Results of May 22

Another week in the books at Stafford. May 22 was a crazy kind of night of racing, since the Whelen Modified Tour guys were back in the spotlight of the half-mile. They were scheduled to run a 100-lap event since it was announced back in late April (and then again in early May). Along with them, there were the five weekly divisions, also in their usual-sized distances. Let the games begin.

The first order of business was time trials for the Whelen Modified Tour. And your winner, with a time of 18.085 (99.530 mph) was Ted Christopher. It was his third straight pole of the season. He'd redraw fourth for the feature later on in the evening. Jimmy Blewett and Richard Savary would bring the field to green. More on this race later in the recap. Up next, the weekly divisions would take center stage. Time for the first race of the night.

SK Lights: First to go on the program would be the SK Lights. It would start out with David Webb out in front, but six laps into the race, a new leader would emerge in Tommy Membrino, Jr. Membrino would start to pull away from the field, but a caution a little bit after halfway would erase the lead and set the field up for a restart. Michael Gervais, Jr would take the lead on the restart, but Membrino would reclaim the lead on the next lap. Again, he would take control of the race by pulling away from the rest of the field, and he would claim his first career victory. Second belonged to John Montesanto, followed by Gervais and Heather DesRochers.

SK Modifieds: We had to pace ourselves for some extra time to get this one into the record books. We start, however, at the beginning, with Curt Brainard as the leader early on. The first lead change would take place on lap-6 when Matt Gallo took over, and three laps later, Gallo would be passed by Frank Ruocco. Also coming would be Ted Christopher, who would spend lap after lap trying to find a way around Ruocco. On lap-28, Christopher would finally make the move for the lead. On lap-30, the caution would come out not once, but twice. The second time around, Ruocco and Chris Jones spun in turns one and two while dueling for second. Jones would be penalized for overaggression. Brainard would be awarded second as a result. Through the course of the final three laps, numerous cautions kept the field close together. Three green-white-checker scenarios occured, with the race going into overtime because of it. Each time, Christopher was able to hold off Brainard as he picked up his first win of the season. Brainard finished second, followed by Gallo and Wade Mattesen.

Limited Late Models: Norm Sears would be the first leader of the race, and he would be out in front for about four laps until Kevin Gambacorta took over. The two of them and Dave Yardley, III would run in line until a lap-13 caution came out, signaling a restart. Gambacorta would be back out front, with a quad of cars getting past Sears as he faded back in the pack. Meanwhile, Gambacorta was not challenged and led the final 16 laps of the race to take his first win of the season. Carla Botticello would finish second, Yardley took third, and Davis picked up fourth.

Late Models: So much to say for this one. Starting at the beginning, it was Billy Snow, Jr out in front early. He would lead up to a lap-7 restart, when he would be penalized for jumping the gun on that restart. He was sent to the back, while Tom Fearn took control of the lead. Fearn would have a bit of a problem on a not-too-distant restart, giving Ryan Posocco the lead. Michael Bennett was following Posocco closely, and in two laps, Bennett would make his way around for the lead. Posocco would retake the lead from Bennett on a lap-18 restart. On another restart on lap-20, Posocco didn't get up to speed. The inside line was hung out to dry as Bennett would once again pull out in front. Fearn followed Bennett and the two of them would begin to separate themselves from the rest of the pack, but it would be Bennett scoring the win; his first of the season. Fearn would finish second. Rick Charette and Doug Blowers, Jr would round out the board.

By this time, it was time for the main event to roll off.

Whelen Modified Tour: This race, much like the SK Modified feature, had to go into extra laps. But this race was a one-man show. Jimmy Blewett, from the inside of the front row after the redraw, had to endure six cautions and a green-white-checker to pick up his first win of the season. He led all 101 laps of the event. In the late stages of the race, Todd Szegedy attempted a pass but was unsuccessful. He was passed by Ted Christopher for second. Mike Stefanik finished fourth.

DARE Stocks: The evening concluded with the quickest race of the evening. And while it was quick to finish, it came with its own dramatics. It was caution-free, though there were times when the caution could have come out for someone spinning and just barely getting going before the field got to them. There was only one leader in the event; he being Tony Membrino, Jr. By taking the lead at the start from being on the pole to having a good straightaway's lead coming to the checkered flag, his first career race at Stafford was well-deserved. Albert Saunders would finish second, followed by Duane Provost in third and Jeff Jolly in fourth.

Friday night, weather permitting, we'll be back with a five-division program with no major events going on. Less action doesn't always mean less excitement. Hope the rain holds off, and see you there.