We Are the Champions

Welcome to the final installment of The View From Turn One for the 2006 season. As some or all of you may know by now, yesterday was the final event of Stafford's schedule of on-track action... The CARQuest Fall Final/Pit Party. With lots of wind in the forecast and four divisions of cars battling for track championships, one can only wonder how long it was going to take until chaos ensued and cars were found damaged. Trust me on this one: It wasn't long.

The first actual incident came through the 50-lap SK Modified feature. Jeff Malave started the race on the outside of the first row, but that lead would pretty much be short lived. On the first lap of the race -- and in the first turn, to be more precise -- there was a nice multi-car accident that bent a few cars up. The second lap provided the first act in a show put on by Chris Jones as he spun in turn four. (There would be more antics of his later on.) Around lap-6, Woody Pitkat took the lead from Malave and held it for an extensive amount of time. Between the time he gained the lead to until the time he lost it, things pretty much spiraled out of control. Your next caution period would come on lap-12 when Vincent Anglace spun near where Jones spun in turn four. That turn was becoming quite a hot spot for cautions, and trust me... Things would just be worse. When lap-31 came around, things were looking south for Eric Berndt, who would be the third victim in the turn four area, spinning and bringing out the caution. On the next lap, Rowan Pennink spun and tagged the wall a bit in the frontstretch coming out of four. Finally things subsided, but not for long. When lap-41 rolled around, Bo Gunning and Wade Mattesen spun in turn four. Apparently people pointed fingers at Chris Jones for helping Gunning out, but nothing was done about him (Jones) until the next lap. That's when Jim Larsen, Dave Salzarulo, and (possibly, but couldn't confirm) Fran Siana came together in turns three and four. Again, Jones was blamed for helping one or more of these drivers out, so he was given the black flag. He pulled off the track and came to a stop in the infield. When he got out of his car, people flocked towards him in droves. I'm not sure if it was before or after the lap-43 incident in which Lloyd Agor took a ride in the backstretch grass, but Jones was led off the infield by a security officer and track personnel member. I'm pretty sure a few of the drivers were wondering why the caution period was extended, but I can't answer this for anyone. (More on Jones in a special entry tomorrow.) But anyway, we return back to the race. For the last seven laps, it was pretty much caution free, except for one minor incident regarding Pitkat. Even though he was in the lead since around lap-6 or so, he did have problems with his car. He dropped off the pace on lap-45, giving the lead to Willie Hardie. Hardie led the last few laps to take down another career win. Malave came in second, followed by Zach Sylvester and Brad Hietala. Although Hardie claimed the win, he had to finish nine spots ahead of Frank Ruocco in order to win the championship. With a seventh place finish, that didn't exactly happen. Ruocco finished close enough to win the 2006 SK Modified championship. The difference was only six points.

Next was the SK Lights and their final 20-lap feature of the season. At the top of the race, Tony Santangelo was the front runner. But on lap-4, Matt Gallo claimed the lead and just dominated the next 16 laps. The race ran caution free from the start, giving Gallo his second win of the season. At the time the checkered flag came out, Brit Andersen was second, Kyler Cafro came in third, and Duke Place was in fourth. This gave Andersen the SK Light championship... That was, however, until technical inspection took place. And that was when all heck broke loose. Upon inspection, both Andersen and Cafro's brakes were "non-compliant", disqualifying both from the original feature finish. This also eliminated Andersen from championship contention. The next person in line for the championship was Shelly Perry, and upon inspection, her brakes were indeed compliant, making her the 2006 SK Light champion. She is the first woman to win a track championship, regardless of division. She nudged out Richie Pallai, Jr. by only two points. (The top-5 after the disqualifications was Gallo, Place, Perry, Pallai, and Glenn Griswold.)

Finally we get to the Whelen Modified Tour's final race of their season. First off, there were quite a few cautions including a heavy shot in the turn two wall from Ted Christopher. (Even I felt the effect of that.) He would finish 50 laps of the event, 25th overall in the results, and 3rd in points. Second, let me tell you that Todd Szegedy led just about every lap of the race, giving him the win. But the biggest story took place on the opening green flag. By just starting the race, Mike Stefanik won his seventh Whelen Modified Tour championship and ninth championship overall. He is tied with Richie Evans for most championships by any NASCAR driver in any division.

Finally we come to the Late Model feature. It was a battle between Jim Peterson and Woody Pitkat, and whoever finished closest to the front would win the championship. But to become the champion, they'd have to overcome numerous obstacles in the form of cautions. Steve McQuillian was the leader for the first four laps until Wayne Coury, Jr. took over and began to drift away from the field. In the battle for the division crown, Pitkat's better starting position proved to be a plus as he maintained a safe distance from Peterson. Both moved up a ways from their original starting spots for the first 23 laps. And then we start a huge string of caution periods. This all started on lap-24 when John Warren spun in turn two and David Trudeau spun in nearly the same spot on the restart. Three laps without cautions proved to be fairly interesting. By this time, Pitkat was in second with Peterson almost nowhere in sight. Then on lap-27, a multi-car accident bunched the field back together. Pitkat's second place, outside restart spot didn't cost him dearly as he moved to the lead on lap-30. Peterson had reached sixth, although this was to be trouble when the field was bunched up yet again on lap-32 due to an accident featuring Trudeau, Jonathan Smith, and Rick Charette. Then on the restart, consider the field together again after a multi-car accident occured in turn one. On the next lap, Ryan Posocco took the lead from Pitkat, and with Peterson still moving up, the two could officially race each other for the championship. Well, they offically came bumper to bumper with each other around lap-34 when Tom Butler spun on the backstretch and a multi-car accident collected numerous drivers on the restart. Both contenders battled each other for a few laps until Smith spinning in an unknown location on lap-37 and Coury crashing in turns one and two on the next lap sealed the deal for Pitkat. He blew past Peterson on the final restart, putting only Tom Fearn inbetween the contenders. Peterson couldn't get past Fearn, however, and Pitkat finished ahead of Peterson for the championship. Meanwhile, Posocco took down the win, followed by Pitkat, Fearn, and of course, Peterson.

This was a great season, and I couldn't do the work without any of my trusted sources: Mod Series Scene and their administrators and members, Making Laps and their administrators and members, and the Stafford Speedway and their hard-working web techies for putting together a great website. I promise to do better over the offseason and next year, giving you more stories from the homefront and possibly some new features for the new season. If you have any suggestions for things that could make the second season of The View From Turn One a better experience, please drop me an email at ironchefmandy@sbcglobal.net or instant message me at the same address. Until the Spring Sizzler and the first features of the year, stay safe, warm, and have a happy 2006.