Moving Forward: Jason Palmer Grabs Late Model Victory At Waterford Speedbowl

Jason Palmer celebrates a Late Model victory Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl (Photo: Mark Caise/Waterford Speedbowl)

WATERFORD – A little time away from the track was the recipe for getting back to the front for Jason Palmer.

Palmer, of Berlin, rolled to victory in the 25-lap Late Model feature Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.

It was the first victory of the season for Palmer.

Keith Rocco of Wallingford, driving a car borrowed from division regular Chris Garside, was second. Vin Esposito of Waterbury came back from a mid-race penalty to finish third.

Palmer skipped the events at the Waterford Speedbowl on May 10 and May 17 before returning to finish third last week.

“This thing was awesome,” Palmer said. “Last week we got this thing back together. We made it here, we got to racing, and we weren’t completely happy with the way it turned out. We went back to the drawing board this week and changed a couple things. … I think it worked tonight. After four laps this thing was on rails.”

Rocco was in the borrowed car from Garside after wrecking his primary car badly during the Late Model event Thursday at Thompson Speedway.

“Chris and his guys, real class acts, they gave me a car that was almost capable of winning,” Rocco said. “The only one’s I’ve got to thank are Chris Garside and his team. They gave me an awesome car. Really classy people.”

Palmer inherited the lead with 14 laps remaining after an incident between the first and second place cars. Contact between then leader Anthony Ryan Jr. and second place Esposito sent Ryan spinning on the backstretch. Esposito was black flagged for rough driving.

Esposito offered a sarcastic word to track officials for their decision to penalize him.

“What happened on the backstretch was I got a clean run under [Ryan] and he turned right across my nose,” Esposito said. “I’d like to thank the officials for seeing it that way.”