Harkin, Bennett, Loomis, Yardley clinch Wild and Wacky Wednesday titles
WATERFORD — Three contenders became champions Wednesday night in the season finale of Wild and Wacky Wednesday at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
Maddie Harkin, in the Bandeleros, Dave Yardley, in the Super X-Cars, and Peter Bennett, in the Legends, each did what they needed to do in order to lock down their first Speedbowl titles.
Eddie Loomis, meanwhile, had already wrapped up the X-Car championship, but left no doubts about his dominating season when he rolled to a win in the final race of the year.
“I’m just so happy,” Loomis said. “This is my first title. If I wasn’t for my dad and my brother helping me, we couldn’t have done it. The car handled awesomely tonight. I’m just glad to be up here. This means a lot.”
Loomis grabbed the lead from Bill Rheaume early in the race and led by a cozy margin the rest of the way. Wayne Shifflett, who started deep in the field, finished third.
Although John O’Sullivan III came 25 points short of winning a championship, he did tie for most wins in the division with five. He was at his dominating best Wednesday when he screeched into the lead early against Mason Levesque and rampaged his way into a lengthy lead.
Bennett moved into second, but did not have enough ammunition to shoot down O’Sullivan.
“John had the faster car tonight,” Bennett said, “there was no question about that. I was a little conservative tonight, but you have to give the credit to John.”
Bennett came out as the big winner, however, when he took the green flag and wrapped up his first Speedbowl title.
“This means a lot,” Bennett said. “This was our goal this year, to win the Wednesday and Saturday night titles. And we never lost track of that goal.”
Bennett leads by 22 points in his battle for the Saturday Legends crown.
Dave “the Wolfman” Yardley finished third in the Super X-car feature, but he was still howling at the finish. That’s because he put the padlock on the Super-X car title.
“I was expecting to do well this year, but the car wasn’t right until the last three weeks of the season,” Yardley said. “I was lucky to get the first two wins this year. And then my car kept getting faster and faster.”
The fastest on Wednesday was Ed Ryan Jr., who wrestled the lead from Marc “The Shaft” Shafer and held on for his third win of the season.
“”The first time I went to the outside , Shaft had me,” Ryan said. “But the second time, I was able to get the advantage.”
Harkin has the advantage in the first Bandolero feature as she carved her way to a division leading fifth win.
“You just have to be patient and it will come to you,” Harkin said. “I have a fast car, I just have to wait for it to come in. “
In the second race, P.J. Evans was in control from start to finish on his way to his third win.
“I feel good,” Evans said. “This car is definitely getting faster. My dad gave me a car good enough to get my third win.”
Harking, however, was able to celebrate a championship.
“It was a tough year,” Harkin said. “We had to deal with a lot of stuff all season long. I’m just glad it’s over.”
The champs will be crowned at the annual Wild at Wacky Banquet scheduled for Sept. 18 at the Speedbowl. Ticket information is available at the track web site, www.speedbowlct.com
