On the final Saturday night weekly show of the 2016 season it was the track’s all-time winningest driver, Keith Rocco, shining over the field to win the 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl. In other events Saturday, Jason Palmer won the Late Model feature, Corey Barry won the SK Light Modified feature, Monte Gibbs was victorious in the Limited Sportsman feature, Pete Zaikarite won the Mini Stock feature, Dillon Spain scored victory in the Legends feature and Ted Christopher won the Pro Four Modified feature.
Rocco, of Wallingford, got his seventh victory of the season in the SK Modified feature. Matt Galko of Meriden was second and Ronnie Williams of Tolland third. Bo Gunning took the field to green from the pole with Tyler Chadwick to his outside. Todd Owen made a quick move to second place before the first caution flew on the second lap.
On the ensuing restart Gunning got into the side of Owen coming to the green flag. Owen held on through the move and then a lap later used the outside lane to go by Gunning for the top spot. The second caution flew with 32 laps remaining. On the ensuing restart Rocco was able to go by Gunning for second place just before Gunning wrecked in turn three to bring the caution out once again. The race restarted with 32 laps left and saw Diego Monahan move to third behind Rocco. A lap later Rocco got under Owen for the lead off of turn four. Two laps later Monahan moved to second place. With 21 laps left the caution flew again when Gunning, deep in the field, sent Adam Gada into the turn two wall.
After a long green flag run the race was slowed again when Monahan spun from second place and collected Ted Christopher in turn two. Under caution Owen gave up second place to go to the pits, moving Galko behind Rocco and Williams to third. Williams got by Galko for second on a restart with five laps remaining, but the caution flew again with two laps left when Gunning sent Frank Mucciacciaro Jr. spinning deep in the field in turn four. Gunning was parked from the field at the point for over aggressive driving. On the final restart Rocco was able to check out easily and it was Galko getting by Williams for second.
Palmer, of Berlin, got his second consecutive victory in the 30-lap Late Model feature. Anthony Flannery of East Hampton was second and Keith Rocco of Wallingford third. Ryan Morgan took the field to the green from the pole with Jeff Smith to his outside. Two laps into the event Smith used the outside lane to move to the lead.With 24 laps remaining it was Flannery getting by Smith to take over the top spot. With 22 laps left Ray Christian III used the low lane off of turn four to move to second place by Smith. The first caution flew with 21 laps remaining and Flannery leading Christian. On the ensuing restart, Palmer moved by Smith to take over third place.
With 14 laps left Palmer used the low lane to move to second place by Christian as Flannery left the field far behind in the lead. The caution flew again with eight laps remaining for the spinning car of Rich Duranti. On the restart it was Flannery getting away, leaving Palmer and Christian to battle for second. Caution came back out on the track with five laps remaining for a multi-car crash at the rear of the field in turn two. The accident resulted in an extended red flag. On the final restart it was Palmer leading at the line after the first lap of green. Palmer was able to clear Flannery off of turn two with four laps remaining. Flannery got a peek under Palmer with two laps remaining, but was unable to wrestle the lead back.
Barry, of Plainfield, held on through two late restarts to win the 25-lap SK Light Modified feature. Brett Gonyaw of Vernon was second and Chris Gombos Naugatuck third. Paul French went from third to first at the start. With 17 laps left Barry used the outside lane to go by French and take over the lead. Two laps later caution flew for the stopped car of division points leader Tony Membrino Jr. in turn three. On the restart it was Cory DiMatteo moving past French for second place, with Gonyaw following him into third. With eight laps left Gonyaw got under DiMatteo for second place off turn two and quickly got to Barry’s bumper. Caution flew with three laps left for the spinning car of Randy Churchill. Barry easily checked out on the restart, but the caution returned after a half lap for two wrecks on the track. On the final restart it was Barry able to get away from Gonyaw again to secure the victory.
Gibbs, of Killingworth, got his second consecutive victory and sixth victory overall in the 25-lap Limited Sportsman feature. Chris Meyer of Norwich was second and Josh Galvin of Oakdale third. Adrien Paradis took the field to green with Charles Beal to his outside. The pair fought side-by-side for the first lap, with Beal moving to the front out of turn four. Two laps into the event Gibbs moved to second place by Paradis and quickly caught the bumper of Beal. With 20 laps remaining Gibbs used the outside lane off of turn two to go past Beal for the lead. From there it was Gibbs’ show as he left the field deep in his wake. Al Stone III went by Beal for second place with 12 laps remaining with Meyer moving to third. Gibbs’ big lead vanished with a caution with less than two laps remaining, but he was up to the task of holding the lead on the green-white-checkered. Behind things got wild as Meyer made contact with Stone, moving to second and shuffling Stone back. The contact allowed Galvin to move to third.
