TUTHILL RECORDS 2ND PLACE FINISH AT WATERFORD SPEEDBOWL
Paul Tuthill brought home the Paul Tuthill Racing #81 Ford Thunderbird to a 2nd place finish Saturday night at the Waterford Speedbowl. Two time ALNRS Champion Anthony Frissora found himself in a familiar place with his first victory since 2007. In 2008 Anthony returned for a one race deal at Adirondack Speedway with Paul Tuthill Racing where he posted a top three finish. In 2010 Anthony joined KMV Racing as a teammate to East Haddam, CT Driver Eric Bourgeois. After his win in the qualifier Anthony started on the front row alongside Bennington, NH Driver Kyle Poodiack who picked up the win in the second round of qualifying. With the 16 car field set it was time for the Feature event.
A missed shift at the drop of the green flag caused the field to stack up as they headed into turn one which caused several cars to get together. Bourgeois, who wound up slamming into the turn one wall, and Bow, NH driver Brad Zahensky suffered heavy damage and both were unable to continue.
Lap 9 saw the first of 5 racing cautions as Millis, MA driver Billy Barrett was involved in a single car spin. One lap later on the restart Rookie Driver Samantha DellaRocco of North Branford, CT and 2009 aDP Rivet Rookie of the Year driver Peter Portante of Plainville, CT got together in the middle of turns 3 and 4 which caused Portante to slam into the turn 4 wall in one of the hardest crashes the series has seen in quite some time. Portante was treated in the infield and was later transferred to a local hospital for further evaluation where he was treated and released.
The red flag was thrown as the track had to await the arrival of another ambulance. Once racing resumed the battle up front would be between the series two former champions James Logan of Dighton, MA and Frissora as they battled for the top spot. Also battling for position was Washingtonville, NY driver Paul Tuthill and Poodiack. The two would battle for several laps with Tuthill securing the third spot.
Lap 22 would bring out the final caution of the night for a single car spin by T.J. Jeski of Dracut, MA. On the restart Frissora was once again able to hold off the hard charging Logan who was all over his rear bumper. Logan who had run second most of the night, had his night end in a bit of frustration when on the last lap he ran out of gas coming to the checkers. Tuthill who battled with Logan earlier in the race was able to capitalize on this and secured second place for his second top five finish in three races.
Rounding out the top five were Emily Packard of East Montpelier, VT who got her second top five in three races. In fifth was Wakefield, NH driver Mellissa Fifield who scored her first top 5 of the 2010 ALNRS Season and was also the hard charger of the race as she gained 10 spots from her 15 place starting position. The aDP Rivet Rookie of the Race went to Barrett who was able to recover from to earlier spins to come home in 6th place.
With his 2nd place finish and the early exit of the #46 of Eric Bourgeois due to an accident, Tuthill has moved into the top spot in the ALNRS point standings. Twin State Speedway is up next for the team as they look to build on the momentum from the last two races. Stay tuned to PaulTuthillRacing.com for more info!