Results of July 10

I'm trying out a new style this week. It could possibly be permanent.

Stafford with another five-division program on Friday? That's what happened. All of the track's divisions were in full force this weekend. While the last two weeks were quick and to the point, this one really wasn't. So many yellows to come out of this night. It wasn't even funny. Who wants to see what happened?

SK Lights were the first to go out for the evening, and, well, this one didn't start out too good. Seconds after the green flag -- CAUTION. Multiple cars ended up stopped along the frontstretch and in all sorts of distress. No less than five cars involved in this one. Cleanup commenced for the longest time. (Though maybe three to five minutes just seems long...) Anyway, cue up take two. Yes, it was better this time. Ted Cain got the better of that restart and ended up with the lead. All seemed well, yes, until a couple of the cars started dropping out of the race like flies. Mechanical problems and that kind of thing, I assume. John Hanafin was one of the ones who had to pull onto pit road (lap-8), and Brit Andersen was another. Not fun times there, I'm afraid. On lap-12, we had a lead change. John Montesanto made a move around Cain. And that was how they ran until Michael Gervais and Tommy Membrino, Jr got together in turns three and four; lap-16. Membrino seemed to have something break or go flat on the car going into turn one, and then -- CAUTION. Gervais was black-flagged and got sent to back of the field for overaggression or rough riding, one of those two. The race went back to green with Montesanto not exactly getting up to speed, giving the lead back to Cain. Montesanto dropped to fourth on the restart. Steve Greer found himself up against the turn two wall on lap-18, setting up, you guessed it -- CAUTION number three. This set up another restart, and this time, it was Cain who didn't get going. Jay Goff moved into the lead, and Montesanto pushed into second. By the time they came to the line for the last lap, they were side by side and a good finish was about to unfold. Maybe using the word "good" is an understatement here. The two drivers raced side by side for a good majority of the final lap, but as they came to turn four, that was Montesanto's cue to jump into the lead. It would be enough. Montesanto would pick up his first career win at Stafford. Goff would finish second, followed by Cain and Earl Pelletier.

DARE Stock feature happened next. Compared to the rest of the races, this one didn't appear to be too bad. But it had its share of mess. Starting at the top of things, there was Stephanie Berardi with an early lead and Melissa Blowers jumping into second. Kyle Casagrande was also running strong; by lap-8, he had found his way into the top-5. And he wasn't done, making a move for fourth not too long after. (More on him as the feature goes on.) Back to the front of the field: While Berardi was still out in front, Blowers was now trying to hold off third-place Barry Fluckiger. That didn't turn out to be such a good thing. Turn two, lap-12, the two make contact, sending Blowers around and collecting other cars in the process -- CAUTION. As for the restart? Wasn't pretty. The first half of the lap as the green came back out was fine, until Berardi and Fluckiger move up to the high lane while in turn three and Bill Dunn, who was now in third, proceeded to head for the low lane. Unfortunately, Casagrande was there to meet Dunn, and the two made contact, resulting in Casagrande spinning in turn four -- CAUTION. This set up yet another restart, where this time, Fluckiger managed to get the upper hand and Berardi began moving backwards through the field, falling back a number of spots. Fluckiger, meanwhile, drove the final three laps of the race scot-free, and managed to pick up his first win of the season. Dunn finished second, as the rest of the top-four included Cliff Saunders and Matt Chiarizio.

The night would get more chaotic with the Late Model feature. And when the term "chaotic" is used here, I mean it. It starts out nice and smooth, however. Adam Gray found himself with the lead early on in the race. It would only last for six laps, however. On the seventh lap, Tom Butler and another driver spun in turn four -- CAUTION. No harm, no foul, and a restart happens sooner rather than later. That's where the fun begins. For some reason, Rick Charette ended up taking a ride through the frontstretch grass. You think he'd keep the car under control, right? Mark St. Hilaire can tell you otherwise. Charette ends up coming up the banking of turn one, St. Hilaire gets collected -- CAUTION. They go back to green minutes later, with Gray still out in front. One completed lap later, and multiple cars end up spinning in turn one -- CAUTION. Another quickie yellow. No huge damage done to anybody involved in that one. Again, they'd go back to racing, and again, they'd get to complete a lap. But on lap-9, Gray and second place Brian Chapin made contact in turn four -- CAUTION. The right sides of numerous cars were torn up after that yellow came out. The right side of Scott Cook's car was torn up, but he managed to lead the field to the next restart. He was also black flagged because of the sheet metal flapping in the wind. He would have to come to pit road to get that fixed. Lap-11 would see three cars spinning in turn three -- CAUTION. One of the drivers involved in that caution was Jim Peterson, who had been involved in that accident back on lap-9 and needed to repair the right side of his car. He ended up having the outside door panel stuffed into the inside of the car; bungee cords holding the panel in place. Dave Wray and Tom Fearn would get possession of the front row. On the restart, however, Rayn Posocco, from the second row, would get down to the low groove of the track and make a pass for the lead. Again, there would only be a lap inbetween yellow flags, as on lap-12, Jim Mavlouganes spun in turn three -- CAUTION. A quick yellow, this time, and another restart with Posocco now in front. As Posocco controlled the front of the field, the driver moving up through it was Peterson, racecar just about intact. The race would run under green flag conditions until lap-21, when Victor Pomerleau spun in turn three -- CAUTION. Nine laps to go, Posocco on the front row. Once again, he took the lead. Fearn would run in second, and Peterson would continue to move through the field until he settled into third. But Peterson couldn't catch up to Fearn, and Fearn couldn't catch up to Posocco, and Posocco would make it three wins on the season. Fearn and Peterson would finish second and third respectively, with Woody Pitkat finishing in fourth.

