| |
www.jeff-pearl.com: 06/06/09 Waterford Late Model Results
Esposito wins by a nose in thrilling three-wide finish
|
|
 |
The 30-lap Bob Valenti Auto Mall Late Model field was led to green by Robert LeBlanc Jr. and Vin Esposito, with Esposito taking an early straightaway lead. Bruce Thomas Jr. sliced through the field and moved into second before Jeff Smith spun in turn two to bring out caution on lap 14, negating Esposito’s advantage.
Esposito got the jump over Thomas on three separate restarts, however Thomas came back applying pressure lap after lap. As Thomas looked high, Dennis Stampfl filled the gap under Thomas to make it a three-way tussle for the lead as the laps counted down. The action was intense with Thomas peeking high and Stampfl low, and Esposito trying to hold both off. The top three raced under the proverbial blanket to the checkered flag with Esposito winning by just nine thousandths of a second over Thomas in a photo-finish. Stampfl was tucked closely underneath in third.
Esposito, from Seymour, wrecked hard during last week’s Modified Nationals event and was forced into a back-up car that hadn’t seen action in two years. He and his crew finished working on the car Saturday morning. The Late Model division will be off from June 13’s event when the ACT Late Model Tour comes to the ‘Bowl. Speedbowl Late Model competitors will have an opportunity to strut their stuff against the stars of the touring series their division rules are based upon. |
photo courtesy Race Dog Photography |
| Pos | Driver |
| 1 |
Vin Esposito |
| 2 |
Bruce Thomas Jr. |
| 3 |
Dennis Stampfl |
| 4 |
Rich Staskowski |
| 5 |
Tony Macrino |
| 6 |
Brian Andronaco Jr. |
| 7 |
Mark Hudson |
| 8 |
Robert Leblanc Jr |
| 9 |
Jeff Smith |
| 10 |
Howard Payne |
|
