Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/6 Results
Waterford, CT (August 6, 2014) – Waterford Speedbowl was back Wednesday
evening with another Wild ‘n Wacky motorsports program. Four race winners
reached Victory Lane, with Mitch Bombard of Willimantic leading the way
with an extra-distance X-Car victory. Mike Christopher Jr. of Wolcott
continued his dominance in the INEX Legend Cars, Anthony Marvin of
Colchester won the INEX Bandolero feature and Dave Yardley of Berlin
closed the night with a win in the Super X-Cars.
The X-Car division was in the spotlight Wednesday with a special 30-lap
race. The competition shined in their biggest race of the season, and the
top three finishers put on a thrilling clean and hard fought battle for
the win. Bombard took control of the race on lap-2 and held the lead
throughout, however Jordan Hadley swiftly moved to second position and
stalked Bombard for the lead lap after lap. Bombard couldn’t shake
Hadley, who looked in both the high and low grooves for an opportunity to
pull alongside. Their duel at the front enabled Wayne Shifflett to close
in from third position after he picked cars off one at a time to move into
contention. Shifflett joined the mix for the final ten laps and was able
to by Hadley’s inside to pressure Bombard through the checkered flag.
Bombard held back all challenges and earned a tough victory that was down
to the proverbial wire. Shifflett came up a half car length short,
finishing second, while Hadley finished third however was disqualified in
post-race technical inspection, moving point leader Zac Thomas to a podium
finish.
Christopher won again in INEX Legend Car ranks, taking his eleventh
victory in the Wednesday series and eighteenth overall at the track in
2014. The 25-lap race was a rough one, with several caution flags plus a
red flag for a delay after seasoned racer Dennis Pantani took a hard hit
into the fourth turn wall on lap-17. Christopher actually moved out front
on lap-6, staying there the rest of the way. Mike Blaskey was second and
an enthusiastic Devin O’Connell made his first Speedbowl start in the
division and took third.
Marvin won for the fifth time on the season in the INEX Bandoleros,
checkering the 15-lap race to add to his bulge in the championship
standings. Marvin flexed his muscle to get by the outside of Jonathon
Puleo exiting turn four early in the race, pulled out to a big lead, and
hung on as the tandem of Puleo and Ken Morin Jr. closed in over the final
laps. Marvin won by seven car lengths over Puleo, and Morin finished on
Puleo’s bumper in third.
Yardley closed out the evening’s winners in a cleanly competed 25-lap
race, which ran without a caution. Marc Shafer impressed at the front of
the pack, leading from the start until Yardley overtook him on the outside
of the track over the middle of the race. Yardley had the lead by inches
on lap-12 before he finally cleared Shafer on lap-14. Once out front
Yardley was able to cruise to victory. Shafer recorded his best career
finish in second and Jim Boyle was third.
Saturday, the biggest racing event of summer hits the asphalt when the
Speebowl hosts Wings & Wheels. The ISMA Supermodifieds make their one and
only appearance at the shoreline oval of the year for a 50-lap race, and
they are joined by the Valenti Modified Racing Series, NEMA Midgets plus
the track’s SK Modified® and SK Light Modified divisions. The Valenti
Modified Racing Series makes its second of three visits to the Speedbowl
with a 100-lap green flag feature race. The NEMA Midgets and NEMA Lites
each race for 25-laps, plus the NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK
Modifieds and SK Light Modifieds. Gates open early, with pit admission
beginning at 11:00am and grandstands opening at 1:00pm. Qualifying races
begin at 5:00pm, with opening ceremonies and the first main event set for
6:30pm. More details are available online at Speedbowl.com.
Waterford Speedbowl Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday 8/6 Results & Standings:
INEX Legend Cars (25-laps): 1. Mike Christopher, Wolcott; 2. Mike
Blaskey, Bethany; 3. Devin O’Connell, Waxhaw, NC; 4. T.J. Thompson,
Lisbon; 5. John O’Sullivan Jr., Salem; 6. Cassandra Cole, Westbrook; 7.
Noah Korner, Canton; 8. Scott Limekmann, East Lyme; 9. David Johnson,
Arlington, MA; 10. Connor Holderbach, Wolcott; 11. Joseph Graf, Manwah,
NJ; 12. David Lespinasse, Milford; 13. Joey Ternullo, Middletown; 14.
Dennis Pantani, Branford
Unofficial standings (top-ten): 1. Christopher, 683; 2. Ternullo, 577;
3. Blaskey, 479; 4. O’Sullivan, 460; 5. Pantani, 442; 6. Limkemann,
422; 7. Lespinasse, 388; 8. Josh Zentek, 384; 9. Holderbach, 336; 10.
Thompson, 300
INEX Bandoleros (15-laps): 1. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 2. Jonathon
Puleo, Branford; 3. Ken Morin Jr., Old Saybrook; 4. Nickolas Hovey,
Chaplin; 5. Ethan Durocher, Plainfield; 6. Andrew Morin, Old Saybrook
Unofficial standings (top-five): 1. Marvin, 655; 2. Puleo, 641; 3.
Hovey, 446; 4. K. Morin, 403; 5. Durocher, 346
X-Cars (30-laps): 1. Mitch Bombard, Willimantic; 2. Wayne Shifflett,
Preston; 3. Zac Thomas, New London; 4. Randy Johnston, Westerly, RI; 5.
C.P. Burdick, Deep River; 6. Christopher Lee, Uncasville; 7. Kim
Bickford, Griswold; 8. Michael Olsen, Deep River; 9. Craig Tavernier,
Moosup; 10. Tom Sheehan, Baltic; 11. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 12. Rich
Nye, Stonington; 13. Corey Comeroski, Lebanon; 14. Ray Herman, Oakdale;
15. Onie Pierce, Norwich; DQ – Jordan Hadley, Quaker Hill; DQ – Eric
Finkbein Jr., East Hartford
Unofficial standings (top-ten): 1. Thomas, 698; 2. Johnston, 623; 3.
Nye, 544; 4. Bombard, 534; 5. Loomis, 504; 6. Hadley, 502; 7. Lee,
478; 8. Jeff Dombrowski, 476; 9. Finkbein, 453; 10. Olsen, 414
Super X-Cars (25-laps): 1. Dave Yardley, Berlin; 2. Marc Shafer, Groton;
3. Jim Boyle, East Windsor; 4. Dan Moon, Exeter, RI; 5. Kevin Moon,
Exeter, RI; 6. Jon Porter, Canterbury; 7. Shane Peele, Wales, MA; 8.
Bill Reiman, Southington; 9. Ray Reed, Norwich; 10. Shawn Gaedeke,
Southington; 11. Todd Taylor, Waterford; 12. Scott Bellisle, Wauregan;
13. Ken Downing III, Branford; DQ – Matt Carlson, Griswold
Unofficial standings (top-ten): 1. Reed, 588; 2. K. Moon, 584; 3.
Reiman, 536; 4. Boyle, 516; 5. Downing, 492; 6. Peele, 490; 7.
Carlson, 446; 8. Shafer, 434; 9. Yardley, 461; 10. Porter, 457