CHAMPIONS CROWNED, RAINS DELAY SK MODIFIED 100; NUNES and CHIMA PICK UP FIRST SPEEDBOWL WINS
For immediate release from the New London-Waterford Speedbowl
WATERFORD – Shawn Gadeke got the jump over Ray Christian III and Derek Gluchacki at the drop of the green flag for the Late Models.
Gadeke held the spot until being engaged in a side by side battle on lap 8 with Christian. Gluchacki stuck his nose underneath the two for the lead in a three wide attempt but fell back in line for the time being. That smart play paid rewards a few laps later when Christian and Gaedeke drifted up the track, opening the door wide open for Gluchacki to slip into the lead. Randy Cole and Cory DiMatteo took advantage and moved into third and fourth around the same time. Cole surrendered third to DiMatteo just after halfway and with five to go he also got by Christian for second. The change in position and Gluchacki’s big lead was erased when the caution flew. Gluchacki had to hold off Christian once again but was able to take his spot back out front picking up the win in his first start this season. Christian earned his second Late Model championship by taking the green flag.
Kali Trapp took the SK Light lead right off the bat with Leo Nunes all over her back bumper. Trapp couldn’t keep it up and eventually had to concede to Leo but then had Ian Nunes to deal with. Ian worked by and Trapp was put in a battle with Riley Paul that would be halted on a lap 6 caution. The Nunes brothers ran side by side ahead of Trapp on the restart with championship contender Robert Bloxsom III moving into fourth and shortly after third. Ian filled in behind Leo and that checked Bloxsom up giving the top two sole possession. A caution with 10 to go saw Leo stay out front but this time Trapp was able to move ahead of Bloxsom on the outside. Trapp powered by Ian to move into second and held on after some pressure when the first rain of the day came. The race was red-checkered with 3 laps to go and after a strong performance Leo would pick up his first career win at the Speedbowl. Bloxsom’s fourth place finish was plenty to secure the championship.
The Street Stocks hit the track after a brief shower and from the drop of the green it was all Ike Chima. He held off Greg Moran Jr.
and championship contender Chad Baxter as the field singled out. Most of the action was happening in the back of the pack but near the front Al Stone III was moving forward to try and earn another championship. A ten to go caution stacked the field up but Chima stayed strong leading Baxter until a caution one lap later. This time Moran stayed strong on the outside briefly but fell back in line behind Chima. It was at this point that Baxter started falling back through the field and the point battle suddenly turned intense. Jon Porter moved into third with Doug Curry and Allen Coates battling to round out the top 5. Baxter kept losing positions as Stone kept trying to chip away forward. Chima went on after leading every lap to pick up his first career win. Stone did everything he could to earn more points including a photo finish for 5th. But at the end of the day Baxter held on to win the championship by just 7 points.
A lap-1 melee in the Trucks cut the long weekend short for Jaysin Beal and Jake Coutu, while damaging others in the process including confirmed champion Ryan Lineham. After that dust settled, Mason Silva was the man to beat. He took off from Andy Pellegrini and Tyler Chapman piecing together all that he’s learned over his rookie season. Chapman broke free from Pellegrini and quickly ate into the lead Silva built. Catching him was easy, but getting around him was the problem. Chapman kept trying the outside but would tuck back in line constantly over the middle portion of the race. With 6 to go Chapman would try the inside and after some contact that was made, he would now be leader with Silva tucking into second. Chapman would go on to win with ease and Silva’s great run would be ruined by mechanical woes as he coasted to a 9th place finish on the final lap. The break would allow Charles Beal and the 2026 champion Ryan Lineham to move into the podium after a hard fought battle among themselves.
