Al Stone III celebrates victory Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl (Photo: Mark Caise/Waterford Speedbowl)
WATERFORD – Week after week this year Al Stone III has frustratingly watched Josh Galvin lord over the Street Stock division at the Waterford Speedbowl.
Saturday night Stone got the win he’s been desperately close to over the last month, in dramatic style.
Stone took the lead through the final corner and won the 25-lap Street Stock feature Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.
It was the second victory of the season for Stone, who got his first of the year on April 19.
“[Galvin] has just totally stepped up his game and his program all the way around,” Stone said. “… He’s a more relaxed driver now. It’s really frustrating to finish second every week. But you keep doing it and this is the outcome.”
Chris Meyer of North Franklin was second and Galvin, of Franklin, third.
The three podium finishers were embroiled in a thrilling battle for victory over the final four laps. Stone slammed the backstretch wall with just over two laps remaining.
“We absolutely pounded the wall and I wasn’t sure what was going to happen but we never lifted,” Stone said. “I was just trying to get back to the front. I knew that once Josh got to Chris, I figured it would be a show and I figured we’d have one shot.”
Meyer led into turn three on the final lap, but contact between he and Galvin sent them both up the track through turn four and Stone went to the bottom then won the full contact battle to the checkered down the frontstretch. Meyer nearly hooked Stone coming off of turn four, but Stone was able to keep his sliding car going forward and the line first.
“Going down the backstretch and I saw Josh go to the outside, I absolutely knew I had to go to the bottom because it wasn’t going to go well,” Stone said. “So we dove to the bottom and it worked. It stuck, and here we are.”
Seth Carlson won the 27-lap Shane Hammond Memorial Northeastern Midget Association feature. Avery Stoehr was second and Todd Bertrand third.
Juris Kupris was victorious in the 27-lap Shane Hammond Memorial Northeastern Midget Assocation Lites feature.
It is a terrible shame that we will not be able to relive Saturday nights excitement on Sids View.The loss of Sids View at the Speed bowl is huge.Racers coulld review,relive and often reconstruct a race gone by (e.g. Al Stone III on 7/26/14).That is a thing of the past.Fans are shafted the hardest.Why?My guess is that Terry Eames has failed to recognize the contribution of Sids View to the Speedbowl.Hat’s off to Al Stone III,it was a wild one indeed.