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9/5/2010 |
WATERFORD
SPEEDBOWL
"THUNDER ON THE SOUND"
by
Hazel Meredith |
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The Modified Racing Series, sponsored by Bob Valenti AutoMall.com, returns
to the “Bowl” for their third visit of the year. It will be a busy night
both in the pits and on the track as eight divisions are in competition.
The MRS has a heated battle for the championship in the works -- with just
five races remaining on the 2010 schedule, three drivers are in contention
for the title.
The Series last competed at Thompson International Speedway, which saw
engine problems for the point leader, an off night for the series defending
champion, and a well-deserved win by one of the series’ young stars.
Dwight Jarvis of Ascutney, VT, suffered engine problems during practice
forcing the point leader and former series champion out of the event. Jon
McKennedy from East Chelmsford, MA, who was second in the standings, was not
running up to par, and was involved in a late race incident resulting in a
24th place finish. That result left him tied for first place with Les
Hinckley of Windsor Locks, CT.
“Hinckley entered the program 39 points behind Jarvis, but thanks to the
hard work and commitment by his car owner, Chuck Montville, and crew,
Hinckley was race ready after a hard practice session crash. In the feature
race, Hinckley quietly made his way to a top five finish after starting deep
in the field, and ended up in a tie with McKennedy at the top of the
standings.” (MRS PR)
Rowan Pennink of Huntingdon Valley, PA, is also now only 33 points out of
first place thanks to his win at Thompson. That was his second win of 2010.
Since the program is so long tonight features took to the track at 4:45,
with a couple of divisions running before and between MRS qualifying.
Saturday Legends
First up are the Legends Division with 21 cars starting the event. The #20X
of Joe Bavolacco led the field to the green, with the #45 of Joey
Mucciaeciaro quickly taking the point by going three-wide on the second lap.
The first caution came on the following circuit as the #88G of George
Dorothy Jr. went airborne in turn one.
Alessandr Vitelli in the #21 moves to the point on the fifth circuit with a
second caution on lap 10 for the #38 of Nick Ladyga and #2 of Angelo Belsito
spinning in turn one. Both cars were able to drive away and continue.
Anthony Flannery in the #25 took the checkers followed by #88 Dave Garbo
Jr., #21 Alessandr Vitelli, #45 Joey Mucciaeciaro and #30 Edward Field. This
was Flannery’s 18th win of the season -- quite a feat by the 16-year-old. He
says that he and his family have purchased a late model car (the one driven
by Keith Rocco in the season-opener), and he hopes to be able to get it on
the track before the end of the year, and compete in the Late Model Division
full-time next season.
MRS Qualifying
The first of three qualifying heats for the MRS is up next with The #21 of
Geoff Gernhard leading the field to the green. Dwight Jarvis in the #28, who
started second, dropped back quickly. The #10 of Don Fowler got loose coming
off turn four and also lost some spots.
The results are #21 Gernhard; #52 Pasteryak; #2 Barry; #00 Christopher; #55
Doucette; #57 Rocco; #28 Jarvis; #10x Fowler; #98 Chew.
In the second heat, the #34 of Dave Etheridge started on the point, but the
#73 of Jon McKennedy who started second, pulled ahead and led the entire
heat.
The finish was #34 Etheridge; #1 Goodenough; #53 Wrenn; #13 Masse; #12
Annarummo; #97 Malave; #18 Spiers; and #0 Cleary.
In the third heat, Les Hinckley in the #06 started on point and led the
entire heat. Once the field got single file, there was no passing.
The finish was #06 Hinckley; #79 Zachem; #17 Bateman; #05 Dore; #9 Jarvis;
#20 Coby; #25 Pennink; #85 Mechalides; and #71 Pearl.
The top six finishers from each heat move to the feature and there will be a
consi of the final eight cars. Bryon Chew will not be in the consi as his
car still has damage from the event at Thompson.
