Jordan Rebounds from Week Off; Bavolacco Captures First Career Win

WATERFORD — It wasn’t just about Tim Jordan’s driving skills. It was also about his car repair skills. Combine them both, and it added up to a dominating performance in the 35-lap SK Modified feature at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl Saturday. After sitting out one race to repair his car after major damage suffered in a race on Aug. 6, Jordan returned to smoke the field Saturday for his second win of the season.

Joining Jordan in the winner’s circle were Andrew Molleur in the Late Models, John O’Sullivan in the SK Lights, Al Stone in the Street Stocks, John Bavolacco in the Mini Stocks and Brody Monahan in the INEX Legends.

Jordan, meanwhile, was strong enough to diesel past early race leader Todd Owen to thunder his way to the win. Two long weeks working in the shop turned out to be worth it.

“‘I’m one of the few guys left who can work on their own stuff,” Jordan said following the win. “I’m glad to bring the things I learned when I was 15-16 years old to fix the car. It was a lot of hours and a lot of dollars.”

Jordan said he had to replace everything from the driver’s seat forward to get the car race ready.

When the whip-lashed past runner-up Todd Owen midway through the race, it was obvious Jordan’s car was healthy again. Owen had an opportunity to track down Jordan after a late restart, but Jordan was able to re-establish his lead.

“We had a chance at the end, but Timmy was real good,” Owen said. “He came back just as fast as he was before he wrecked.”

Owen increased his point lead to four over Eric Berndt, who finished third.

Molleur was able to lightning bolt past Charles Bailey III on lap 10 of the 30-lap Late Model feature to grab the lead. But he had to hold off point leader Ray Christian over the final 5 laps to clinch the win.

“If it was a 31-lap feature, I would have been in trouble because Ray really was coming on,” Molleur said.

Christian, however, came up short by 0.3 seconds.

“I just can’t seem to get a late caution against Andrew Molleur when I need one,” Christian said. “My car was good, but just not as good as it usually is.”

Doug Curry rallied to finish third — his first podium run in his rookie Late Model season.

O’Sullivan found himself in a tough position with one lap remaining in the 25-lap SK Lite feature — second place, located on the outside groove against race leader Isaiah Newcomb.
He had one chance — make a blockbuster move against Newcomb coming out of the fourth turn and he did.

“It turned into a drag race to the finish line,” O’Sullivan said. “I really have to thank Isaiah for racing me clean.”

O’Sullivan charged into the early lead, but Newcomb refused to fade, taking over the lead with one lap to go. He lost by 0.004 seconds.

Stone found himself in third place midway through the 25-lap Street Stock race. He showed upward mobility after a restart when he squeezed underneath Tony Macrino and Shawn Gaedeke entering the third turn to take the lead. Then he held off Gaedeke the rest of the way to keep it.

“I’m glad to see we finally got this car going on long runs,” Stone said following his 60th career victory.

Gaedeke made things interesting down the stretch, but didn’t have the horsepower to corral Stone.

“I have to thank Shawn for driving me clean,” Stone said. “He’s one of the few guys in this division you can really race with.”

Bavolacco said there was a reason behind the first 25-lap Mini Stock victory of his career.
“I just drove my butt off,” Bavolacco said. “What a great race. I do not know what to say.”

He did his talking on the track when he held off Chris Garside, who was a late factor in the race, moving up to second with a handful of laps remaining.

Monahan surged into the lead on lap 11 of the 25-lap INEX Legends race and stayed in front of a fast-closing Dylan Cote to wrap up his sixth win of the season.

“The car was a rocket on the bottom today,” Monahan said. “I was very patient in the beginning. I didn’t overdrive the car. And that was the difference.”

Racing resumes Wednesday at the Speedbowl with another edition of “Wild and Wacky Wednesday.” To stay up to date, visit www.SpeedbowlCT.com or follow us on our social medias.

35-lap SK Modifeds: 1. Timmy Jordan, Plainfield; 2. Todd Owen, Somers; 3. Eric Berndt, Cromwell,; 4. Rob Janovic Jr, Waterford; 5. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 6. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 7. Adam Gada, Bozrah; 8. Dana DiMatteo, Farmington; 9. Wendell Dailey, Gales Ferry,; 10. Carl Kivisto, Narragansett, RI.

25-lap SK Lights: 1. John O’Sullivan III, Salem; 2. Isaiah Newcomb, Plymouth; 3. Tom Abele Jr, Norwich; 4. Evan Bourgeois    , East Haddam; 5. Nickolas Hovey, Chaplin, ; 6. Stephen Kelogiannis, New Hartford; 7. Jordan Churchill, Lisbon,; 8. Zack Sangermano, Plainfield; 9. Jake Hines, North Haven,; 10. Matt Brewer, Norwich; 11. Ethan Durocher, Canterbury; 12. Blair Culhane, Brookfield; 13. Sami Anderson, Wolcott,.

30-lap Late Models: 1. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 2. Raymond Christian, Uncasville; 3. Douglas Curry, Groton; 4. Derryck Anderson Jr., Warwick; 5. Charles Bailey III, Lisbon; 6. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 7. Michael Benevides, Westerly, RI; 8. Tyler Chapman, Mystic; 9. Shawn Monahan, Waterford; 10. Keith Scalia, North Branford; 11. Jason Williams, Lisbon; 12. Charles Bailey IV; Lisbon.

25-lap Street Stocks: 1. Al Stone III, Durham; 2. Shawn Gaedeke, Groton; 3. Aaron Plemons, Uncasville; 4. Nate Taylor, Preston,; 5. Tony Macrino, Waterford; 6. Jon Porter, East Lyme; 7. Zach Meade, Putnam; 8. Daniel Coutu, Moosup; 9. Timothy Poulin, Thompson; 10. Tom Musante, Naugatuck, ; 11. Brian Norman, Clinton,; 12. Andrew Pellegrini, North Grosvenordale,; 13. Steve Barrett, Norwich.

25-lap Mini Stocks: 1. John Bavolacco, Stratford; 2. Christopher Garside, Groton; 3. Sam Mesick, East Lyme; 4. Rick LaFlesh, Griswold; 5. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield; 6. Charles Canfield, East Haven; 7. Nicholas Pappacoda, North Branford; 8. Jesse Oloski, Salem,; 9. Tim Baker, Hartford,; 10. Raymond Herman Sr., Groton,; 11. Erica Canfield, East Haven; 12. Stacey Zentek, East Haven; 13. Kyle Wing, Moosup,; 14. Christopher Ivory, Oakdale; 15. Wayne Taylor, Moosup; 16. Hailey Beal, Ledyard.

25-lap Legends: 1. Brody Monahan, Waterford; 2. Dylan Cote, Griswold,; 3. Dylan Freeman, Unionville; 4. Riley Paul, Ledyard; 5. Scott Limkemann, Lebanon,; 6. Jordan Rosado, Lisbon,; 7. Scott Kinsman, Berlin.

Photos by TK Race Photo