An Action-Packed NASCAR Day

(Author's Note: Sorry this is late. Haven't been feeling too good this week. I've gotten better, though, and I'll be around for Friday.)

Happy NASCAR Day! May 21st, also known as Week 5 of the 2010 Stafford Speedway season, was a combination of NASCAR Day and Whelen event night. The schedule was pretty much basic - five divisions; regular feature events… Even though the pace car was replaced by the Whelen police-like pace car.

The first feature of the night was the DARE Stock race, which was a race against the clock in more ways than one. Josh Wood pulled out in front early, with Nick Salva and Stephanie Berardi (who was heading straight to a prom right after the race was over) behind him. Unfortunately for J. Wood, his lead was only a lap old and ended abruptly as he spun in the turn two grass. This put Salva in the lead, but again, it only took a lap before the lead changed hands again. Salva dropped off the pace with a problem, giving the lead to Berardi. That lead didn’t even last a lap. Don Wood became the fourth leader in three laps as he passed Berardi to complete the third lap. Second place belonged to Albert Saunders after a duel with Donald Cook. It was eight laps into the race before the first caution came out, when J. Wood’s rough night continued after he spun in turn four. On the restart, it was D. Wood getting the lead with A. Saunders all over the back bumper. Cory Casagrande and Cook were fighting for third. That fight ended when both cars got loose in turns one and two and dropped off the pace. Later that lap, Salva and Berardi spun coming out of turn four to bring out the second caution of the event, with only six laps left to go in the event. Key restart? No problem! The winner of the restart battle was D. Wood, who was almost fully around A. Saunders as they came to take the green flag. That lap (again) didn’t last very long, as another yellow came out for what appeared to be a piece of exhaust pipe on the frontstretch. It didn’t matter; it was debris, and it posed a hazard if it was on the track for much longer. After it was picked up, the green came back out. Again, D. Wood pulled ahead, and again, A. Saunders was second. But he had #1 ready to challenge for the second spot. Jeff Jolly was also willing to join the party. In turn two, Jolly gained the spot. C. Casagrande was sent backwards a few spots after being in the middle of a three-wide battle. The fight for the spot gave D. Wood an advantage - he was able to gain some distance on the rest of the field. Was there going to be a challenge for the win? No. D. Wood picked up the win, followed by Jolly in second, A. Saunders in third, and Tony Membrino, Jr in fourth.

Next up? Limited Late Models. Time constraints of any sorts? Not so much. Carla Botticello and Michael Wray fought for the lead early, with Botticello taking the position. She was challenged by George Nocera, Jr for the spot within the first lap. The fighting continued through the first two laps of the race until Nocera became the second leader of the race. Botticello followed intently, with Jesse Hinze in third. In all fairness, the real racing action was deeper into the field, where Dan Flannery, Shawn Thibeault, and Rob Dow all passed Duane Provost for seventh, then eighth, and finally ninth. At the nine-lap mark, Kevin Gambacorta, Andrew Durand, and Flannery were in passing moods; the car they passed was Hinze. Both Gambacorta and Durand hit the board, and Flannery was also in the top-five. Flannery eventually passed Durand for the spot. Thibeault was on Durand’s back bumper for fifth. Closer to the lead, there was also a fight for second between Botticello and Gambacorta. But nobody could get close to Nocera, as he cruised to the win after he lost it two weeks ago. Winning the race put him “right on top”, as he said. Botticello finished second, with Gambacorta in third. Flannery rounded out the board.