A.B. CDL Training Center Truck Division
Ten trucks took to the track for this division with the #8 of Bill Leonard
leading most of the first half until Waterford veteran, Allen Coates in the
#90, passed for the lead. Just a lap later the caution came out for debris
-- a piece of a truck fender on the track.
Coates quickly pulled ahead on the restart and the battle was for second
between Leonard and Keith Rocco in the #94. Rocco would prevail and pull
ahead, but another caution would fly as the #0 of Howard Payne lost power
and headed to the infield.
Coates and Rocco battle side-by-side on the re-start with the trucks even
after a lap and a half until Coates is able to pull ahead. With five laps to
go, Rocco is still on his bumper, but can’t get by -- at least not yet.
Despite repeated attempts and bumpers to Coates, Rocco had to settle for
second in this event. Third was #8 Bill Leonard and fourth was #22 Keith
Chapman.
The Allison Legacy Series
This touring division of mostly 12 and 13-year-olds, ran a 25 lap feature
with the #44 of James Logan taking the win. #3 Kyle Poodlack was second and
#46 Eric “the Bonehead” Bour was third.
MRS Consi
The eight non-qualifiers try for their last shot to make tonight’s feature.
The top four will make the move to the feature, with two provisional
starting positions as well.
Leading the pack to the green is #28 Dwight Jarvis, the defending series
champion.
Jarvis jumps to the point at the start-finish line with #25 Rowan Pennink
and #97 Jeff Malave battling for second. Pennink gets the edge and pulls
ahead. In the fourth and last qualifying spot is #85 Louie Mechalides. The
#18 of Eddy Spiers pulls to the infield with apparent mechanical issues.
At the half-way mark, the same four are leading with the battle being for
fifth between #10 Down Fowler and #71 Jeff Pearl. Jarvis would take the
checkers, followed by Pennink, Malave, and Mechalides.
Rowan Pennink and Don Fowler get the provisional starting spots, with Jeff
Pearl getting the track provisional.
Special Event
The crowd gathered at the Speedbowl had a special treat tonight as a
Sikorsky Blackhawk Helicopter landed on the infield. Several lucky fans won
a drawing to “meet and greet” the National Guard troops that flew in on the
copter. After Miss Connecticut sang the National Anthem, the SK modifieds
readied to begin their feature event.
SK Modified Feature
Todd
Ceravolo in the #16 led the field to the green with the #73 of Joe Perry on
the outside front row. Ceravolo has had two second place finishes this year
and is trying for his first win.
After a quick caution for debris on lap 3, Ceravolo quickly jumps to the
point again. Perry is second -- Ron Yuhas is falling to the back of the
field with apparent issues.
Keith Rocco, the newly crowned NASCAR Short-Track Champion, is on the move
and has a bumper to the back of Joe Gada trying to gain fifth spot. After a
second caution, Ceravolo is back out front with #71 Jeff Pearl in second and
#91 Jeff Paul in third ahead of Perry. Rocco is behind Gada again in the
outside lane trying to move forward.
On lap 14, Joe Perry goes for a spin through the turn one grass after
contact with the #13 of Doug Coby and #17 of Adam Gada. Gada comes to a rest
sideways in turn one and luckily the #21 Kyle James was able to almost stop
before tapping Gada in the driver’s side door.
Ceravolo has the restarts down pat as he again jumps out front. Pearl has
pulled ahead of Paul for second. #51 Rob Janovic is now battling Paul for
third and has the edge on the next lap. Paul is sticking to the bumper of
Pearl and trying to get by without success.
With two to go, Ceravolo has a commanding lead over Pearl. The battle
continues for third with Janovic taking the spot, Paul in fourth and in
fifth the #32 of Tom Abele Jr. Keith Rocco, who has dominated the division
this season, finished mid-pack in tenth.
Norwich Bulletin Mini Stocks
Christina Kellerman in the #04 led the field to the green. Kellerman pulls
ahead of the pack but the #25 of Charles Canfield quickly gets past to take
the lead. The #6 of Nick Papacoda spun in turn four with a near miss by
several cars who got around him. Canfield takes the lead on the restart with
#5 Steve Violette in second and #3 Ian Brew third. Kellerman is fourth --
until the next caution on lap 10 for the #33 Chuck Rogers who spun in turn
four.
