BERNDT STAYS AHEAD OF TROUBLE TO WIN FIRST SINCE OPENER; GARSIDE PLAYS THE LONG GAME TO WIN 50 LAP MINI STOCKS

WATERFORD – A tumultuous SK Modified® race kicked off with Justin Gaydosh getting the early lead over Rob Janovic Jr. Gaydosh held off an early attack from Janovic but was unprepared for a fast Eric Berndt, who made quick work and took over the top spot. Caution would fly on lap 5 when Adam Gada made substantial contact with the outside wall, but that wasn’t all. On the ensuing restart a chain reaction would send a couple cars near the rear of the field pitside. Then, Janovic would find himself drivers side door to the turn 1 wall. And just when you thought it was over, point leader Andrew Molleur would be the victim on the next restart in the turn 1 wall. After a single file restart, Berndt took off while Jon Puleo, Anthony Flannery, and Timmy Jordan sorted it out. Flannery was on the move however, quickly taking down Puleo and setting his sights on Berndt. Flannery was able to tap Berndt’s bumper, but was unable to get closer, allowing Berndt to score his first win since the season opener.

         Mike Benevides and Rich Staskowski led the Late Models to green but Doug Curry was quick to pressure them into a three wide situation until a caution two laps in put Curry outside of Benevides. Curry got the jump with Brody Monahan carefully following his way by. The two would keep trying to take off from Jason Palmer and Devin Deshaies, who kept fighting to round out the podium. Curry would not be denied however, holding off Monahan over a few more restarts and launching ahead, all while Palmer and Deshaies would take down Monahan, to allow Curry win his second race of the season.

Nickolas Hovey set off in the SK Lights on a mission as he quickly nosed past defending champion John O’Sullivan and last weeks winner Evan Bourgeois. A caution early on involving Zack Sangermano and Eddie Gomarlo reset the field giving Bourgeois the runner up spot when racing resumed. Tyler Barry held on for third for a long time after, until the hornets nest spit him out giving O’Sullivan the final spot on the podium. Hovey went uncontested for most of the race giving him his second win of the season in his part-time venture.

The Street Stocks clicked off 25 laps nearly all clean and green, leading off with a fierce battle between Jon Porter and Chad Baxter as Al Stone III sat in the catbird seat. A debris caution swapped the front row where Porter was able to finally clear Baxter and take sole control of the race. But Stone wasn’t content with the runner up spot and quickly went to work on Porter. After a lengthy side by side battle, Stone was able to clear Porter from the inside line and run away from the rest of the field. Behind the two, Aaron Plemons, Norm Root III, and Baxter were dicing it up for the last spot on the podium. Root would ultimately edge ahead and reel in Porter (who had a flat left front tire), while Stone went on to win his third of the season.

Austin Long led the first portion of the Truck race with Brad Strickland in his tire tracks. The pair with Charles Beal were on a mission to pull away from the field until a caution gave Beal the opportunity to power by Long to take over the sole possession of the lead. Another caution setup a Beal versus Tyler Chapman battle where the two would rub fenders for the entirety of the event. The race culminated to a green-white-checkered finish that had Chapman, who has won 5 race up to this point, against Beal, who scored his first Truck win the week prior, against eachother. Chapman got the advantage and was able to coast to the win with Strickland flexing his muscle and earning himself another podium finish.

50 laps for the Mini Stocks got off to a rocky start, where point contender David Lee would be the first casualty on lap 1. John Bavolacco shot off on the restart putting a huge gap between himself and Dylan Cabral. Bill Sylvia and Chris Garside were the next two to pass Cabral and setting their sights on Bavolacco. As the drivers started to settle into place, Garside got by Sylvia while Charles Canfield caught up, and David Dorr was hot on their heels. A couple more quick cautions kept testing Bavolacco’s fortitude, until Charles Canfield was able to take control. He couldn’t shake the four car dance at the front of the field as he’d suddenly get shuffled back to third, giving Bavolacco the lead back. That also didn’t last long, as Gardside picked by on lap 36 and never looked back, scoring his first extra distance win of his career.