Zaikarite, of Niantic, got his first victory of the season in the 25-lap Mini Stock feature. Charles Canfield of East Haven was second and Jordan Hadley of Waterford third. Brian Norman took the field to green from the pole but it was Canfield quickly moving to the lead on the first lap, with Mark Panaroni following to second. The first caution flew with 15 laps remaining and Canfield leading Panaroni and Jacob Perry in third. A lap after the restart Perry moved to second by Panaroni with Canfield pulling away in the lead. With five laps left Zaikarite used the outside lane off of turn two to go by Perry for second and roll by Canfield for the lead off of turn four. From there Zaikarite checked out leaving the battle on for the rest of the podium. Off the final corner Hadley got by Perry to take third place.
Dillon Spain of Clayton, N.C. lost the lead on lap 24 but grabbed it back on the final circuit to win the 25-lap Legends feature. Mike Christopher Jr. of Wolcott was second and Rachel Forte of Douglas, Mass. third. Christopher got by Clayton for the lead out of turn four coming to the white flag, but Spain rallied back to grab the top spot just after the white flag.
Ted Christopher of Plainville held off Doug Meservey Jr. off Dennis, Mass. to win the 25-lap New England Pro Four Modified feature. Norm Wrenn of Nashua, N.H. was third. Christopher went by Meservey for the lead with nine laps remaining and never trailed again.
35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified: 1. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 2. Matt Galko, Meriden; 3. Ronnie Williams, Tolland; 4. Joey Gada, Salem; 5. Tyler Chadwick, Ledyard; 6. Rob Janovic Jr., Waterford; 7. Dennis Perry, Pawcatuck; 8. Ted Christopher, Plainville; 9. Diego Monahan, Quaker Hill; 10. Justin Gaydosh, Newtown.
30-lap Late Model: 1. Jason Palmer, Berlin; 2. Anthony Flannery, East Hampton; 3. Keith Rocco, Wallingford; 4. Ray Christian III, Uncasville; 5. Jeff Smith, Old Lyme; 6. Ryan Morgan, Mystic; 7. Glenn Boss, Danielson; 8. Mikey Flynn, Hampden, Mass.; 9. Ernie LaRose, Griswold; 10. Christopher Garside, Waterford.
25-lap SK Light Modified: 1. Corey Barry, Plainfield; 2. Brett Gonyaw, Vernon; 3. Chris Gombas, Naugatuck; 4. Cory DiMatteo, Farmington; 5. Tony Membrino Jr., Berlin; 6. Paul French, Andover; 7. David Arute, Tolland; 8. Rick Williams, East Hampton; 9. Randy Churchill Jr., Oakdale; 10. John O’Sullivan, Salem.
25-lap Limited Sportsman: 1. Monte Gibbs, Killingworth; 2. Chris Meyer, Norwich; 3. Josh Galvin, Oakdale; 4. Cliff Saunders, Stafford; 5. Jason Chicolas, Sutton, Mass.; 6. Charles Beal, Ledyard; 7. Jon Porter, East Lyme; 8. Brandon Plemons, Uncasville; 9. Al Stone III, Durham; 10. Adrien Paradis III, Plainville.
25-lap Mini Stock: 1. Pete Zaikarite, Niantic; 2. Charles Canfield, Niantic; 3. Jordan Hadley, Waterford; 4. Jacob Perry, Pawcatuck; 5. Mark Panaroni, Ivoryton; 6. Ian Brew, Wood River Junction, R.I.; 7. Dave Trudeau, Mansfield; 8. Wayne Burroughs Jr., Oakdale; 9. Sean Caron, East Hampton; 10. Ken Cassidy Jr., Lisbon. ** Zaikarite was disqualified in post-race inspection
25-lap Pro Four Modified: 1. Ted Christopher, Plainville; 2. Doug Meservey Jr., Dennis, Mass.; 3. Norm Wrenn III, Nashua, N.H.; 4. Robin Berghman, East Providence, R.I.; 5. Brett Meservey, Brewster, Mass.; 6. Phil Lausier, Hudson, N.H.; 7. Randy Cabral, Plymouth, Mass.; 8. Tom Royer, Swanzey, N.H.; 9. Allen Reiser, Brimfield, Mass.; 10. Joe Arena, Bristol.
25-lap Legends: 1. Dillon Spain, Clayton, N.C.; 2. Mike Christopher Jr., Wolcott; 3. Rachel Forte, Douglas, Mass.; 4. Andrew Molleur, Shelton; 5. Alex McCollum, Philipsburg, N.J.; 6. Joey Ternullo, Middletonw; 7. Nicholas Lascuola, Brockon, Mass.; 8. Michael Rutkoski, Mattituck, N.Y.; 9. Anthony Marvin, Colchester; 10. David Johson, Arlington, Mass.