Josh Galvin celebrates victory Sunday in the Street Stock feature Sunday at the Waterford Speedbowl (Photo: Mark Caise/Waterford Speedbowl)
WATERFORD – Josh Galvin came to the Waterford Speedbowl Sunday with some unfinished business in mind.
On Sept. 27 Galvin clinched his first Street Stock championship at the Waterford Speedbowl, but did it with a 10th place finish in an event that saw him in numerous wrecks.
Clinching the title that way left a bad taste in the mouth of Galvin, of Franklin.
Sunday at the Waterford Speedbowl Galvin replaced that sour taste with the sweet taste of winning in dramatic style.
Galvin got by Ryan Waterman out of the final corner to win the 25-lap Street Stock feature Sunday at Finale Weekend at the Waterford Speedbowl.
“To me personally [winning Sunday] was important for me,” Galvin said. “The team has been happy that we won the championship. It was a great accomplishment for us. We clinched the championship with a mess of a race and for me it just dampened it a little bit. It put a damper on the championship for us. To come out and top of the season with a win like that, to go for it on the outside for the lead, that’s what I wanted. That topped it off for us.”
Waterman, of Danielson, was second and Ed Gertsch Jr. of East Haven third.
It was the 11th victory of the season for Galvin in 24 events this year, but first since Aug. 16.
Galvin and Waterman gave fans a head-spinning 9-lap side-by-side battle to the checkered flag.
Running the outside lane, Galvin led at the line with eight laps remaining. With seven laps left the two came to the line in a virtual dead heat. Waterman led by inches with six laps to go and continued to lead by inches each time around at the line until the white flag, when Galvin inched ahead.
But Waterman fought back on the final lap to regain the lead down the backstretch. But in the final corner, Waterman’s car seemed to slide sideways coming onto the frontstretch, giving Galvin the opportunity to take the checkered in the side-by-side run to the finish.
“I think that was the [most fun] race I’ve had this year,” Galvin said. “I really wasn’t worried about him wrecking me because Ryan and I are pretty friendly. He’s got a rough reputation out here but we’re pretty friendly. I know he’ll rip my door off and cave my bumper in but he’s not going to put me in the grass or in the fence.”
Said Waterman: “He was way faster than me and I was just making him burn his car up. I would have beat him but I stuffed the gas in the center of the corner before the center of the corner and just smoked the car all the way out of line or else I would have had him. Rookie mistake. I was playing him pretty good until then.”
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