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 Waterford,
CT (August 29, 2012) – Waterford Speedbowl returned Wednesday
evening with another round in its Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday race
series. An amazing night of racing was put on by the competitors,
including a stellar X-Car race among the top contenders. Scoring
victories in the evening’s races included Randy Johnston of
Westerly, RI in the hotly contested X-Car event while Matt Pappa of
Nassau, NY came out on top of a wild final lap to win in the Legend
Cars. Dan Butler of Waterford returned to the winner’s circle in
Super X-Car action and Derek Debbis of Oakdale was another repeat
winner in the Bandoleros. Peter Pollard of Old Lyme took a victory
in the night’s Wacky Race, a Flag Pole Race for the Super X-Car
division. The night began with a race by the Vintage Outlaw
Modifieds.
The 20-lap Legend Cars feature was down to the wire among three
drivers. Gioavanni Giarratana took the lead at the start, but the
field could only complete one lap before further back in the back,
Tim Heath’s car shot out of line and into the turn one wall to bring
out the caution flag. The lone restart of the race followed and
Giarratana resumed out front.
Behind Giarratana, multiple time race winners Dave Garbo Jr. and
Pappa both moved into contention. Garbo took second from Nicholas
Sowa and trailed Giarratana from lap-5 all the way to the final
laps. Joey Mucciacciaro and Pappa moved to third and fourth position
as they got around Sowa and had their sights on the lead two.
Garbo stayed on Giarratana’s bumper waiting for an opportunity to
present itself. Off turn four on lap-11, Garbo peeked low but tucked
back in line, unable to make a solid move. Meanwhile, Pappa slipped
by Mucciacciaro to take third. Garbo had another opportunity when
Giarratana momentarily slipped off turn four on lap-16, but again
Giarratana was able to get away. As the top two battled, Pappa crept
in to make it a three car race for the checkered flag as they hit
three laps to go.
The top three stayed in line through lap-18. Rounding turns three
and four headed to the white flag, Garbo made a move to the outside
of Giarratana. Exiting turn four, Giarratana drifted up and made
contact with Garbo, sending both into the frontchute wall. Pappa
dove low and snuck past both who saved their cars from wrecking.
Pappa drove off to the win over the final lap while Giarratana was
able to hang on for second. Mucciacciaro was close enough to the
lead pack to take advantage of the contact to snatch third place
away from Garbo at the checkered flag. Garbo recovered for fourth.
The 20-lap X-Car feature began with a three-way battle for the top
spot between Frank Shepard, Chris Thomas and Onie Pierce. While
battling three abreast across the track, Thomas got bounced into the
turn one wall on lap-4 to bring out the first caution. Shepard
resumed from the rear and Pierce was the race leader.
Pierce spun out of turn two on the restart to drop from the lead,
giving way to Johnston. Johnston watched as Brad Voglesong stormed
into second and raced to his outside to contend for the win. The two
battled for the better part of the race side-by-side for the lead.
Johnston held the inside groove while Voglesong raced the outside
groove to perfection. The pair swapped the lead multiple times
inside 10 laps remaining. Behind them, points leader Glen Thomas Jr.
raced into third and into contention over the final laps. Johnston
fought off Voglesong and then held back a last lap charge by Thomas
to win by a half car, with Thomas pinned to his inside. Voglesong
finished a close third.
The Super X-Car race was led in the early going by John Yagmin.
Butler raced into second position out of a pack of cars that also
included Peter Pollard, Matt Carlson and Kevin Moon. Yagmin enjoyed
a lead without pressure from behind as the race stayed caution free
past halfway of the 20-lapper. The first caution finally waved on
lap-12 when Shawn Gaedeke spun in turn four just ahead of the
hard-charging leaders. Both Yagmin and Butler skidded to a near halt
to avoid the spun Gaedeke in a very close call for the leaders.
Butler lined up outside of Yagmin for the restart, then pulled out
to the lead when racing resumed. Butler held back both Yagmin and
Moon in the final laps to score the 20-lap race win. Yagmin and Moon
swapped second position over the final three laps, with Moon able to
wrestle away with the spot by the checkered flag. Yagmin took home
third.
Debbis took the lead from defending champion Rachel Forte on lap-5
of the 20-lap Bandolero feature. Forte fended off a challenge from
Ken Morin Jr. in the opening laps to gain control of the race from
the drop of the green flag. Debbis broke out of a pack of cars
behind the lead two to charge up the outside lane into contention.
He continued his march in the outside lane to pass Forte. Once in
the lead, Debbis motored out to a lead he would not surrender as the
race ran without delay from green to checkered flags.
Behind Debbis, a race for second position took place among multiple
cars throughout much of the feature. Forte and Morin swapped the
spot but Alex McCollum, Anthony Marvin and Rene Morgillo were all in
the mix over the second half of the race. Morin took second back for
good on lap-18, then held back Forte who tried one last rally in the
outside lane on the final lap. While Debbis cruised to the win, his
eighth of the Wednesday season, Morin took second and Forte third at
the finish line.
On Saturday, the Speedbowl returns with a special racing program for
its annual Thunder on the Sound event, presented by the Connecticut
National Guard. A special nine-division program makes up the racing
card, highlighted by the 16th annual Budweiser Modified Nationals
SK-150. The Northeastern Midget Association joins for their
Angelillo Memorial event, a must-see for any midget racing fan. A
full NASCAR Whelen All-American Series racing program plus the INEX
Legend Cars and Bandoleros joins the event, which gets underway with
special times. Pit gates open at 11:00am on Saturday with practice
beginning at noon. The first qualifying races begin at 4:00pm with
the first of the nine main events commencing at 6:00pm. More details
are available by visiting Speedbowl.com. |
