Tyler Chadwick Drives Away With SK Mod Win At Waterford; Nichole Morgillo Records Historic Finish

WATERFORD – Tyler Chadwick wasn’t worried about who wasn’t at the Waterford Speedbowl on Saturday night, all he cared about was who was there to beat, and he beat them all.

Chadwick drove away from the field over the closing laps to win the 35-lap NASCAR Whelen All-American Series SK Modified feature Saturday at the Waterford Speedbowl.

It was the second victory of the season for Chadwick. Nichole Morgillo of Wallingford had a career best second place finish and Kyle James of Ashaway, R.I. was third.

After the race, Chadwick didn’t want to talk much about the fact that the win came on a night when Keith Rocco wasn’t in the field. Rocco has been the most dominant driver in the division over the last four years at the track. Rocco is in his first season driving full-time on the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour and was competing at Monadnock Speedway in Winchester, N.H. on Saturday night. Rocco and Chadwick have built up a fiery rivalry over the past three seasons.

“Whatever,” Chadwick said when asked if it took anything away from the win without Rocco there. “We all know he’s the best there is. He could have definitely been in contention or he could have got caught up in something. I don’t like to base the whole night and the whole career off of one dude. We all know he’s the best there is around here and it’s simple enough. I don’t know really how to put that one. I’m here to win no matter whether that guy’s here or he’s not, but I do know that he’s the fastest and he’s the best on most nights, but he’s not here and I won.”

Chadwick used the outside lane to take the lead from Joe Perry on a restart with 16 laps remaining.

“I felt really good before that restart because I had to pass a few cars on the outside before that and I knew that the car was snug enough to where it was going to get really good bite off [the corner],” Chadwick said. “It just happened to work out.”

Morgillo passed Perry for second place with six laps left. It was the second consecutive week on the podium for Morgillo, who finish third in last week’s SK Modified feature. Morgillo’s finish marked the best ever for a female in an SK Modified feature at the Speedbowl.

“I’m really happy to get two top-three’s two weeks in a row, that’s really awesome,” Morgillo said. “I think my win is coming. I can taste it. I just really want it.”

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