Then it was time for the SK Modifieds. And another race with interesting events. The first couple of laps featured musical leaders, with Joe Allegro, Jr leading the first lap before being overtaken by Curt Brainard on the second lap. Also making a charge to the front in the early stages of the race was Frank Ruocco, who by lap-4 had put himself into fourth from where he originally started (tenth). And that's how they ran until lap-9, when Nicole Morgillo spun in turn one -- CAUTION. Quick one at that, she got going and the green was back out in no time at all. The second lead change came not too long after the green came back out. Woody Pitkat moved to the outside to pass Brainard for the lead. Ruocco followed Pitkat, along with Ted Christopher, Jeff Malave, and Keith Rocco. That was your running order at lap-15 as the pace was slowed again -- CAUTION. Kirk Zervas was the one who brought out the yellow, this time, for a spin in turn four. It was quick, and they moved on. It was going to be Pitkat and Christopher on the front row, and it was going to be a good restart. And it lived up potential. Pitkat powered back into the lead, but Christopher ended up winning the battle and took over as leader. The race would be slowed again for a couple of cars that had spun around the track -- CAUTION, setting up yet another fantastic restart that once again was a battle for the ages. They ran close to each other for a good chunk of the lap until Pitkat managed to fully pass Christopher before they had gotten to the line; a good move because of what came next -- CAUTION. This time, the yellow came out for Richie Pallai, Jr, who spun in turn four. The quick caution was out of the way, and they were back to green in an orderly fashion. Another great battle for the lead on the restart? It happened, and Christopher and Pitkat made that restart happen. For a good two laps, they were side by side, and finally, Christopher managed to pull ahead of Pitkat for the lead. Lap-21 saw Brainard and Kenny Horton spin in turns one and two -- CAUTION. Another good restart, and still, Christopher managed to keep the lead. Pitkat would have to settle for second, but he had Rocco behind him. By the time they hit turns three and four, Pitkat and Rocco had both spun, giving second to Ruocco. On lap-23, Todd Owen and Pallai would spin in turns one and two, and yet again -- CAUTION. This set up a restart in which Christopher had won, and would keep until lap-25 -- CAUTION. This would be for Brad Hietala spinning in turn two. That meant another restart. And that meant that Christopher would keep the lead. This green flag run would last three laps, because on lap-28 -- CAUTION. Zervas would spin again; this time, in turns three and four. At that point, Ruocco ducked down onto pit road. Something was definitely wrong with the car. The culprit? Distributor problems. His night would be over. That now put Doug Coby next to Christopher on the restart. Malave and Rocco made up the second row. On the restart, Christopher powered back into the lead. Rocco made his way into third behind Coby. And that would be how they finished. Christopher would take down his third win of the season. The rest of the top-four would be Coby, Rocco, and Malave.

The Limited Late Models, who had no qualifying races to begin with, ended the night. And to start, there was Keith Minchella out in front. But the green was replaced early with a yellow on lap-2 -- CAUTION. An accident involving Joe Nogiec and Shawn Thibeault put the field under an early yellow. Thibeault managed to continue; Nogiec was not able to do so. An attempt to restart on lap-2 looked good early... That was, of course, until chaos occured -- CAUTION. Well, that one didn't look pretty. It resulted with quite a few cars ending up in turn three, in all sorts of trouble. A few of them were done for the night. When they did go back to green, it was still Minchella with the lead, who was followed by Bill Davis, running in second, and Dennis Botticello in third. That would be how the running order at lap-9, when Michael Wray spun in turns three and four -- CAUTION. That one wasn't long, and they were back to green quickly... But not with a problem. The restart wasn't pretty, as some of the front-runners had a bit of an issue, but Norm Sears, running in fifth at the time, took advantage of misfortunes and moved his way into second. All was fine until lap-12 -- CAUTION. John Morgillo, Jr spun in turn two and brought the yellow back out. The restart occured with Minchella still out front. Sears had now dropped a couple of positions since the restart, and on lap-15, spun in turn three and collected Jesse Hinze -- CAUTION. Davis had now assumed second and had restarted next to Minchella. But things would not be so good for the frontrunners when on the restart, Davis and Minchella came together and left a mark on the backstretch -- CAUTION. That left both of them in turn three and out of contention. A black flag for rough riding was given out to Thibeault, sending him to the back of the field again. The front row now became the family feud, with Dennis Botticello as the leader, and daughter Carla in second. The restart showed Dennis getting an early advantage, but Carla found a way around her father and jumped into the lead. The remaining five laps went unscathed and Carla picked up her first victory of the season. Dad Dennis finished in second, followed by Kevin Gambacorta in third and Dan Flannery in fourth.

A long night was in the books. Total number of cautions on the night: 26. Ouch. Not really a pleasant night. After every race, you could have said that half of the field was left standing. I wouldn't disagree with you there. So, we'll try again this upcoming Friday night. Another five divisions. The usual disclaimer is in place -- weather permitting.