Results of September 18

Welcome to the wonderful world of yet another Friday night of racing! Sure, the weather hasn't been real kind to Stafford this season, but at least when it hasn't been around, things do pick up. And action did pick up this past Friday, with five divisions lined up for a night of racing. It was a crazy night, with a few unplesantries exchanged (to be named later in this story), so let's get down to it. Here are the results of the September 18 program.

First up was the Limited Late Model feature event. And the night began with George Nocera, Jr as the early leader. Dave Yardley, III was second and Norm Sears was third. Nocera's lead lasted all of nine laps as the period of yellows came into play. On lap-9, Bill Goldrick and Jeff Hubbell spun in turn two -- CAUTION. Yardley took over as the leader on the restart, but the time he had out front was short-lived. On the very next lap, Greg Butler, Jr hit the backstretch wall -- CAUTION. And then on lap-11, Brian Clement spun in turns three and four -- CAUTION. Again, it was Yardley out in front, but not for long. As he reached the exit of turn two, Yardley spun around and collected a few other cars in a multi-car accident -- CAUTION. Four yellow flags in four laps. Something had to work. Luckily for Sears, who had inherited the lead from Yardley after the last caution, things went a bit smoother than before. Sears kept the lead as the green came back out, but Andrew Durand was on his back bumper. The two of them raced until lap-17 when a two-car accident on the backstretch prompted the yellow to come out -- CAUTION. Sears regained the lead on the restart, Durand was still on his back, and moving into third was Dan Flannery. But it was a two-car race to the end, and when it was all said and done, it was Sears getting his second win of the season. Durand, Flannery, and Nocera finished off the top-four.

Second on the docket were the Late Models. To start, there was a spin by Adam Gray in turn two... But that was only the beginning. John Kasper was in a solo-car accident in turn three; regardless of which incident slowed the field, the first lap of the race wasn't completed before the yellow came out -- CAUTION. When the green came back out, it was Joe Rzeszutek out in front as the leader. Dave Wray sat in line behind him in second. There was no further movement within the top-five cars until lap-9, when Duane Noll spun in turn three. Tom Fearn, who had been running in the top-five at the time, was assessed a drive-thru penalty for both blocking and overaggressive driving. On the restart, it was Wray taking the lead from Rzeszutek. Dillon Moltz was a man on a mission after the green came back out. By lap-10, he was into fourth, and three laps later, he found himself in third. Ryan Posocco followed Moltz in his tire tracks and was ultimately up to fourth. The running order up front remained locked into place until the lap-23 mark, when Moltz and Posocco took advantage. They both made it around Rzeszutek, bringing Jim Peterson along with them. Moltz was then looking for the lead, and on lap-26, he passed Wray for the lead. Wray began to fall back numerous spots through the field as Posocco, Peterson, and others easily ran the inside groove while Wray was stuck on the outside. Moltz, meanwhile, was just too strong to be overtaken, and he cruised to his fifth win of the season. Posocco was second, with Peterson in third and Hill in fourth.

If there was an award for best race of the night, it should go to the SK Lights. Entertaining from beginning to end. It starts with a three-wide battle for the lead on the opening lap. Ted Cain was able to win the battle for the lead and became the leader early on. The yellow flags were very frequent in the first half of the race. On lap-2, Earl Pelletier and John Montesanto became tangled up and wrecked on the frontstretch -- CAUTION. On the very next lap, which was lap-3, Steve Greer and Lauren Cooper ended up in an accident in turn four -- CAUTION. And on lap-5, there was a multi-car accident in turns one and two -- CAUTION. During the stretch of yellow flags, Cain maintained his lead. He was still in the lead on lap-11, when three cars, including that of Brit Andersen, spun on the frontstretch -- CAUTION. Cain once again took the lead on the restart, but he wasn't going to be alone up front for much longer. Tommy Membrino, Jr was coming fast, and the lead finally switched over from Cain to Membrino on lap-17. Membrino did not have an easy task of keeping the lead, especially when Andersen had made it through the field after being in a mid-race incident. Andersen found himself in second and was ready to take over first. There were times where Andersen almost had the lead, but Membrino held him off. It was a close finish, but Membrino edged out Andersen to claim his second win of the season. Michael Gervais, Jr was third, while Heather DesRochers was fourth.

