Waterford, CT (August 16, 2014) – NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing
returned to Waterford Speedbowl Saturday evening with a six-division
racing card on track. Hometown driver Rob Janovic Jr. claimed the night’s
SK Modified® victory, his first of the year. Bruce Thomas Jr. of Groton
took his third Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature win, Josh Galvin of Franklin won for the tenth time in the Street Stocks, and Ken Cassidy Jr. of Lisbon took his sixth Mini Stock win of the year. Brendon Bock of Franklin Square, NY won his first ever Speedbowl feature in the evening’s INEX Legend Cars race and Allen Coates of Ledyard recorded another win in the New England Truck Series at his home track.
Janovic picked up his first win of the season in SK Modified® action,
taking the checkered flag for the first time since June of 2013. The
35-lap race was slowed by several caution flags, but Janovic was near the
front of the field throughout. He started fourth and was patient as a
Shawn Monahan-Ed Puleo battle for the lead broke out ahead of him after
the pair started the race on the front row. The two raced side-by-side
with Monahan holding a slight advantage until the first caution on lap-4
when Jeff Gallup and Keith Rocco spun in turns one and two on lap-4.
Monahan got away from Puleo on the restart and Puleo went spinning out of
turn two. The field missed becoming collected and it put Janovic to
Monahan’s outside for the ensuing restart. Janovic tucked in behind
Monahan and the two pulled ahead to a five car advantage over third place
Diego Monahan. That enabled Janovic space to go to work on the leader,
darting outside Monahan on lap-10. The two raced wheel to wheel for two
laps with Janovic inching his way ahead of Monahan before claiming sole
possession of the lead on lap-12. Moments later, something under the hood
of Ted Christopher let go down the back chute as he was mired in a tight
pack of cars just outside the top-five. A lengthy delay ensued as cleanup
crews tended to an oil down in the third turn.
Janovic restarted cleanly, pulling ahead over each of four additional
restarts the rest of the way. He could not be derailed and powered to
victory. Keith Rocco used a late race surge to take second, passing Tim
Jordan for the spot on the final lap. Jordan was third and Diego Monahan
was fourth, with Craig Lutz fifth.
Thomas rebounded from a hard crash the last time the Valenti Auto Mall
Late Model division raced, back on August 2. He took the victory in
Saturday’s 30-lap race, dominating much of it. Thomas took the lead
outside of Chris Garside on the opening lap and never waivered. He got
two good restarts over the second half of the race to keep his lead. The
first came after a spin by Art Moran III, and Thomas got the jump over
Jason Palmer. Ryan Morgan made an infrequent appearance at the track in
2014 and looked strong, snaring third from Keith Rocco on the restart on
the outside. Morgan then used the bottom of the track to get by Palmer
after the final caution on lap-25. Thomas would not be denied, but Morgan
finished runner-up with a solid outing. Palmer was third.
Galvin continued his roll in the Street Stock division by landing another
win, his tenth of the year. He started the 25-lap feature in eleventh
position and drove the inside lane through early race traffic. By lap-6
Galvin was already in a battle for fourth position. On lap-10, he moved
to third in advance of a yellow flag on lap-12. He lined up directly
behind Lloyd Anderson, who controlled the early laps before the caution
erased his advantage. Following the restart, Anderson washed up the track
out of turn four allowing Galvin to pull to his inside and into the lead
on lap-13. Galvin cruised from there. He finished off the win and moved
within one victory of the division’s single-season record of eleven, set
by Dwayne Dorr in 2006. A pair of former champions, Al Stone III and Ed
Gertsch Jr., finished in second and third.
Cassidy took his sixth checkered flag of the year in the 25-lap Mini Stock
feature in his quest for a sixth track championship. He was ahead of a
big wreck on the second lap the eliminated multiple cars from the race.
Trouble began when Nick Pappacoda slid off the fourth corner, clipping Ray
Christian and sending his car up into heavy traffic. Several cars piled
in with Dave Sylvia, Charles Canfield, and Jeff Lee all taking bruising
blows. After a long cleanup, Cassidy moved to second position before
taking the lead outside Joe Liskiewicz after a lap-7 restart, the last of
the race. Liskiewicz stayed with Cassidy for a few laps, but eventually
Cassidy pulled away. Liskiewicz finished second and point leader Garrett
Denton was third.
Bock recorded his first ever victory at the Speedbowl in the night’s
25-lap INEX Legend Cars race. It was not, however, without some drama.
Bock, the Riverhead (NY) Raceway division champion in 2013, was entrenched
in a battle for the lead midway through the race when he tangled with Joey
Ternullo. The two cars touched exiting turn two on lap-15, spinning down
the back chute. The incident collected Mike Christopher Jr., the
winningest driver in the division this season and point leader, who was in
third position. Two additional incidents aided Bock’s efforts to get
back to the front. He took second position on lap-20 and two laps later,
was inside Dana Dimatteo for the lead. He completed the pass and the
final three laps were run cleanly to the checkered flag. Keith Rocco was
second and Ternullo came back to finish third.
Coates used a daring three-wide maneuver on the bottom of the track to
take the lead five laps in to the 25-lap New England Truck Series feature.
Coates, one of the Speedbowl’s all-time winningest drivers, took
advantage of his home track experience to stay in command the rest of the
way. Coates’ son Corey was second and Glenn Noll was third.
Next Saturday, the Valenti Auto Mall Late Model division is in the NASCAR
Whelen All-American series spotlight with a special 50-lap feature. They
are joined by the SK Modifieds®, Street Stocks, Mini Stocks, SK Light
Modifieds and INEX Legend Cars.