Frank Alessio dominant from start

Being oblivious on the race track may not be a bad thing. Colchester driver Frank Alessio certainly would agree.

Alessio started at the front of the pack and never had to look at another bumper as he ran away with the 20-lap Super-X car feature at the Waterford Speedbowl’s Wild ’n Wacky Wednesday program.

“I don’t know if I would have been nervous. I would have done what I had to do to try and hang on,” Alessio said of the lack of a challenge. “I don’t use my mirror; it’s flipped up. I was just waiting to get a tap on the back from somebody and it never came.”

It’s a good thing, too, considering the luck — or lack thereof — that Alessio has experienced recently.

Three weeks ago, Alessio crashed on the second lap. Two weeks ago, his fuel pickup failed, which resulted in his car causing a wreck. Last week, Alessio lost his power steering and had to hang on, literally, for a third-place finish.

“The car (Wednesday night), honestly, was junk,” Alessio said. “It was fast, but handling-wise, if I had to start anywhere in the middle of the pack, that’s where I would have finished.”

But the luck of the draw put Alessio out front and he was able to stay there. The biggest challenge early came from Mike Maskell II, who moved from seventh to second in the first five laps after almost not making the feature. Maskell broke his exhaust manifold taking the No. 31 car off the trailer.

“We had people running all over Connecticut looking for an exhaust manifold, but our guys came through, like always,” Maskell said.

Legends

Dave Garbo Jr., took a glance out to the pits and assumed there were few nice words being said about him.

That’s because on the second lap of the 20-lap feature, Garbo, Dana Dimatteo and Jason Palmer were three-wide going into the third turn. With some slower cars in front, Dimatteo slowed down and Garbo hit his back bumper. That sent Garbo into a spin and sent Dimatteo into Palmer, according to Garbo.

Palmer ended up ripping off a wheel, while Dimatteo suffered extensive front end damage but stayed on the track and finished third. Garbo managed to overcome the spin and win for a second week in a row and a third time this season.

“I do feel bad about it, but that’s racing and stuff like that happens every race,” Garbo said.

X-cars

Twenty-eight cars made for the largest field of the season, but despite the crowd it didn’t result in many cautions. Just two yellow flags were thrown on a night that saw only four cautions in total in all five features. The lack of cautions was a surprise to the winner of the 20-lap feature, Dan D’Addario, of Columbia.

“Especially with the X-cars, we’re usually a wreck a lap,” D’Addario said. “Sometimes it’s clean, but it’s definitely hectic out there.”

D’Addario took the lead on the fourth lap and stayed on the outside groove, easily getting past lapped traffic for the victory, his third Wednesday win of the year. X-car points leader, Randy Johnston, finished second.

Other races

Rachel Forte took a break from a vacation at Old Orchard Beach in Maine to participate in the 20-lap Bandolero feature. The 12-year-old from Douglas, Mass., made the journey worth it as she took the lead on the fourth lap and never trailed to capture her second checkered flag of the season.

“I really wanted to keep my points standing. It’s very important to me,” Forte said.

Woodstock’s Jordan Lamothe finished second.

“Rachel was really fast and my car was getting really tight at the end,” Lamothe said.

In the Wacky Race Series Super-X five-lap toll booth race, Bill Reiman came out the winner, dropping the most tokens in the bucket.

“I love doing them and we’re here for the fans, so I enjoy driving,” Reiman said. “It doesn’t matter what race it is. I would be out there for a wheelbarrow race."