Canfield leads the pack again with Brew in second and #52 Sean Caron now in
third. The #50 of Louis Bellisle III has moved to fourth with #51 Mark
Panaroni fifth. The #04 of Kellerman gets spun in turn two and heads to the
pits. She is able to return to the track.
At the half way point, Canfield continues to lead with the battle for
second. Brew gets past Caron for the position and just gets past Canfield
for the lead when the caution flies again.
After a three-wide battle for the lead, the #3 of Brew gets the lead. Right
after that, the #50 of Bellisle gets spun into the grass to bring out
another caution.
Brew takes the lead on the restart over Caron who is battling Canfield for
second. The #11 of Ken Cassidy Jr. has moved to third with the #93 of Greg
Moran Sr. in fourth. The #25 of Canfield sails through the turn three grass
bringing out the caution yet again.
Brew gets the jump at the restart but the #52 of Caron is having a problem
and quickly drops back through the field -- he heads to the infield. Luckily
the field was able to split around him. On the next lap Brew is off the pace
and also heads to the infield -- Cassidy inherit’s the lead with Moran Sr.
in second and a huge battle for third as they take the white flag.
Phil Evans in the #12 pulls off third, with #26 Jeffrey Cembruch fourth and
#34 Ben Bargnesi is fifth.
Modified Racing Series 100 Lap Feature Event
In fourteen events this year, there have been eleven different winners --
will we see a new winner crowned tonight?
It looked like we would have a clean start, but the back of the field got
bunched up heading into turn one and #20 Doug Coby and #10 Don Fowler
getting the worst of it. Both cars were towed from the track.
Doug stated, “The #12 car [Todd Annarummo] pretty much just junked me on the
start. We had a good car tonight and I though we’d have a good race.” Jeff
Malave in the #97 is also in the pits with a broken tie rod.
Gernhard gets a good start on the green with McKennedy falling into second.
#06 Les Hinckley is third and #52 Chris Pasteryak is fourth. This used to be
Chris’ home track, so I expect a good run from him tonight.
Just 7 laps in and the field is mostly single-file, except for a few cars
near the rear. The #2 of Ken Barry has passed the #34 of Dave Etheridge for
fifth.
Ted Christopher in the #00 is on the move and has now also passed Etheridge
to take sixth. Just two laps later he passes Barry for fifth and is setting
his sights on Pasteryak.
Pasteryak has now moved into third and is quickly trying to make the pass
for second. We’re only 23 laps in, so there’s still a long way to go.
On lap 29 the 2nd caution flies for the #97 Jeff Malave spinning in turn
four. No damage was done and he drives away, but subsequently heads to the
pits to check the car. Jeff Pearl and Steve Masse, as well as Rowan Pennink
also head to the pits.
Gernhard and McKennedy bring the field to the green and are side-by-side
through turn two. Gernhard takes the point and Pasteryak is third.
Christopher is sixth and is trying to pass for fifth when caution comes out
again for Jeff Malave again as he spins in turn four.
It’s a quick caution and this time McKennedy gets the jump to take first.
Pasteryak and Hinckley are side-by-side for third with Barry and Christopher
battling for fifth and sixth. They run like this for several laps, but
another wreck at the back of the field brings the yellow hankie again for a
wreck in turn one involving the #12 Todd Annarummo, #55 Joe Doucette and
#9NH Joey Jarvis.
Christopher heads to the pits after his car was checked by officials for
reports of leaking fluid. He returned to the track but is now at the back of
the field.
McKennedy gets a huge jump on the start and quickly pulls ahead by three car
lengths. Hinckley is second, Barry third and Pasteryak fourth.
On lap 40 the #85 of Louie Mechalides blatantly dumped Christopher heading
into turn four. That was supposedly retaliation for an earlier move by
Christopher, and both cars were sent to the rear.
