Tyler Chadwick
WATERFORD – It took Tyler Chadwick 12 races into the 2015 season to find his way to victory lane at the Waterford Speedbowl.
But that July 25 victory for the Ledyard driver has seemed set in motion a heated roll at the perfect time of the year for Chadwick.
Chadwick staved off numerous challenges over 25 laps to win the 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature Saturday at Wings & Wheels at the New London-Waterford Speedbowl.
“Just smart people behind me knowing that the track was going to be a lot different on a night like tonight with all the different divisions here,” Chadwick said. “They hooked it up pretty good. I was hoping we’d be a little bit faster so it wasn’t so sketchy, but it was good enough to stay out front.”
Joey Gada of Salem was second and Keith Rocco of Wallingford third.
Chadwick went to the lead past Rob Janovic Jr. on a lap eight restart and never trailed again, though it was hardly smooth sailing at the front.
Lap after lap Chadwick was defending challenges, for much of the event from Gada and Kyle James.
“I had a do some protecting there, but that’s what you’ve got to do,” Chadwick said. “These things are hard to win when you get to the front. You don’t give them up. I had to just protect the bottom. I wasn’t so worried about the top. I just wanted to make sure no one was going get underneath us. That was the game plan for the last half of the race and it worked out for us.
“It was very intense trying to stay on the bottom and hit my marks. Those guys were really fast behind us so it was definitely intense. No time to settle in. It’s really hard to get a rhythm when someone is peeking here and there on the outside or trying to get underneath you.”
James’ run at the front came to an end on lap 31 when contact with Ted Christopher in a battle for third sent him spinning, which moved Rocco to third.
Chadwick finished second in the SK Modified feature on Aug. 1. Saturday’s victory moved him to within one point of division leader Diego Monahan, who was sixth. Chadwick was the 2012 SK Modified champion at Waterford.
“It was definitely frustrating at the beginning of the year,” Chadwick said. “We went a while without a win and we really didn’t even sniff at a win until we won. But the whole time we kept looking at the big picture and we were like ‘We’re struggling right now but we keep ending up in the top-five and were still right there in the points.’ Now we’re hitting our stride a little over halfway through the season. It’s perfect timing. Hopefully we can just keep going with it.”
Saw more blocking in this race than a Patriots game.