All of the action started during and after the SK Modified feature. The race itself started with Matt Gallo out in front as numerous yellows came out during the first few laps of the race. Lap-2 was the scene for a few incidents, starting with one involving two cars that got together in turn two -- CAUTION. The restart wasn't much better. Actually, it never really picked up, as there were three cars that ended up in various stages of mess on the frontstretch -- CAUTION. When the green came back out, it was Keith Rocco taking advantage and pulling away from Gallo on the restart. Not too long after the lead change, Chris Jones spun in turn four (lap-6) -- CAUTION. Sometime after the green came back out, more positions out front changed in a hurry. Ted Christopher managed to get around Gallo for second and was now hunting down Rocco for first. It was lap-10 when Christopher finally reached Rocco and made the move for the lead. Lap-11 came, and a multi-car accident occured in turn four, including Matt Gallo and others -- CAUTION. This put Christopher and Rocco on the front row, and this was where the fun began. Christopher managed to get the lead back on the restart, with Rocco settling down into second. Behind them, the rest of the front-runners managed to race in a single-file line. Meanwhile, back up to the top-two drivers, and they were still putting on a show. Lap-20 saw the next lead change as Rocco came back by to take the lead away from Christopher. Christopher didn't take this sitting back, and he retook the lead on lap-23. The next lap (lap-24) saw Christopher Jones (son of Chris Jones) spin in turns one and two -- CAUTION. On the restart, Christopher originally took the lead, but Rocco was right there on him and managed to take the lead away on lap-30. Woody Pitkat also came around and got around Christopher for second. Christopher managed to get back around Pitkat on the very next lap. Debris was spotted in turns one and two on lap-34. Not much; just some dirt kicked up onto the racing surface -- CAUTION. This set up a nice little duel between Christopher and Rocco. Christopher got the lead back on lap-35, and it originally looked like he had enough momentum to win the race. But looks can be and were in fact deceiving that night, and when the leaders went into the final turns on the final lap, that was when everything started to unravel. Rocco tapped Christopher, sending Christopher slightly high as Rocco managed to squeak by on the low side of the track. By doing this, he not only gave himself the lead back, but Rocco also managed to pick up his fifth win of the season. After the race, Christopher apparently didn't like the move Rocco put on him in the closing seconds, and retaliated by tapping Rocco's car with his own, and the two wound up in the turn one wall. Christopher finished second, followed by Pitkat in third and Richie Pallai, Jr in fourth.

The DARE Stocks were the ones who closed out the program. Stephanie Berardi began the race on the outside of the front row, but managed to find herself in the lead as the race got underway. Andrew Hayes sat in second. Early on in the event, there were two cars that got together in turns one and two; one of the cars left a piece of sheet metal lying in the grass close to the racing surface. No caution was called, although there were plenty of people who saw the debris just sitting there. The first half of the race ran green, with Jolly moving up and around Hayes for second by lap-9. The second incident of the race occured on lap-13, when Paul Jensen spun in turn two -- CAUTION. The debris was cleared up during this yellow flag and Jensen was able to pull away from the scene of the spin. When the race resumed, it was still Berardi out in front. Jolly was behind her all the way, but wasn't able to find a way up and around Berardi for the lead. The final laps of the race also ran green, and it was Berardi taking her first career DARE Stock race. Jolly ended up in second and Hayes managed to finish third. Tony Membrino, Jr finished fourth.

So... Wow. What a night. And that's just another week at the half-mile. We'll be back with another exciting night of racing this upcoming Friday night, when it will be the last Friday night of racing for the season. Five divisions, and plenty of action is on tap. If the last program was any indication of what will happen this Friday night, you don't want to miss this. All of this happens weather permitting.