McKennedy and Hinckley start one-two and finish the next lap that way. Since
they were tied in points at the start of the race, that is also the current
point standings.
Pasteryak gets to the outside of Hinckley and completes the pass on lap 41.
Unfortunately, on the next lap as the field headed into turn three,
something happened to the #06 of Les Hinckley and his machine hit the apex
of the wall head on very hard. The #2 of Ken Barry was also caught up in the
incident. Luckily Hinckley climbed out of the car under his own power and
seems OK.
Hinckley was on the inside of Barry as they headed into the turn, and when
something happened to his car, it just took a right and came across the
front of Barry’s car.
On the restart it will be McKennedy, Pasteryak, Gernhard and #79 Max Zachem.
Barry’s crew just stated they expect to get him back out on the track.
This is Pasteryak’s first race back after a wrist injury suffered racing in
July. McKennedy leaps to the front and the #34 of Dave Etheridge is off the
pace and falling to the back of the field.
At the half-way point, McKennedy and Pasteryak have pulled away from the
rest of the field by several car lengths. Christopher is up to twelfth.
Another car on the move is the #13 of Steve Masse -- he is up to fifth after
passing the #05 of Jacob Dore and the #25 of Rowan Pennink.
The battle is now for third between #21 Gernard and #79 Zachem. Masse is now
closing up on the bumper of Pennink as well. Back a few spots there is a
battle between #28 Dwight Jarvis and the #1 of Rob Goodenough. Jarvis
completes the power pass on the outside to take the spot on lap 72.
Masse is now working on Zachem for fourth, but not quite able to complete
the pass.
With 20 laps to go, it looks like the race is McKennedy’s to lose. He has
opened up a lengthy lead on Pasteryak and then there is a huge gap back to
third of Masse. The #28 of Jarvis passed the #79 of Zachem to take fifth
with 12 to go.
With ten to go Christopher is up to 11th, but running out of time. Jarvis
trying to get past Gernard with two to go to take fourth, but can’t make the
pass in time.
Jon McKennedy takes the checkers with Pasteryak settling for second, Masse
third, and Gernard for a career-best fourth.
McKennedy now also has the point lead as the series heads to Stafford Motor
Speedway on Friday for their first visit to that track. That event will also
be a qualifier for the North-South Shootout that will be held November 5th &
6th in Concord, NC.
This car was a brand new one for McKennedy -- the crew just finished it last
night! It is a Race Works chassis in the car and it performed superbly
tonight.
Steve Masse said, “We were loose at the beginning, but we pitted at lap 25
and made a track bar adjustment. It helped, but I couldn’t get to the front
as quickly as I wanted. I was praying for a caution after I got by the #21.
I thought I could get by Chris [Pasteryak] who was running second, but I was
thinking too far ahead and couldn’t catch them. There’s been minimal passing
in every race. The tires have affected how the features play out.”
“I’m very, very excited to be racing at Stafford next week. I’ve never raced
there before, but I expect to learn from the veterans.”
Chris Pasteryak said, “It was good, but not good enough. Jon was good all
night. It was better than sitting in the emergency room!”
“We tend to have long greens after a few cautions when a few cars drop out.”
“Yes, I’m going to run Stafford, I feel good. I’m looking forward to
Stafford. Hopefully we put on a good show and it’s good for the series.”
McKennedy stated, “It’s been a long week and a lot of work, but everyone got
together and got the car ready. I’m proud to get the win and the points
lead.”
When asked about the new tires this year: “They seem to last a lot longer so
you can go a lot harder the whole race. I rode around the first 30 laps and
the last 7 I was running pretty hard and the car stayed under me.”
“I’m looking forward to Stafford - I have more experience than some of the
guys. I’ve run there in the modifieds and Super Modifieds, so I’m hoping we
can put on a good show there.”
When asked about the new car: “I felt like we just needed to do it. I was
driving the old one for everything we had and I just thought we needed to
make a change to have a chance for the championship.” |
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Source: Hazel Meredith
Posted: September
5, 2010 |
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