Loomis notches come-from-behind X-Car win- Yardley dominates Super X-Car feature- O’Sullivan holds off Bennett to capture Legends win- Monahan rolls to second straight Bandolero victory

WATERFORD — The rich got richer Wednesday at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.

The Wild & Wacky Wednesday point leaders in the X-Car and Super X-Car divisions both won their features in impressive fashion. Eddie Loomis of Plainfield came from behind to post his third 25-lap X-Car win of the season. Dave Yardley of Berlin was just as explosive as he locked up his third 25-lap Super X-Car win of the year.

John O’Sullivan of Salem pulled to within eight points of point leader Peter Bennett as he grabbed his third 25-lap Legends Car win of the season.

Emma Monahan of Waterford continued to have the hot hand in the Bandolero division as she led every lap for the second straight week en route to her third 20-lap Bandolero win of the year. And in a special exhibition race, Kevin Park was a winner in the Vintage Midget race.

Loomis, however, had the toughest challenge as he started 14th in the 22-car X-Car field.

Chris Strickland led for the first 13 laps, but then Corey Caddick wrestled away the lead on lap 14. Bill Rheaume roared into the lead on lap 17, but he couldn’t deal with the late-charge of Loomis, who took the lead with seven laps to go and didn’t relinquish it.

“We were side by side with Bill, and then we were able to move in front,” Loomis said. “He had a good car, but we had a better car.”

Rheaume, who finished second, agreed with Loomis’ assessment.

“Eddie had some big steam in that car,” Rheaume said. “We did the best we could, but our tires had given up. I tried to stay cool during that long caution flag, but it wasn’t enough.”

Corey Caddick, who started the night trailing Loomis by only three points, landed in the front-stretch wall with seven laps to go and finished 16th. He is now 30 points behind Loomis.

Yardley ran down Bud Kuehne midway through the Super X Car race, and then held off Marc Shafer over the final laps to pull down his second win of the season.

“We have to work at it, and work at it, and work at it, but the car is getting better every week,” Yardley said. “I think we’re heading in the right direction. The car started to tighten up late in the race and I have to thank Marc Shafer for not dumping me. I appreciate that.”

O’Sullivan surged into an early lead and was able to withstand a late charge by Bennett in the Legends battle.

”When you have a fast car, it really makes it easier,” O’Sullivan said. “And we had a really quick car.”

Bennett, meanwhile, also thought he had a fast car.

“I think we just ran out of time,” Bennett said. “I think if we had a couple more laps, it would have been a more exciting finish. We had a fast car.”

Colin Haley finished third, racking up his fourth straight podium run.

Monahan took the lead as soon as the green flag came out at the start of the Bandolero race, and held it until the checkered flag arrived. She has led the last 40 laps of Bandolero competition. Throughout most of the race, her toughest challenge came from point leader Maddie Harkin,

“It was a really hard win because Maddie has a fast car and she has a lot of talent,” Monahan said. “She was my biggest concern tonight. And we got it done.”

Nicholas Hovey thundered past Harkin with two laps to go to finish second.

Wild and Wacky Wednesday will resume on July 25. A special on-track pit party will be held at 6:15 p.m., prior to a five-division program. The X-Cars, Super X-Cars, Legends and Bandoleros will be joined by the guest division, the Open Vintage Modifieds.

25-lap Super X-Cars: 1. Dave Yardley, Kensington; 2. Marc Shafer, Groton; 3. Peter Martin, Plainville; 4. Bill Reiman, Southington; 5. Bud Kuehne, Clinton; 6. Aaron Plemons, Uncasville; 7. Jay Clement, Wethersfield; 8. DennyLee Hoffman, Westbrook; 9. Keith Brown, Griswold; 10. Jeremy Washburn, N/A.

25-lap Legends: 1. John O’Sullivan, Salem; 2. Peter Bennett, Cromwell; 3. Colin Haley, Ashford; 4. Dennis Pantani, Branford; 5. Brandon Remson, Norwalk; 6. Mason Levesque, Dighton, Mass.; 7. Connor Holderbach, Wolcott; 8. Dave Lespinasse, Milford; 9. Matt Carpenter, Auburn, Mass.; 10. Andrew Carpenter, Auburn, Mass.

25-lap X-Car: 1. Eddie Loomis, Plainfield; 2. Bill Rheaume, Uncasville; 3. Dylan DeCoster, Waterford; 4. Eric Finkbein Sr., Columbia; 5. Harry Rheaume, Oakdale; 6. Christopher Lee, Oakdale; 7. Raymond Herman Sr., Groton; 8. Matt Westover, Charlestown, RI; 9. Chuck McDonald, Groton; 10. Bruce Sperry, Waterford.

20-Lap Bandoleros: 1. Emma Monahan, Waterford; 2. Nicholas Hovey, Chaplin; 3. Maddie Harkin, Portsmouth, RI; 4, PJ Evans, Uncasville; 5. Brody Monahan, Waterford; 6. Tyler Alkas, Kensington; 7. Devin Deshaies, Oakland RI; 8. Ari Jencik, Canton; 9. Ethan Simmons, Pawcatuck; 10. Sawyer Reiss, Guilford.

Press release from the New London-Waterford Speedbowl

For more information, contact Mike Serluca at MikeS@speedbowlct.com