Oh, What a Night...

Sorry for being so late, but I was just drawn into an addiction! (It's not what you think; I swear.) I've got some incredible news for you, so...do you want to hear it? You do? Good! Just sit back and enjoy a night that was filled with more action than you can shake a stick at. Relive the night of August 4, 2006.

We begin with the DARE Stocks and our first wild feature of the evening. The race was quick except for one caution. That was on lap-3 when Michael Nordman and Robert Thompson were involved in an accident somewhere in the turn 1 area. When that was cleared, the remaining some-odd cars in the field ran from green to checkers. At the time I wrote what I did originally, Dan Flannery came across the line first on his birthday, followed by Vince Gambacorta, Rob Lawrence, and Lori-Jo Rzeszutek. Yet post race inspection was another story, and both Flannery and Gambacorta were disqualified for having illegal rear suspensions. This put Lawrence as the winner, Rzeszutek in second, then Norm Sears and Carla Botticello after them.

When the SK Lights came out afterward, I thought it was going to be another one of those boring moments when the race was caution free. Chris Matthews had crossed the line first (as of press notes) with Brit Andersen, Duke Place, and Glen Reen coming in second, third, and fourth respectively. Once again, the magic of post race inspection loomed upon the competitors and disaster struck...on Matthews. For not meeting the frame height requirement, he was eliminated from the race and Andersen became the winner.

Could this night get any crazier? I think it could, and it sure as heck did. This was because the Late Models had taken to the track for their regular feature. The second lap proved to be part of the case. A multi-car accident had occured in turns 1 and 2. (Like I said, things could get crazier. No exeption, eh?) Lap-18 continued the carnage when Brad Boissonault stalled in turn 4. Four laps later, Jim Peterson's involved in an accident in the same spot as the last caution took place. NASCAR officials felt it was appropriate that he serve a three-lap penalty. I'm not sure why this was the move on NASCAR's part, but Peterson did serve the penalty and everyone (well, mostly everyone) was happy. During this span of three laps, however, there was yet another caution. This took place on lap-19 when yet another multi-car accident occured in the turns 1 and 2 area. (Suffering the worst damage was Bobby Leone.) When the dust and sort cleared, Ed Ricard came out on top. Tom Fearn, Mark Lewis, and Scott Foster rounded out the top-four. (The good news? No post-race incident.)

And then...a quick race for the Limited Late Models. Only thing that happened here of significant noteworthiness was an accident featuring Darrin Havanec and Ky Jensen on lap-10 (in the turns 3 and 4 area). Neither one finished outside of the top-15, although there were only 19 cars taking the green flag to begin with... Anyway, nothing else prevailed except for George Nocera who took down the win. Andrew Durand tried his hardest to make a move, but nothing would faze Nocera. Durand finished second, Bill Davis came in third, and Kevin Gambacorta was fourth. (Again, no disqualifications in tech. Yet this would change in a flash.)

Rounding out the night was Stafford's own SK Modifieds. And did they put on a show. The show started on lap-5 when a spin on the frontstretch from Kirk Zervas and Vincent Anglace brought out the caution. Then all was quiet on the home front until lap-24. During a battle for the lead in turn 4, Kenny Horton and Frank Ruocco got together. (They'd both finish in the top-ten when the checkered came out and some post-race drama came about.) Two more laps come flying through the book and again there's a caution. Scott Bennett ends up in turn 1 (and went on to finish 18th.) Now that all of the cautions were sifted through, the last 14 laps were run under green. John Blewett III powered past Jeff Baral on lap-29 to preserve the win for the #12 team and they would capture their first win of the 2006 season. Ted Christopher, Baral, and Curt Brainard were the next three cars to finish behind Blewett. But remember...there was still tech inspection, and that wasn't a godsend for Christopher. According to Monday's press release, his care had an illegal flywheel and he was stripped of his second place finish.

So that's it and all for the events of August 4, 2006. To be a car who had been disqualified for one reason or another, it must have been dreadful. But I'm sure all of them can put the past aside and focus on Friday night's program, which features the Whelen Modified Tour and 150-laps of racing excitement. A few of the Stafford regulars will test their luck in time trials and (if they succeed) the big event. I'll be there with all of the results in next week's blog. So until then...gas pedal's on the right...