We finish off the Month with Christmas in July at the Speedbowl for Wild ‘n Wacky Wednesday. Bring a new unwrapped toy for donation and receive $3 off grandstand admission. Speedbowl Saturday Nights is back next weekend with 50 laps for the SK Lights and double features for the Late Models and Mini Stocks. Keep up with the us at www.SpeedbowlCT.com, The New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Facebook, or @SpeedbowlCT on Instagram and X.

Unofficial Results

SK Modifieds® (35 Laps): 1. 11CT-Eric Berndt[4]; 2. 25-Anthony Flannery[12]; 3. 7-Jonathan Puleo[6]; 4. 81-Todd Owen[13]; 5. 47-Timmy Jordan[5]; 6. 94-Justin Gaydosh[1]; 7. 66-Wendell Dailey[8]; 8. 51-Rob Janovic Jr[2]; 9. 35-Andrew Molleur[3]; 10. 72-Adam Gada[7]; 11. 27-Chase Cook[9]; 12. 15-Jeff Fialkovich[10]; 13. 81X-Joshua Zentek[11]

Late Models (30 Laps): 1. 2DJ-Douglas Curry[3]; 2. 17-Jason Palmer[4]; 3. 64-Devin Deshaies[7]; 4. 31-Brody Monahan[5]; 5. 10-Ryan Lineham[13]; 6. 03-Derek Gluchacki[8]; 7. 37-Jordan Hadley[9]; 8. 50RI-Michael Benevides[1]; 9. 67-John C Silva III[6]; 10. 5RI-Rich Staskowski[2]; 11. 0-Joey LeMay[10]; 12. 32-Paul Heard[11]; 13. (DNS) 12-Christopher Douton; 14. (DNS) 78-Emma Monahan

SK Lights (25 Laps): 1. 16-Nickolas Hovey[3]; 2. 78-Evan Bourgeois[6]; 3. 51-John O’Sullivan III[2]; 4. 47-Zachery Sangermano[4]; 5. 07-Tyler Barry[7]; 6. 76-Edward Gomarlo[1]; 7. 19-John Brunelle[10]; 8. 21-Sami Anderson[5]; 9. 14-Kali Trapp[9]; 10. 12X-Amanda Slater[8]

Street Stocks (25 Laps): 1. 12-Al Stone III[3]; 2. 38-Jon Porter[1]; 3. 80-Norm Root III[8]; 4. 10-Chad Baxter[2]; 5. 83-Ed Gertsch Jr[5]; 6. 74-Joseph Arena[7]; 7. 81-PJ Evans[6]; 8. 67-Aaron Plemons[4]; 9. 9-Shawn Gaedeke[11]; 10. 56-Ike Chima[10]; 11. 58-David Ciastko[12]; 12. 3-Adam Coutu[9]

Trucks (25 Laps): 1. 81-Tyler Chapman[6]; 2. 30-Charles Beal[5]; 3. 84JR-Brad Strickland[3]; 4. 1-Duane Noll[8]; 5. 07-Austin Long[1]; 6. 99-Milania Shilosky[9]; 7. 77-Troy Prentice[2]; 8. 20-Joe Bavolacco[7]; 9. 33-Jake Coutu[4]; 10. 52-Mercedes Caron[10]; 11. 30CT-Ryan Bannister[12]; 12. 7-Kassy Prentice[13]; 13. 25-David Venice[14]; 14. 32-Randy Burr[11]; 15. (DNS) 55-Shawn Monahan

Mini Stocks (50 Laps): 1. 83-Christopher Garside[6]; 2. 42-John Bavolacco[3]; 3. 25-Charles Canfield[7]; 4. 9-Rick LaFlesh[10]; 5. 28-Erica Canfield[2]; 6. 88-Bill Sylvia[4]; 7. 54-Dylan Cabral[1]; 8. 6-Nicholas Pappacoda[9]; 9. 81-Stacey Zentek[11]; 10. 23-Matt Pinson[13]; 11. 11-Jason Kokoszka[12]; 12. 24-Brad Caddick[16]; 13. 46-John Curry Jr[15]; 14. 73-Eric Julian[14]; 15. 50-David Lee[5]; 16. (DNS) 30-Charles Beal; 17. (DNS) 16-Tim Dorr; 18. (DNS) 22-Hailey Beal; 19. (DQ) 19-David Dorr[8]

Photos by TK Race Photo.