old Lyme; 7. Harold Burdick, Dayville; 8. John Warren, Chicopee; 9. Greg Butler Jr., East Hampton; 10. Dan Butler, Manchester
Standings after four events (top-ten): 1. Allen Coates, 195; 2. Payne, 187; 3. Leonard, 156; 4. Correll, 146; 5. G. Butler, 126; 6. Corey Coates, 120; 7. Warren, 116; 8. Brad Caddick, 104; 9. Keith Chapman, 88; 10. Scott Gregory, 84
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Street Stocks (25 laps): 1. Chris Meyer, North Franklin; 2. Josh Galvin, Uncasville; 3. Ronnie Oldham Jr., Westbrook; 4. Al Stone III, New Haven; 5. Walt Hovey Jr., Chaplin; 6. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 7. Ed Puleo, Branford; 8. Mark Cooper, Northford; 9. Steve Barrett, Preston; 10. Jim Procaccini, Trumbull; 11. Nate Appell, Westbrook; 12. Greg Moran Jr., Preston; 13. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale; 14. Paul Gaedeke, Southington; 15. Phil Evans, Uncasville; 16. Norm Sears, Broad Brook; 17. Kevin Talbot, Moosup
Standings after six events (top-ten): 1. Hovey, 280; 2. Stone 263; 3. Plemons, 248; 4. Puleo, 243; 5. Barrett, 236; 6. Oldham, 235; 7. Sears, 231 8. Galvin, 219; 9. Procaccini, 218; 10. Meyer, 211
NASCAR Whelen All-American Series Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks (25 laps): 1. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon; 2. Glenn Colvin, Clinton; 3. Sean Caron, East Hampton; 4. Chris Williams, Waterford; 5. Mark Panaroni, Ivoryton; 6. Charles Canfield, New Haven; 7. Steve Violette, Canterbury; 8. Jack Aquilina, Oakdale; 9. Christina Kellerman, Stratford; 10. Ian Brew, Wood River Junction, RI; 11. Danny Field, Deep River; 12. Nick Pappacoda, North Branford; 13. Jeffrey Cembruch, Wallingford; 14. Randy Churchill, Oakdale; 15. Dale Sherman, Charlestown, RI; 16. Ryan Cipows, Seymour; 17. Douglas Curry, Groton; 18. Ray Christian III, Noank; 19. Greg Moran Sr., Preston; 20. Jeff Mehlenbacher, Groton; 21. Ken Lyke III, Orange; 22. Ben Bargnesi, Norwich; 23. Louis Bellisle III, Griswold; DNS – Chuck Rogers, Quaker Hill; Alan Hall Jr., North Haven
Standings after six events (top-ten): 1. D. Field, 285; 2. Cassidy, 283; 3. Caron, 257; 4. Williams, 233; 5. Violette, 216; 6. Canfield, 194; 7. Mehlenbacher, 186; 8. Brew, 182; 9. Bellisle, 180; 10. Moran, 174
Legends Cars (20 laps): 1. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 2. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 3. George Whitney, Westbrook; 4. Dana Dimatteo, Farmington; 5. Ed Field, Deep River; 6. Giovanni Giarratana, Newington; 7. Angelo Belsito, Auburn, MA; 8. Alessandro Vitelli, Woodbridge; 9. Dave Garbo Jr., Stonington; 10. Michael Blaskey, Bethany; 11. Dylan Izzo, Monroe; 12. Joey Campbell, Berlin; 13. Jake Spillers, Ashburnham, MA; 14. Joe Bavolacco, Stratford; 15. Troy Talman, Oxford, MA; 16. Joey Mucciacciaro, Wolcott; 17. Kyle Rogers, Waterbury; 18. Anthony Pagliarulo, Graceland, MA;
Standings after four events (top-ten): 1.Giarratana, 185; 2. Flannery, 180; 3. Vitelli, 164; 4. Field, 132; 5. Dimatteo, 124; 6. (tie) Shaun Buffington, Belsito, 120; 8. (tie) Bavolacco, Carl Blandina, 104; 10. (tie) Izzo, William Munro, 96
Sources: Waterford Speedbowl PR