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Waterford, CT - He was so focused, he missed the
crossed flags and the five-to-go sign and the white flag caught him
by surprise.
“Once I saw the checkered flag, tears started running down my face’”
said Anthony Marvuglio. “I couldn’t believe it was actually real.”
Marvuglio went wire-to-wire Saturday night winning the caution-free
27-lap Shane Hammond Memorial at Waterford Speedbowl. The event
memorializes Marvuglio’s brother who died at Thompson Speedway in
2008.
Starting on the outside pole in Chris DeRosiers’ 38, Marvuglio, 20,
needed just shy of six minutes, twenty seconds (96.694 mph),
finishing 2.3 seconds in front of Todd Bertrand (Bertrand 39). Russ
Stoehr (Dumo’s Desire 45), Randy Cabral (Bertrand 47) and Mike Horn
(Horn 93x) completed the top five.
It was the first NEMA win for Marvuglio who had his brother’s ashes
in his pocket and was wearing the gloves Hammond wore at Thompson.
“I really wanted this bad,” he said. “When we got the outside pole,
I decided I was just going to go.”
Jumping into the lead, Marvuglio was a full straightaway ahead when
Greg Stoehr passed Erica Santos (Breault 44) eight laps in. The only
car that might have had something for Marvuglio, Greg Stoehr’s motor
went bad five laps latter.
Completely focused, Marvuglio was not aware of what was going on
behind him. Spending much of the race in traffic, he had high praise
for starter Steve Grant. “I kept telling them “don’t get high on
me,’” said Marvuglio who did move to the bottom over the final
circuits to protect his tires.
Marvuglio has been “so close” at Waterford. Back on May 12th he was
dominant with laps in the 12 seconds before a flat tire. En route to
winning his heat, he knew “I had a good car, very similar to that
night when the tire went flat.”
The quickest lap Saturday, a 13.046, like everything else belonged
to Marvuglio. He is the seventh winner in as many races this season
and the streak is now 17 without a back-to-back winner..
NEMA and the NEMA Lites take on Oswego Speedway Saturday night and
return to Waterford Sept. 1 for the Angelillo Memorial. |
