NLWSS 10/7/17 RACE RECAP
ROCCO SEALS DEAL IN LATE MODELS, WINS NINTH SK FEATURE
-POINT BATTLES GOING INTO FINAL WEEKEND-
WATERFORD, CT (October 7,2017): Keith Rocco not only doubled up in the win column on Saturday, but claimed the Late Model Championship. It was the eleventh Speedbowl Championship of his career. Rocco didn’t even give the field a chance in the 30-lap Late Model event as he shot to the lead from his outside pole starting spot and never looked back. The Propane Plus sponsored #88MA was on rails as Jason Palmer in the Manafort Brothers #17 sponsored machine finished in the runner up spot and really had nothing for the Rocco machine. Round out the top-5 behind Palmer were Bruce Thomas JR, Anthony Flannery and Ryan Morgan.
Rocco who has been battling Ashway, RI’s Kyle James for the SK Modified Championship all season claimed his ninth victory of the 2017 season. There was a twist for Rocco tonight in victory lane. Rocco was behind the wheel od Mike and Mark Pane’s M&M Stone sponsored #57 modified which he usually runs at the Thompson Speedway. In the nine wins this year, Rocco used three different cars to secure the victory’s. Twenty-One Modifieds took to the grid for the 35-lap affair and the biggest incident of the night came on lap-5. As a group of cars sat scrambled between turns one and two, the #78 Broadbrook Heating and Cooling sponsored machine of Diego Monahan sat on the backstretch in flames. Monahan was able to get out of his modified unhurt and was through for the night. Once the field was set to resume only twelve cars sat on the grid, one being for Ronnie Williams. Williams was making his first start of the 2017 season at The Speedbowl. Once the green flag waved both Rocco and Williams was able to move through the field and sat one and two on the field. The two would battle lap after lap as Williams just couldn’t find a way around Rocco and had to settle for the runner up spot. Round out positions three to fifth were Kyle James, Tyler Chadwick and Dylan Izzo. Izzo will fill out the season in the Doug DiPisa owned #13, formally driven by Ted Christopher. With the Rocco win and James’s third place finish, Rocco has a slim 12-point lead going into The Finale in two weeks.
In the 25-lap SK Lite Modifieds is was Bryan Narducci taking down his third win of the season. Narducci who has six-starts in the 2017 season has Two-wins, a third and one runner up finish. The only event he was even out of the top three was his maiden Speedbowl race which ended up with a thirteenth-place finish. Going into the event young Andrew Molleur and Cory DiMatteo were only separated by a mere three points. On lap- 24 things took a turn in the points battle. Molleur was penalized and sent to the rear after making contact with the #51 of John O’Sullivan, sending him spinning down the backstretch. DiMatteo scratched his way to a third-place finish giving himself a four-point lead over Molleur going into The Finale. Rounding out the top-5 was Wayne Burroughs, DiMatteo, Dennis Charette and Geoff Nooney. For Burroughs it was his best SK Lite finish of the year.
The Coates family dominated Victory Lane in the Mr. Rooter / Waterford Trucks 35-lap feature event. Earlier in the year Allen Coates dominated his son Corey and grabbed the win but tonight there was a different outcome. The younger Coates, Corey grabbed the lead on lap-14 in the Maguire’s Oil sponsored #81and took down his first Mr. Rooter Truck Series win. His Dad, Allen was able to catch Corey down the stretch but was unable to get around the younger Coates and settled for the runner up position. Rounding out positions three to fifth were Andy Lindeman, Dave Koenig and Duane Noll. Koenig’s fourth place finish gave him the wildcard position in the Battle for the Championship being held this weekend at the World Series at Thompson. The Trucks will be part of the Finale running a non-point event.
Pawcatuck, CT’s Jacob Perry showed who had the strongest Mini-Stock on this night. Perry started sixth and powered to the lead after grabbing the lead from Sean Caron on lap-4. Perry found himself battling lapped cars which allowed “Air Time” Jordan Hadley to slip into the runner-up spot. Hadley tried numerous occasions to maneuver around Perry but Perry was just too strong on this night. Point leader Wayne Burroughs wound up third, his second podium finish of the night now leads by two points over Charles Canfield and with the win Perry now sits five points behind. Canfield and Dave Trudeau rounded out the top-5.