Steve Michalski came back to competition late in the year and his efforts started strong as he led the Mini Stock field with John
Krzeminski. Nate Taylor didn’t hesitate to throw it three wide, almost 4-wide between them sending John back through the field but left Michalski out front to deal with Andrew Krzeminski. Andrew took the lead over shortly after and Bill Sylvia with Sam Mesick slipped in to round out the podium not long after. Taylor recovered from the daring move earlier in the race to pick Sylvia off and worked on Mesick with Andrew far out front. A caution with 6 to go turned the tides of the race. With Mesick on the outside, he left the field in his rearview mirror when Taylor made the move to take second place. A green-white-checker finish set Taylor up against Mesick one final time. Taylor attempted a crossover immediately that didn’t stick and sent him drifting up the banking, allowing Andrew to move into second. Mesick then went on to win without having anything else to worry about. Andrew gave it his all on track to win but he had his first championship confirmed before the drop of the green flag.
KJ Rocco and Joe Wilcox were the two Legend Cars leading the field in the feature, with Parker Davis battling hard behind. Davis would go around shortly after moving into second and his day ended early. Rocco, now faced with championship contender Dylan Freeman, would watch as Freeman worked the outside on the restart taking the lead away. He ran off and built a seemingly safe distance between himself and the field, but enter Zachary Martinez. Martinez ate up that gap quickly and took the lead before halfway. Freeman stayed on the bumper the remainder of the race as Martinez couldn’t really shake him. Martinez bookended the season with wins and Freeman would be celebrated as champion.
Ray Reed fought tooth and nail to secure the lead in the Crown Vics, but he had Jack Emerson all over him at the start. Emerson got by but
then the caution flew early. The two-car show had a huge gap over Joseph Sinclair and Matt Zimmerman. A 12 to go caution gave Reed the chance to take the lead back over, and while battling for the lead Emerson got sent in a drift around turn 2. Collecting his car, he recovered and powered by Reed for the lead once again. A caution with 2 to go didn’t trip up Emerson as he would go on to win his ninth race of the season and secure the 2026 championship.
The Super X-Cars came down to a tight point battle with Bill Reiman leading Ryan Magliano by 1 point, and Sean Skinner lurking in third but within striking distance. Trouble on the start from pole-sitter Walter Albert stacked up the field and allowed Magliano to leapfrog both Reiman and Skinner. Magliano took the lead on lap 6 and even with a late race caution, he stayed strong and did what he needed to do winning his 4th race in a row and the championship.
Ryan Adcock took over the X-Car lead from Chuck McDonald early, but Corey Caddick was there to take over just as fast. Caddick built
himself a lead that was erased on a lap 10 caution that didn’t change the outcome and he would win his third race in limited starts. Christian Herman had the championship clinched prior to the event and did not start.
The second Open Street Stock feature of the season drew a healthy car count and put on a good race for 50 laps. Justin Beecher took the lead from Chris Lindquist early and was able to hold him off as Corey Fanning worked by Lindquist for second. The two drivers then ran away from a fiercely contest pack that included some heavy hitters like Aaron Plemons, Adam Gray, Austin Erickson, and Lindquist. Gray kept the pressure turned up in the pack but when lapped traffic entered the picture on lap 14, that was Erickson’s opportunity to move. By this point, Beecher built a huge lead that got eviscerated by Erickson in no time. Blink and you’ll miss the lead change that occurred on lap 27. Gray caught Fanning on lap 30 and eventually caught Beecher and tried to take second away with eight to go but Beecher would hang on. Erickson’s dominant performance was rewarded with the win.
Randy Cabral won the NEMA Midgets after a two-lap shootout. Joey Bailey used his prior experience at the Speedbowl to dominate the
Skaket LLC TQ Midget feature.
The rains came on lap 42 of the SK Modified® 100 lap feature presented by F.W. Webb Company and Milwaukee Tool that had Nickolas Hovey dominating the event until that point. The drivers made a round of pit stops before the race was suspended.
One more event remains on the 2026 calendar! On October 17th we gather for Smacktoberfest featuring the final 58 laps of the SK Modified® championship, the Skaket LLC 50 for Legend Cars, the American Rides Dash for Cash for Crown Vics, Open Street Stocks, Enduros, and more. To keep up with the Speedbowl, please visit our website at www.SpeedbowlCT.com, follow us at The New London-Waterford Speedbowl on Facebook, or @SpeedbowlCT on Instagram and X.
