TVMRS WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL 08/16/08

   It was nice to see something tonight at the New Waterford Speedbowl that we haven’t seen in quite some time – a very full house! The grandstands were packed and the parking lots even more so. A second overflow lot had to be opened up to accommodate all of the cars trying to enter from Route 85.
   The crowd on hand was treated to a great night of racing at the “Wings & Wheels” program sponsored by Foxwoods Casino and Cool 100 FM radio. The “Wings” divisions consisted of the NEMA Midgets and the ISMA Super Modifieds, who run this short track at over 100 mph. The “Wheels” were the Speedbowl’s regular SK modified division as well as the True Value Modified Tour, making their second visit of the year to the Speedbowl.
   All of the divisions ran heats to determine qualifying spots, giving the crowd some added excitement. In the True Value Modifieds, #43 Kirk Alexander took the checkers in the first heat, followed by the #78 of Jeff Malave and the #28 of Dwight Jarvis.
   Heat two saw the #73 of Jonathon McKennedy cross the stripe first followed by the #18 of Spiers, and the #15 of Chris Pasteryak, the current point leader on the tour. In Heat three, Waterford Speedbowl’s own Jeff Pearl in the #11 took the checkers with #25 Rob Summers and #55 Joe Doucette finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.
   The starting grid will line up as follows: 1) #43 Kirk Alexander; 2) #73 Jonathon McKennedy; 3) #11 Jeff Pearl; 4) #78 Jeff Malave; 5) #15 Chris Pasteryak; 6) #25 Rob Summers; 7) #28 Dwight Jarvis; 8) #17 Jack Bateman; 9) #35 Dale Evonsion; 10) #10x Ed Dachenhausen; 11) #18 Eddy Spiers; 12) #22 David Pinkham; 13) #96 Butch Perry; 14) #20 Ted Christopher; 15) #04 Dave Berube; 16) #12 Vinnie Annarummo; 17) #0 Mike Holdridge; 18) #69 Jim Dolan; 19) #13 Steve Masse; 20) #6 Rob Goodenough; 21) #55 Joe Doucette; 22) #76 Todd Owen; 24) #4 Tony Ricci; 25) #79 Kenny Vogel Jr.; 26) #77 Kenny White Jr.; 27) #31 Shawn Monahan; and 28) #06 Les Hinckley.
   Alexander led the field to the green with Jon McKennedy second, but Jeff Pearl quickly moved into the second spot. The first 47 laps of the event ran green, with Alexander and Pasteryak the class of the field. Pasteryak moved to second on lap 20, and he would stay there until the restart on lap 56.
   There would be a spell of “cautions breed cautions” in the middle of the event with the first one coming on lap 47 as #35 Dale Evonsion spun in turn two. The next would be on lap 51 as #77 Ken White Jr., #22 David Pinkham, and #13 Steve Masse tangle in turn two. They were all able to pull away under their own power. One more caution in this sequence on lap 58 as #77 White and #79 Vogel spun in turn two to bring out the third yellow.
   On the subsequent restart, Chris Pasteryak took the lead away from Kirk Alexander. He would hold the lead – and begin pulling away from the field – until a caution with two laps to go. Pasteryak would again pull ahead of Alexander on the restart, but the yellow came right back out as the #31 of Shawn Monahan brought out caution number five.
   Alexander battled to tried and pry the lead from Pasteryak, but his tires appear to be worn out and he can’t complete the move. The last restart was single file and Pasteryak pulled ahead to take the checkers.
   There was a moving tribute on lap 66 as the fans saluted John Blewett III with a standing ovation. Blewett passed away one year ago from injuries suffered in a crash in the Whelen Modified Tour at Thompson International Speedway.
   Chris Pasteryak said he had a great car to the and was glad to see the sun go down and have the outside groove come in. That groove was what Pasteryak used to pass McKennedy and then Kirk Alexander. Chris put his knowledge of the track to good use to hold off Alexander on the restarts. He added, “This is the best car we’ve had here. I don’t think I could have come from the back and won, but we had a good starting spot and I knew I only had to pass a couple of cars. Sitting in there riding around you start thinking about all of the things that can go wrong with the car! To win at your home track in front of a packed house – this is great!”
   He continued, “Everyone who has ever worked on or touched the racecar was here tonight, and to pick up the first win here was great. This was a great program and I hope they [the Speedbowl] can do this every year and that everyone marks it down on their calendars to come again.” The win also gave Pasteryak a guaranteed starting spot in Thompson’s Modified Mania event.
   Other winners of the evening were: SK Modifieds, Ron Yuhas; NEMA Midgets, Randy Cabral (his third at Waterford this year); and ISMA Super Modifieds, “Liquid” Lou Cicconi. As Cabral left the press box he said, “I hope to visit you [media in press box] again in October!”

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