Eric Berndt Sweeps Fast 3 Series Races

WATERFORD — Eric Berndt didn’t have a broom tucked away in his SK Modified — it only seemed like he did. Berndt took the lead on the 8th lap of the 50-lap SK Modified feature and stayed in front the rest of the way to win the third and final chapter in the Fast 3 SK Modified Series Saturday at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. Berndt also won the first two races in the series, giving him a three-event sweep and the championship. He leads the SK division with five victories.

Jason Palmer held off Jordan Hadley down the stretch to win his fourth 30-lap Late Model finish of the year. Andrew Pellegrini captured his first-ever Speedbowl Truck win. Mini Stock point leader Charles Canfield nipped Rick LaFlesh by a molecule at the finish line to win the 25-lap race, Aaron Plemons made a three-wide move pay off on his way to his third Street Stock win of the year.

In the Fast 3 finale, Berndt started in the fifth position, but realized he couldn”t stay in fifth for very long.

“The plan was to try to get to the front as quickly as possible,” Berndt said. “I’ve seen a lot of races this year here at the Speedbowl and at Stafford, and it seems the car that gets to the front first is the car that wins.”

Berndt wasted no time in executing his strategy, taking the lead from Anthony Flannery, the early leader, on lap 8.

“I had a fast car early in the race, and sometimes in a long race, that’s not what you want because sometimes it falls off,” Flannery said. “I kept waiting for Eric to fall off so I could take the lead back, but he didn’t.”

Berndt stayed in command until lap 46 when a caution flag came out. The yellow, however, did not disrupt Berndt’s rhythm — he regained the lead on the restart and cruised to the finish line.

“Whenever you’re leading a race, you don’t want to see a late caution come out,” Berndt said. “But I knew I still had plenty of car under me, so I wasn’t too concerned.”

Andrew Molleur made a late move past Flannery on the last lap to grab second.

Jason Palmer took the lead on the 12th lap of the 30-lap Late Model feature but needed to take control of a late restart against Jordan Hadley and Ray Christian to wrap up his fourth race of the season.

“We put the exclamation point on that restart and got the job done,” Palmer said. “In the beginning it was tough to go to the outside because Derryck Anderson was so fast,” said Palmer, referring to the early race leader. But our car was fast. It was better than last week.”

Palmer has 90 career wins at the Speedbowl and is fifth on the all-time list, four wins behind Bob Potter.

Andrew Pellegrini was an off-road dirt track champion who was having a difficult time getting comfortable in the seat of a truck. He finally found his comfort zone Saturday, taking the lead early from Randy Burr and pulling away from the field to lock up his first Speedbowl truck win.

“It’s been a long road trying to figure out this truck,” Pellegrini said. “But it’s great to come from dirt racing to get my first win on the asphalt.”

The race was slowed down by a first-lap caution that knocked out contender Brian Norman, and sent point leader Emma Monahan and Tyler Chapman to the paddock for repairs. Chapman finished fourth, one spot ahead of Monahan, who now leads by three points over Chapman in the standings.

The closest race of the night was in the Mini Stocks. Rick LaFlesh was able to take the lead on the final lap, but Charles Canfield made a power move coming out of Turn 4 to win by a fraction of a second.

“It was just a nice job by the 9 car,” said Canfield, referring to LaFlesh. “That was an awesome race. There was still some Tri-Track Modified rubber in the corner that was slowing me down. It was like a speed bump. But I was able to overcome it.

But not by much.

“I thought I had it,” LaFlesh said, “but I just came up short.”

It was one of the closest finishes, however, of the Speedbowl season.

Aaron Plemons made a dazzling three-wide move to whirlwind his way into the lead in the Street Stock feature over Brian Norman and Tony Macrino. It was so dazzling, he didn’t even know how he pulled it off.

“I just got a good start out of the box, and somehow I made it stick,” Plemons said. “I still don’t believe that it worked.”

Norman, who finished second, admired Plemons daring maneuver.

“Kudos to Aaron,” Norman said. “That was a wicked three-wide move.”

It also was a game-changer, moving Plemons from third to first, and eventually the winner’s circle.

Racing resumes at the Speedbowl Saturday for Fan Appreciation day.

50-lap SK Modifieds Fast 3: 1. Eric Berndt, Cromwell; 2. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 3. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 4. Rob Janovic Jr. Waterford; 5. Todd Owen , Somers; 6. Dana DiMatteo, Farmington; 7. Adam Gada, Bozrah,; 8. Joe Gada, Uncasville; 9. John Bercham, West Greenwich, RI; 10. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry; 11. Carl Kivisto, Narragansett, RI; 12. Dennis Charette, Southington;  13. Tom Abele Jr, Norwich; 14. Bill Anderson,, Wolcott.

30-lap Late Models: 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. Jordan Hadley, Waterford; 3. Raymond Christian, Uncasville; 4. Derryck Anderson, Warwick, R.I.; 5. Andrew Molleir, Shelton; 6. Charles Bailey III, Lisbon; 7. Doug Curry, Groton; 8. Michael Benevedes, Westerly, RI; 9. Jason Williams, Lisbon; 10, Charles Bailey IV, Lisbon.

25-lap Street Stocks: 1. Aaron Plemons, Uncasville; 2. Brian Norman, Clinton; 3. Tony Macrino, Waterford; 4. Shawn Gaedeke, Groton; 5. Al Stone III, Durham; 7. Zach Meade, Putnam; 8. Nate Taylor, Preston; 8. Tom Musante, Naugatuck; 9. Jake Coutu, Moosup; 10. Timothy Poulin, Thompson; 11. Walter Hovey, Chaplin.

25-lap Mini Stocks  1. Charles Canfield, East haven; 2. Rick LaFlesh, Griswold; 3. Tommy Silva, Gales Ferry; 4. Kevin Moore, Moosup; 5. Nick Pappacoda. North Branford; 6. Jesse Oloski, Salem; 7. Sam Mesick, East Lyme; 8, Wayne Taylor, Moosup; 9. Hailey Beal, Ledyard; 10. Tim Baker, Hartford; 11. Erica Canfield, East Haven; 12. Stacey Zentek, East Haven; 13. Raymond Herman Sr., Groton.

25-lap Speedbowl Trucks: 1. Andrew Pellegrini , North Grosvenordale,; 2. Randy Burr, Middleboro, Mass.; 3. Ed Ryan Jr., Preston; 4. Tyler Chapman, Mystic; 5. Emma Monahan, Waterford; 6. Chris Taylor, East Lyme; 7. Kyle Gero, Uncasville; 8. Bert Ouellette, Ellington; 9. Tony Naglieri, Island Park, N.Y.; 10, Shawn Passaro, Oakdale; 11. Todd Taylor, Stonington; 12. Brian Norman, Clinton; 13. Brody Monahan, Waterford; 14. Mercedes Caron, East Hampton.

(Photos by TK Race Photos)