Unofficial Sunday Results (10/4/26)
Late Models (30 Laps): 1. 91MA-Derek Gluchacki[6]; 2. 12-Ray Christian III[3]; 3. 6-Cory DiMatteo[8]; 4. 55-Randy Cole Jr[5]; 5. 09-Shawn Gaedeke[1]; 6. 50RI-Michael Benevides[2]; 7. 11-Corey Fanning[13]; 8. 57-Adam Pettey[7]; 9. 39-Douglas Curry[10]; 10. 67-Aaron Plemons[9]; 11. 1RI-Justin Hall Jr[11]; 12. 0X-William Kuhn[4]; 13. 66-Zachary Fisher[12]
SK Lights (25 Laps): 1. 95-Leo Nunes[4]; 2. 14-Kali Trapp[1]; 3. 55-Ian Nunes[3]; 4. 07-Robert Bloxsom III[8]; 5. 91CT-Riley Paul[2]; 6. 99X-Dylan Houghton[14]; 7. 17-Vinnie Rappoccio[12]; 8. 81-Will Anderson[10]; 9. 21-Sami Anderson[6]; 10. 78-Evan Bourgeois[11]; 11. 10-Kevin Davis[13]; 12. 87-Brett Gonyaw[23]; 13. 99-Milania Shilosky[9]; 14. 92-David Webb[16]; 15. 18-Anthony Raccio[5]; 16. 19-John Brunelle[17]; 17. 51-Matt Brewer[15]; 18. 36-Jake Coutu[21]; 19. 44Z-Kevin Cormier[7]; 20. 45-Zacchary Butler[24]; 21. 21X-Bill Anderson[19]; 22. 28-Eddie Schutze[20]; 23. 28X-Zach Aszklar[18]; 24. 37-Daltin McCarthy[22]; 25. 52-Anthony Forino[25]
Street Stocks (25 Laps): 1. 56-Ike Chima[1]; 2. 64-Greg Moran Jr[3]; 3. 86-Jon Porter[6]; 4. 02-Douglas Curry[11]; 5. 90-Allen Coates[15]; 6. 52-Al Stone III[4]; 7. 1-Corey Fanning[10]; 8. 74-Joseph Arena[9]; 9. 30-Charles Beal[7]; 10. 10-Chad Baxter[5]; 11. 43-William Rheaume[13]; 12. 03-Jake Caprio[8]; 13. 3-Adam Coutu[2]; 14. 63-Greg Moran Sr[12]; 15. 87X-Greg Moran III[14]
Trucks (25 Laps): 1. 81-Tyler Chapman[6]; 2. 6X-Andrew Pellegrini[1]; 3. 19-Ryan Lineham[8]; 4. 30-Charles Beal[3]; 5. 18-Joe Bavolacco[5]; 6. 16-Brad Caddick[7]; 7. 19RI-Dylan Cabral[9]; 8. 91-Tom Jones Jr[11]; 9. 31-Mason Silva[2]; 10. 25-Brian Norman[12]; 11. 33-Jake Coutu[4]; 12. 30CT-Jaysin Beal[10]
Mini Stocks (25 Laps): 1. 38CT-Sam Mesick[10]; 2. 53-Andrew Krzeminski[8]; 3. 81CT-Nate Taylor[4]; 4. 16-Tim Dorr[3]; 5. 42-John Bavolacco[21]; 6. 83-Christopher Garside[16]; 7. 88-Bill Sylvia[6]; 8. 99-John Krzeminski[2]; 9. 9CT-Christian Herman[9]; 10. 73-Eric Julian[15]; 11. 6-Nicholas Pappacoda[18]; 12. 27RI-Corey Caddick[14]; 13. 23-Matt Pinson[20]; 14. 97-Dave Trudeau[12]; 15. 25-Charles Canfield[5]; 16. 44-Steve Michalski[1]; 17. 11-Jason Kokoszka[11]; 18. 28-Erica Canfield[7]; 19. 18-Dylan DeCoster[13]; 20. 77-Carson Peters[19]; 21. (DNS) 91-Chuck McDonald