Who wants pit crews? Smack-dab in the middle of the feature lineup was that of the Late Models. With a little bit of help, Michael Bennett was the first leader of the event, but that was all for naught - five cars spun at once in the first turn during the first lap, setting up the first caution. All five cars managed to drive away. When the green came back out, things were vastly different. Alan Provost pulled out in front, with Jim Peterson and Bennett right behind. The field, for the first six cars, became a freight train; a single file line was what it was at. It all changed when positions were being swapped starting at about the fifth and sixth spots. The leader was also different as well. Second leader of the race? Peterson. He pulled out to just shy of a half straightaway of second place Corey Hutchings (second through fifth were beginning to shake up a bit). The fast-paced action slowed down with seven laps on the board when fluid was dumped on the track - bring on the speedy dry. After the fluid was cleaned up, things went back to normal. And the race went back to green. Provost had problems getting going as the green came out, keeping Peterson as the leader. A chain reaction of sorts occurred as well, when Dillon Moltz and Woody Pitkat seemed to get some part of the nose-to-tail action. Bennett was now second, although #87 passed him with eight laps down. The caution came out again with ten laps down for JJ Hill, after a spin in turn four. Provost went down onto pit road for what was called a flat tire. When the race went to green, the action started. Peterson and Hutchings were in a truly good fight for the lead. But again, it was halted for more possible fluid on the race track (this time, from Hill). Another fluid-based caution, and with a third of the race down. Once the liquid was removed, it was back to green. And a new leader came out on top, as Hutchings pulled ahead of Peterson for first. The two drivers separated themselves from third-place Bennett. It only took a lap before Ed Ricard spun in turn one, setting up yet another caution. All of that set up another restart that was a slugfest down the front straightaway before Hutchings picked up the lead. This time, it was Bennett and Moltz behind him. But again, the race was halted when Ryan Posocco was stuck at the bottom of turn two. By this time, half of the race was made up of cautions. Would anything after the restart change that? As Hutchings pulled out ahead of the field, Ricard and John Kasper were stuck in turn one after a spin not too long after the restart. The caution did not come out as both guys were able to get going. Back up front, Hutchings was beginning to be pressured by Moltz, who found himself in second. With ten laps to go, things were shaping up to be quite interesting. Hutchings had Moltz all over his bumper. Could a pass be made? Passes were surely attempted, but with no luck. Moltz was close, but in the end, it wasn’t enough. Hutchings took the win. Moltz had to settle with a second-place finish. Pitkat ended up third, with Peterson in fourth.

After all of the full-fendered cars had their fun, it was time for the open-wheeled cars to take center stage. The SK Lights were next. To start, it was Zachary Aszklar out front with Lauren Cooper not too far behind. Matt Galko was also in the mix, and all three had a shot at the lead. The two were side by side by the second lap, and by the third, Cooper was the new leader. Galko found himself in second, with Thomas Barrett, Jr now in third. And they were all bunched up. Things got messy quickly. Cooper spun in turn four, and it seemed like things were going to be okay. The caution flew, and all of a sudden… Things escalated from a one-car incident bringing out the caution to a multi-car accident bringing out the caution. Erica Santos, Earl Pelletier, Aszklar, and Joey Cipriano were also involved with half of the race done. The red flag was brought out because of accident cleanup. Red changed to yellow, and yellow changed to green. Galko moved into first, with Frank Cardile and Barrett now in a dogfight for second. Second now belonged to Barrett, sending Cardile into another fight - for third, and now with Chad Trombley. Third would go to Trombley. But the lead was a battle between two teenagers in Galko and Barrett… Until Barrett spun in turn one to bring out the caution with only three laps to go. The restart was going to be clutch. The winner of the restart battle was Galko, leaving Trombley and Cardile for second. Cardile picked up the spot. The race appeared to be over, but a caution came out with a lap left in the race after Ted Cain spun coming out of turn four, kicking up dirt in the process. The restart became chaos. Galko was still the leader, but Cardile was not letting go until he lost distance on the backstretch, ending up in another dogfight with Trombley. It was youth night in the SK Lights for a second straight week, however, as Galko scored his first career win. Cardile ended in second, barely squeaking in front of Trombley, who finished third. John Hanafin finished in fourth.