In the 30-lap Limited Sportsman feature point leader Chris Meyer helped his cause in the Championship by grabbing the win. Now all Meyer needs to do is take the green flag in the Thirty-Two Signs sponsored #87 and the Championship is his. Knowing what was a stake, Meyer was able to get under the #55 of Monte Gibbs on lap-22 and raced side by side until Meyer pulled away. Rounding out the top-five were Meyer, Gibbs, Al Stone, Allen Coates and Ryan Waterman.
It was Ellington, CT’s Steven Chapman taking his first career Legends win. It wasn’t till the closing laps of the 25-lap feature that Chapman was able to get around the #57 of Jon Puleo and picked up to his first win. Rookie Peter Bennett was able to slide by Puleo to finish in the second spot. Finishing third through fifth Puleo, Corey Caddick and Alex McCollum.
The 2017 season will conclude with The Finale on October 20th – 22nd. The MTS will also crown their Championship this weekend.
SK Modifieds (35-laps) Keith Rocco, Ronnie Williams, Kyle James, Tyler Chadwick, Dylan Izzo, Todd Owen, Matthew Galko. Rob Janovic Jr, Paul Buzel. Brent Sweet, Bill McNeil, Joshua Zentek, Diego Monahan, John Montessanto, DJ Burnham, Jeff Fialkovich, Cory DiMatteo, Dominic Capuano JR, Joey Mucciacciaro, Rob Goulet, Andrew Molleur (DNS)
SK Lite Modifieds (25-laps) Ryan Narducci, Wayne Burroughs Jr, Dana DiMatteo, Dennis Charette, Geoff Nooney, Chris Gombos, Victoria Bergenty, Norm Sears, John O’Sullivan, Andrew Molleur, Peter Lupuch, Taylor Jake, William Benoit, Alan Gombos, Larry Goss, Ethan Durocher
Late Models (30-laps) Keith Rocco, Jason Palmer, Bruce Thomas JR, Anthony Flannery IV, Ryan Morgan, Tyler Chapman, Mike Benevides, Vin Esposito, Dylan Cabral, Tom Macrino, Mike Sweeney JR, Keith Chapman
Mr. Rooter Truck Series (35-laps) Corey Coates, Allen Coates, Andy Lindeman, Dave Koenig, Duane Noll, Jim Boyle, Joshua Stringer, Todd Taylor, Frank Dumicich JR, Rick Ashlaw, Shanye Young, Keith Scalia, Gerald Giordano JR, Dan Butler, Jeff Karns
Mini-Stocks (25-laps) Jacob Perry, Jordan Hadley, Wayne Burroughs JR, Charles Canfield, Dave Trudeau, Shawn Monahan, Sean Caron, Douglas Curry, Nicholas Pappacoda, Ken Cassidy JR, Matthew Guertin, Evan Bourgerois, Dale Sherman, Ian Brew, Matt Brown, Soup Civardi, Mitch Bombard, Dave Trudeau JR, Bob Gada SR, Tommy Silva, Bill Sylvia
Limited Sportsman (30-laps) Chris Meyer, Monte Gibbs, Al Stone III, Allen Coates, Norm Root JR, Ryan Waterman, Adrien Paradis III, Ritt Shawn, Bo Norman, Brandon Fisher, Jack Aquilina, Jordan Hadley, Brandon Plemons, Daniel Meyer, Pete Cayer, Michael Malbaurn, Darrell Carlson, Jon Porter, Jason Chicolas
Legends (25-laps) Steven Chapman, Peter Bennett, Jon Puleo, Corey Caddick, Alex McCollum, John O’Sullivan III, Brandon Remson, Mason Levesque, Kyle Rogers, Anthony Colandro, Jonathan Parsons, Tyler Chapman, Brian Zimowski, Abe Romanik, Tyler Palmer, Connor Holderbach, Brett Crowther, Scott Limkemann, David Shindler, Anthony Marvin, Anthony Bello (DNS)
