A Caution-Filled 100 and Other Features

(First off, I apologize once again. I've barely had any time to get this up and posted, but I figured I'd do it today seeing as I have all the time in the world to get it done. Second off, I'm trying a new style as I'm going to e-mail it to someone for a website.)

Two nights ago, Stafford Motor Speedway had a Friday night full of racing with the Late Model 100 and three other divisions with regular-distanced events. More later with why only four divisions took a green flag in the night in question.

Before we move on to the regularly scheduled features, I have the dumb move of the night. This takes place after the Limited Late Models have finished their qualifying event and the SK Modifieds are starting to take the track for their first wave of heats. Now, apparently they (Limiteds) go eight laps and then the checkered waves. I thought they went a full ten laps and I'm guessing half of the field did as well. You see some of the back runners making a right hand turn from the frontstretch to go into the paddock area and the eventual leaders are still on the track, now heading for the backstretch. They were probably embarassed as you see them peeling off onto pit road for how the cars are usually supposed to exit the track after qualifying.

All of that aside, though: Feature time! First actual feature to run was the DARE Stocks. The chaos started on lap-6 with an accident in turn one. This ended up with Kyle Nosal in the #83 in the wall near the safer barrier. (That got a workout in the race previous to this one.) Three laps later, two cars got into an accident inbetween turns one and two. One of them was the #88 of Duane Provost and another car whose driver will remain a mystery as I didn't see the car number. After that, the race went clean until the final lap when the #09 of Ray Grassetti stalls in turn two. At that moment, the race was red/checkered because the DARE Stocks have a time limit to finish the race and they had reached that deadline. Your winner of the race happened to be Lori-Jo Rzeszutek, the second female winner in the division this season and the third female winner all-around. The rest of the top four were Norm Sears, David Gambacorta, and Carla Botticello. (NOTE: During tech inspection, Botticello's car was involved in a special look-see for something illegal. No word yet on if officials found anything.)

Next up was the SK Light feature. Right when the green came out for the first time, it would immediately be put out by the yellow. The #97 of Duke Place went up and over the #11 of Tony Santangelo in the turn one area. Both cars were done for the night. For the next 13 laps, the green would remain out. Yet on lap-14, there was a spin in turn one thanks to the #70 of Brit Andersen. And the following lap, a three car melee would ensue with Andersen involved again. (The other two cars were the #0 of Dennis Eschenbrenner and the #42 of Kyler Cafro.) Finally the race would finish and Richie Pallai, Jr would stand out on top. (His car is owned by one Jack Arute, Jr. You may know that last name from somewhere...) Following him to the checkered flag was Chris Matthews, Wade Mattesen, and Tim Fogg.

Next was a fireworks display that lit up the night sky, then it was time for the main event: 100 laps for the Late Models. This was the one race everyone wanted to see and, believe it or not, included me. Everyone saw a lap-19 accident on the backstretch involving the #36 of Brad Boissonneault and the #62 of Bobby Leone. Both cars were basically done then and there. If you thought that would be it for the cautions, then you'd be wrong. The insanity continued on the very next lap with a turn three accident involving many cars, all of them unknown. Then on the re-restart, JJ Hill in the #41 spins in turn one and the #82 of Rick Lanagan is sent through the frontstretch grass after the yellow has been flung out. Take three: Leader John Warren in the #55 has trouble on the restart, sending him all the way back to the back of the pack and back behind the wall. (He would go on to finish 26th.) The next time the yellow would come out would be on lap-89 with the second-place #44 of Scott Foster, Jr in a frontstretch crash that only involved him. Yet there were other cars with problems before him: Woody Pitkat (#48), Tom Fearn (#92), and Mike Quintiliano (#7). The cautionfest would continue on lap-92 when JJ Hill becomes a repeat caution offender in a turns 1 and 2 accident. Then on what could have been the final lap of the race, another caution is out in turn four. It was a red car and I really can't give out a number as I couldn't tell who was stranded in the grass. Anyway, the race ended up going to a green-white-checkered finish with Ryan Posocco's #3 winning the entire thing. Other finishers were Jim Peterson, Mark Lewis, and Tom Butler.

The final race of the night was the SK Modified feature. On the second lap of the race, Woody Pitkat's #52 stops in the middle of turns 3 and 4, bringing out the first caution. Two laps later, a two-car accident takes place in turn four. And the very next lap, there was a multi-car pile up in turn one. So right away there was three cautions in the first five laps of the race. This would quit until lap-24 when the #96 of Curt Brainard and the #6 of Chris Osella get together in the turn 4 and frontstretch area. (There could have been other cars involved, but I couldn't tell.) Another two laps pass and three cars are involved in another turn 4 caution. Those involved were the #30 of John Cleary, the #47 of Scott Bennett, and another car. (Apparently I screwed up on my notes and wrote an entirely different car number than the third car involved. So I can't give you a number on that one.) And then, the final caution occured on lap-32 when Scott Bennett brings out another caution in turns 1 and 2. With the cautions out of the way, Todd Owen's #90 held off a hard-pressed challenge from Frank Ruocco's #91 for the win. The other two to cross the finish next were Willie Hardie and Jeff Baral.

At this time, it was ten minutes to midnight and the Limited Late Models hadn't run their feature yet. Stafford decided to stop the event there and move the final feature onto the July 4th program--along with the Whelen Modified Tour and five other weekly features--so that those who were waiting out the caution-filled night wouldn't have to fall asleep during the race. I don't blame the management...I was getting tired as well.

So, that's the night of June 30th for you. Like mentioned in the above sentences, the next race is July 4th and gates are opening at 11:30 in the morning (Eastern Standard Time). This is weather permitting, of course. See you then...