What Would You Do...

...if a nice batch of rain came right through the state of Connecticut during the majority of your Friday? Stafford management decided to keep the racing intact and deemed the night suitable for racing. There was just one subplot, though: NO HEATS. All of the cars that were signed in were eligible for feature racing, five of them would leave feature winners, and a maximum of five different drivers would leave as the leaders of their respective division's point standings. So what really happened on the night of August 25? Let's answer the famous question "What would you do?" with each one of our features tonight.

...if you've only ran your third SK Light feature in your career?
The 20-lap SK Light feature started out strong for the first 19 laps with some wicked sweet action in all directions. But as the final lap started, Duke Place became the first victim of the grass treatment, spinning in turn 2. The restart on the same lap didn't go as planned either, as a false start bunched the cars together again. A green-white-checkered situation was in effect...and this is when some more chaos ensued. On the first attempt, Fred Nees spins on the frontstretch. Second attempt? Multi-car accident in turn 2, including Shelly Perry, Kyler Cafro, and a few others. Third attempt? Perry and Nees get together in the turn 4 vicinity and wind up in the frontstretch. Now, I didn't know the SK Lights had a time constraint like the DARE Stocks do, but time had expired and we had experienced a red/checked situation. The leader of the pack happened to be Matt Gallo, who in his third race of his career was named the winner of the event. Behind him at the time of the final caution was Tim Fogg, Place, and Wade Mattesen.

...if you're battling for the all-time Late Model win record?
This was actually one of the more temper-controlled 30-lap Late Model features I've seen to date. Instead of a caution filled-fest like the SK Lights were, this was pretty much calm. On lap-2, Johnathan Smith spun in turns 1 and 2, bringing out the first caution of the race. The next time the yellow would come out would be on lap-20 when Brad Boissonneault spun on the backstretch. Six laps later, the caution flew for the final time for debris in turn 1 (for what I could see; this may be different). At this time, Ryan Posocco was in the lead and he wouldn't let it go, even though Woody Pitkat was coming strong towards the end of the race. For all it was worth, Posocco scored his second win of the season with Pitkat in second, Todd Owen third, and Jim Peterson fourth. Posocco is only two wins away from capturing the all-time win record in the Late Model division.

...if you were in a battle for the points championship and wanting a third win in 2006?
In the 20-lap Limited Late Model feature, there wasn't a lot to talk about. Lap-4 showed us a lot of speedy dry when oil was dumped all over the track. After that was cleaned up, a familiar face showed up in the top spot, and his name happens to be Andrew Durand. He took the lead on lap-3 and showed his muscle all the way through the race, even when a lap-12 came out for debris in turn 1. When all was said and done, Durand scored his third win of 2006. Following him to the line was Sean Foster, George Nocera, and Kevin Gambacorta.

...if you haven't won a feature since July of 2005?
The 40-lap SK Modified feature started out strong in terms of cautions when an unknown car spun in turn 2 on lap-3. On the restart, Willie Hardie took the lead from Lloyd Agor and was literally off to the races. This charge would come to a halt, however, when Jeff Johnson and Rowan Pennink spun on the frontstretch when lap-10 rolled around. The next two cautions would go hand in hand with each other. On lap-14, Johnson and Vincent Anglace would come together in turns 1 and 2, setting up one of those traditional double file restarts we all know and love. But Hardie decides to jump the gun on said restart and a false start occurs. This time, however, we're clean on the next restart and we're back to green flag racing...for four laps. Lap-18 brings us John Blewett III and Jeff Baral come into contact with each other in turn 4. And so this means that the next 22 laps would be run under green flag conditions. Hardie fought off a hard pressed Frank Ruocco--who had been coming off of a second place finish last week and was now trying not to do anything stupid as he was unofficially in the points lead as of the first lap--and successfully defended all challenges. Hardie and Ruocco would be the first two finishers at the finish line with Agor and Todd Owen coming after them. This, of course, would be Hardie's first win since July of 2005.

...if you were just trying to win your first feature win in general?
The final race was the 15-lap DARE Stock feature, and that probably went as quick as the Late Models. There were only two multi-car accidents, the first of which being on lap-4 and in turn 4. This set up the first and only lead change of the race. Barry Fluckinger drove past Jim Brice on the restart, but this lead would be destroyed on lap-5 when the second of two multi-car accidents took place on the backstretch. Again, Fluckinger charged past Brice on the restart, and again the lead would be called to a halt. Lap-12 showed us more liquid--possibly water--and bunched the field up for a third time for the final three laps. Brice was no match for Fluckinger on the final restart, and Fluckinger took down his first win of his career. Brice followed in second, and the top-4 ended with Norm Sears and Lori-Jo Rzeszutek.

And this concludes our segment entitled "What Would You Do?", where every answer was "Pull out the win." Until next Friday, when the September Series at Stafford starts up, gas pedal's on the right...