Concluding the night was the SK Modifieds. Brad Hietala pulled ahead early. Tom Bolles followed behind him. Everything was wiped clean with the first caution of the event before the a lap was finished. A few cars spun and partially wrecked in turn three, including Woody Pitkat, who went onto pit road… Repairs were needed. The restart was going to be a redo of the first green. When the green came back out, Hietala pulled back out front. Mark Bakaj was now in second. Someone ended up kicking dirt up going down the frontstretch, but everyone managed to start the restart unscaved. It only took three laps for the next caution to come out, when three cars spun in turn four. They all drove off, and soon, the green came out again. Things were semi-normal (save for a loose car), and a fight for the lead broke out between Hietala and Bakaj. You could give the lead to Bakaj, but things weren’t set in stone yet. On lap 6, Hietala ended up spinning coming out of turn two and almost collected other cars in the process. It pretty much was a caution. When the green came back out, the first two rows were side by side for position. Bakaj and Jeff Baral were battling for first. Of course, the caution came out again - this time, on lap 7 - for a few cars who were involved in a minor incident coming out of turn four. Everyone pulled away under their own power, but the yellow was there for precautionary measures. Less than a quarter of the race was done, and things were starting to be pretty chaotic. Speaking of chaotic, there was the restart. On that restart, things were different. Keith Rocco woke up, passing Baral for second. On the same lap, he passed Bakaj for first and slowly started to pull away. The lead he had gained was erased with nine laps on the board for, what else, another caution. Another multi-car caution. At the least, three; maybe four cars involved in a backstretch incident. All of which pulled away once again. Rocco pulled away on the restart, but Bakaj was keeping close to him. Baral also jumped in on the action. The first battle was for fourth, between Zach Sylvester and Bolles - fourth was now in possession of Z. Sylvester. Back up to the leader, Rocco, and he was starting to pull away once again. Second was starting to become a three-man horse race between Bakaj, Baral, and Z. Sylvester. Bakaj maintained second. The lead and battle were lasted a few laps as the next caution didn’t come out until the 19th lap, as Josh Sylvester spun in turn four and started a chain reaction of events. A few other cars were involved in the accident, including Hietala and Joe Allegro, Jr. After extensive cleanup, things got back underway with the restart. It was a short fight between Rocco and Bakaj, but Rocco reclaimed the lead. This time, however, he could not put distance on the rest of the field. Baral was running second and ready to strike at any minute. But any minute was going to have to wait, as there was yet another caution for another chain reaction incident - this time, it was in turn three. And there were six or seven cars involved. NASCAR determined that there was a little help in getting the caution underway, and they black flagged Ted Christopher for overagression. That wasn’t the only thing that needed to happen. Another red flag was needed on the night, for accident cleanup. The restart had one questioning “what else is new“ when two things happened: 1) Rocco pulled out in first, and 2) two cars spun in turns three and four. It wasn’t the only thing going on, as Bolles came to a stop at the bottom of turns one and two with 21 laps down. Another problem, another yellow. Thankfully, the yellow was short-lived and the green was coming back out to play. Rocco was going back out to the front, leaving Bakaj and Baral to duke it out for second. While Baral was able to get around Bakaj for second, Rocco was pulling away from the field. Again, the lead got wiped out when the caution came back out with 25 laps down, as Adam Skowyra was stranded on the backstretch grass. Rocco pushed back out to the lead on the restarting, with Baral still clinging onto him. Bakaj managed to moved back into third. While all of that was going on, another accident occurred with 29 laps on the board, after Eric Berndt spun in turn four. Other cars involved in that accident were Sean Foster, J. Sylvester, and Christopher. The restart was no different. Rocco in first, Baral in second. Z. Sylvester was in third. And the three cars were distanced from the fourth-place #5, who was being challenged by Ryan Preece. With the long green flag run, people thought that the race was going to end without anything else happening. They were wrong. Another caution came out with 37 laps on the board - Frank Ruocco spun in turn four. There was some damage to his car. Three laps to the finish. The restart was going to be something else. It was. Rocco pulled ahead once again, with a dogfight for spots behind him. Three drivers looking to get to the podium. Preece had been making moves, trying to get to second. He got to third, but couldn’t make a solid move for second. While Matt Gallo went through the frontstretch grass as the field took the white flag, He got going just in time - the leaders were coming for the checkered flag. Rocco crossed the line first; the rest of the board read as follows: Z. Sylvester, Preece, and Curt Brainard.

In the technical inspection, the car of Preece didn't meet the minimum frame height requirement. This forced a disqualification, dropping Preece to the tail end of the feature finish.

Next week? An interesting show. The Whelen Modified Tour is back in town with the TSI Harley-Davidson 125. It happens weather permitting. Should be a fun night.