Unofficial Saturday Results (10/3/26)
Open Street Stocks (50 Laps): 1. 22-Austin Erickson[10]; 2. 57-Justin Beecher[2]; 3. 97-Adam Gray[5]; 4. 67-Aaron Plemons[4]; 5. 11-Corey Fanning[3]; 6. 11X-Travis Hydar[8]; 7. 19-Ryan Lineham[9]; 8. 35-Chris Lindquist[1]; 9. 25-Ben Castro[7]; 10. 52-Al Stone III[6]; 11. 85-Michael Viens[12]; 12. 55-Nick Anderson[15]; 13. 19RI-Dylan Cabral[14]; 14. 03-Jake Caprio[17]; 15. 72-Jack Emerson[13]; 16. 86-Jon Porter[11]; 17. 87-Ray Reed[16]; 18. 30-Charles Beal[18]
Legend Cars (25 Laps): 1. 14Z-Zachary Martinez[9]; 2. 05-Dylan Freeman[8]; 3. 21X-Jacob Burns[16]; 4. 27-Taylor Henion[7]; 5. 22-KJ Rocco[1]; 6. 65-Wade Oemcke[4]; 7. 15-Adam Forster[12]; 8. 77-Cory DiMatteo[15]; 9. 12W-Joe Wilcox[2]; 10. 12-Nicholas Massirio[11]; 11. 25-Jordan Churchill[6]; 12. 14CT-Parker Davis[5]; 13. 8-Ethan Dion[14]; 14. 58-TJ Sansoucy[3]; 15. 91MA-Ethan Avellar[10]; 16. (DNS) 11M-Dustin Gagne; 17. (DNS) 47-Aiden Hills Nevin
Crown Vics (25 Laps): 1. 52-Jack Emerson[4]; 2. 71-Ray Reed[1]; 3. 23-Matt Zimmerman[7]; 4. 72-Joseph Sinclair[2]; 5. 55MA-Randy Cole Jr[5]; 6. 7-Larry Maskell[9]; 7. 77-Raleigh Maskell[8]; 8. 42-Cole Curtis[3]; 9. 27C-Chris Cashman[6]
Super X-Cars (25 Laps): 1. 02-Ryan Magliano[8]; 2. 88-Ben Castro[10]; 3. 38-Norm Sears[3]; 4. 25-William Reiman[7]; 5. 58-Marc Shafer[6]; 6. 24-Sean Skinner[5]; 7. 5-John Nunes[4]; 8. 82-John Nash[2]; 9. 66-Walter Albert[1]; 10. 33-Ray Phillips[13]; 11. 7-James Trask[9]; 12. 10-Mitch Bombard[11]; 13. 2-Caitlyn Desomma[14]; 14. 30-Pipper Beal[15]; 15. 55-Kevin Grandieri[12]; 16. (DNS) 12RI-Javier Rivera; 17. (DNS) 44-Nick Fraulino
X-Cars (25 Laps): 1. 27-Corey Caddick[8]; 2. 91-Raymond Herman Sr[6]; 3. 7-Ryan Adcock[3]; 4. 6X-Andrew Pellegrini[4]; 5. 01-Chuck McDonald[1]; 6. 06-Brandon Lindahl[10]; 7. 12-Richard Nye[9]; 8. 15-Logan Hartman[11]; 9. 47-Grant Spaulding[5]; 10. 87-Talyn Walsh[7]; 11. 11-Tim Burgess[2];
TQ Midgets TOP-5 RESULTS: 1 #51m Joey Bailey; 2 #1B Kyle Taraska; 3 #22 Dylan Coutu; 4 #51 Geoffrey Sutton; 5 #12 Blake Barney
NEMA Midgets Top 5: 1. Randy Cabral; 2. Joey Bailey; 3. Avery Stoehr; 4. Paul Scally; 5. Dylan Coutu
