Waterford, CT (October 5, 2014) – Waterford Speedbowl saw 210 racecars jam its pit area for Finale Weekend Sunday, hosting 13 race divisions for a huge day of motorsports. After rain forced the cancellation of Saturday’s scheduled events, track management crammed all racing into a full day of action Sunday. Scoring top honors was Keith Rocco of Berlin, who won the 100-lap Valenti Modified Racing Series feature. In NASCAR Whelen All-American Series races, Corey Barry of Plainfield and Garrett Denton of Hope Valley, RI each used a victory to cement track championships in the respective SK Light Modified and Mini Stock divisions. Ed Puleo of Branford won an entertaining SK Modified feature, Jason Palmer won the Valenti Auto Mall Late Model race, and Josh Galvin topped a thrilling Street Stock finish.
Northeastern Midget Association wins went to Ryan Bigelow of East Hampton, a first-time victor in the NEMA Midgets, and Dan Cugini of Marshfield, MA, won the companion NEMA Lite feature.
Joining them on the long list of winner’s for the day included Ray Reed of Norwich and Anthony Marvin of Colchester, each titlists in the Speedbowl’s Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday series, checkering the Super X-Car and INEX Bandolero races. Wayne Shifflett of Preston won the X-Car feature and Dana Dimatteo of Farmington took the top spot in the INEX Legend Cars. Preston native Jay Stuart won the Outlaw Stock race.
Rocco endured a Valenti Modified Racing Series event slowed by eleven caution flags, including one red flag situation early in the 100-lapper. He started fourth, moved to second on lap-2, and inherited the lead during a lap-11 caution flag when the lead car of Kyle James encountered mechanical failure. Steve Masse pressed Rocco over the middle portion of the race, taking the top spot on lap-50. Rocco rallied back, reclaiming his lead for good following a lap-52 restart. Rocco was not seriously challenged the rest of the way. The win was Rocco’s third of the year in the series, and second at the Speedbowl. Tommy Barrett recovered from an early incident the placed him at the rear of the field to finish second while Richard Savary also rebounded from a melee to claim third in the final rundown.
Puleo checkered an entertaining 50-lap race for the SK Modifieds®. Rocco, the division champion for the season, marched to the front early and took the lead from Craig Lutz on lap-12. Rocco pulled ahead and led through a long run of clean racing when his motor began failing. On lap-37 Rocco retired from the race handing the lead to Puleo, who had moved to second position behind Rocco just three laps prior. Puleo had a charging Ted Christopher shadowing his every move over the next several laps. Christopher nearly wrestled the lead away on the outside, however a yellow flag for a spin with 48 laps completed set the stage for a green-white-checkered conclusion. Puleo fended off the advances of both Christopher and third place finisher Rob Janovic Jr. over the final two-lap sprint. It was Puleo’s third victory of the year.
In NEMA Midget racing, Bigelow continued a trend at the track of first-time winners. He checkered the 25-lap feature, taking over when Jim Santamaria spun out of the lead on lap-14. Bigelow held on from there, besting the field over one additional restart. Todd Bertrand was second and Avery Stoehr finished third. In the NEMA Lites, Cugini dominated the 25-lap race once out front. Ryan Krachun used a sixth place finish to put the finishing touches on a championship.
Palmer won his fourth Valenti Auto Mall Late Model feature of the year with the 50-lap victory. He battled with Anthony Ryan Jr. for the race lead, spending the better part of five laps outside Ryan before taking the lead for good on lap-22. Palmer cruised from there, getting away from a brief three-wide challenge following a lap-37 restart. Marc Curtis was second and Ryan finished third.
Denton secured his first Mini Stock championship with a winning effort, his fifth of the year. He became the youngest NASCAR Whelen All-American Series champion in track history at seventeen years old, relinquishing a strange hold veteran racers held in the division for more than a decade. Denton took the lead halfway through the 30-lap race from Wayne Burroughs Jr. and never looked back. Burroughs was second and Chris Ivory ended up third.
Barry clinched the SK Light Modified division title on a high note, winning his sixth race of the season. He survived what turned out to be a rough event as several cars encountered trouble during the race, which was red-checkered one lap shy of its scheduled 25-lap distance after the seventh yellow flag of the race. Barry was almost collected once, nearly spinning from the lead after contact with Paul Buzel on lap-21, but hung on. He bested D.J. Burnham and last year’s champion Randy Churchill Jr., who finished second and third. Churchill was runner-up to Barry in the season standings.
Galvin already wrapped up his first Street Stock division championship but Sunday’s 30-lap race turned into a great duel with Ryan Waterman. The pair ran the final nine laps side-by-side with neither gaining more than a bumper’s advantage. Waterman, who used a great move to get to Galvin’s inside, stayed there and led through lap-28. Galvin hung tough on the top of the track and led the white flag lap before sprinting to the finish line by inches ahead of Waterman in a photo finish. Ed Gertsch Jr. finished third.
Dimatteo, a past INEX Legend Cars champion at the track, ended a dry spell at the Speedbowl with a win in the division’s 20-lap feature. He avoided an opening lap crash and took control from Ryan Lutz after the race restarted, leading the duration. Dimatteo held off a charging Brendon Bock to the checkered flag. Lutz was third after his best performance of the season.
Marvin, the track’s Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday INEX Bandolero champion, won the 10-lap feature for the division. Derek Debbis finished second in the final rundown.
Reed, the track’s Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday Super X-Car champion, prevailed in an opening race tussle for the lead with Ed Ryan before rolling to victory in the division’s 20-lapper.
Shifflett took the lead on lap-8 of the 20-lap X-Car feature and went on to the win.
Stuart led from start to finish in a non-stop 20-lap Outlaw Stock race.