And the Whole Thing Gets Going [Saturday Recap]

Finally, things fell into place. While the three support divisions at Stafford already had two races under their belts, the two main divisions - the SK Modifieds and Late Models - had yet to see feature action. The wait ended on Saturday, May 1, as the conclusion of the Spring Sizzler occurred. On tap? Regularly scheduled distances for the Sks and Late Models, and the 200-lap event for the Whelen Modified Tour; the second race on the 2010 schedule for the touring series.

At about 2:15, things were officially underway. The SK Modified feature was first to go.

When I first saw the feature lineup for this race, my first thought was that the inside line was going to go when the green dropped for the first time. My prediction was right. Keith Rocco pulled out in front, with Ted Christopher and Frank Ruocco following him. Within the first three laps, the top three drivers were bumper to bumper with each other, and they had a comfortable distance between themselves and the fourth place driver, Jeff Malave. The first caution came on lap 4, when Brit Andersen spun in turns three and four. The lead that the top three drivers had was now gone, and a restart was in order. When the green flag came back out, it was a neck and neck battle down the frontstretch. Rocco retook the lead in the corners, but the yellow came back out mere seconds later. Curt Brainard hit the wall coming out of turn two, and other cars bumped into each other trying to find a way around him, It was a quick caution, and once again, it was a restart. Christopher and Rocco swapped the lead a few times before another early caution came back out for Matt Gallo, who was facing backwards in the entrance to turn one. For a third straight time, they were going to try to get the lap completed. The restart proved to be a dogfight that Rocco was going to win. Christopher and Ruocco were now fighting for second, with Woody Pitkat now in the mix for a spot within the top four cars. With five laps complete, the fourth caution occurred when Nichole Morgillo started a chain of events, leaving Joe Allegro, Jr, Glenn Griswold, and Adam Skowyra up in turn one. After a few laps of caution action, the race was back underway. Rocco returned to the lead, with Christopher now pushing a fight for position. And the fight was on. Meanwhile, Malave, Tom Bolles, and Eric Berndt all went around Ruocco, who was stuck on the outside groove. The next caution would come out for Chris Jones after spinning in turns three and four. On the restart, Rocco once again pulled out in front. Christopher wasn’t too far behind. Berndt jumped into third, with Kurt Lenahan now in fourth. That was the running order after the first ten laps, when the sixth caution came out. Cars involved in a turn three accident were Jones, Griswold, Michael Gervais, Jr, Gallo, and Keith Carzello. After the accident scene was cleaned up, the restart happened and Rocco went back out in front. Once again, Christopher wanted to change that and was challenging Rocco from all sides. The two of them battled for the lead for a few laps until Christopher pulled into first at the 12 lap mark. Rocco was now trying to make any sort of move to get around him until lap 16, when a three car accident down the frontstretch brought out another caution. This time, the caution cars were Mark Bakaj, Kirk Zervas, and Bolles. On the restart, Christopher and Rocco engaged in yet another dogfight for the lead. It was on lap 19 when Rocco managed to get around Christopher. The two of them and Berndt were now in a zip code of their own… Until trouble started. On lap 25, Christopher suddenly dropped right off the pace, and Ruocco was also having trouble, which meant both cars were taken out of action. Meanwhile, Rocco was starting to build up a commanding lead over Berndt, who was already holding onto second by a sizable lead. Things slowed down on lap 33 when there was a debris sighting on the frontstretch. There was to be a restart with seven laps to go. As the restart happened, it was Rocco once again taking the lead. Berndt was being challenged by Malave for second. Malave took the position as the race was down to the final five laps. While the two of them were battling for position, Rocco was pulling away from the field and would take the win. Malave finished second over Berndt, who was third, and Lenahan finished fourth.

Next up, the Late Models. It began with double green flags and Tom Fearn in the lead in two turns. Trouble happened early as Ryan Posocco was facing backwards on the backstretch, under the Camping World sign, with a tire missing. The caution was coming out and the field was going back to its original lineup for the next restart - Posocco in the back of the pack included. On the restart, there was three-wide action going into turn one, with the winner of the fight being Fearn again. Dillon Moltz moved into second, and just in time as the caution came back out again when Jim Peterson spun in turn four. Posocco was back on pit road to get repairs from the first caution and was back out before the restart. Speaking of the restart, it was Fearn pulling out in front, with Moltz and Corey Hutchings in second and third. It was four laps into the race when Moltz took the lead from Fearn, who fell backwards as the lead change occurred. A lap later, Peterson spun again in turn four, bringing out another caution. The restart pitted Moltz and Fearn, and it was a battle that Moltz won coming out of turn two. Distance was put on between Moltz and Fearn, but only because as Moltz was getting the lead, a lap car was pulling out onto the track from pit road and nearly into the path of the field. Eight laps into the event, Fearn was getting sent backwards, courtesy of Hutchings and Woody Pitkat. Fearn was dropped to fourth in the process. On the very next lap, Scott Cook spun on the frontstretch, with JJ Hill and Michael Bennett collecting each other just past the start line. Once again, the caution came out. Moltz regained the lead on the restart, Besides #01 taking fourth from Fearn, nothing within the top few drivers changed… Until lap 13. Pitkat moved into second, followed by Jim Mavlouganes, and then Hutchings. Moltz started to pull away from the field at the halfway point. After 17 laps, Hutchings took third from Mavlouganes, and after getting passed, Mavlouganes spun in turn two. Moltz and Pitkat fought for the lead on the restart. Moltz happened to win the fight, and once again, began to pull away from second place and the rest of the field in the process. Over the course of the final 13 laps, Moltz was in command, not letting up and cruising to the win. Teammates Pitkat and Hutchings finished second and third respectively, and Fearn finished fourth.

After ceremonies for the Late Model top-three was complete, it was time for the 200-lap main event - the Whelen Modified Tour event. Out of the 33 drivers qualified for the event, 32 were starting the race. On the drop of the first green flag, Bobby Santos took the lead, with Doug Coby moving into second. The fight for position started with third, between Jimmy Blewett and Eric Berndt. Blewett was not done, and by lap 4, he passed Coby for second. Berndt moved into third, with Ron Silk getting into fourth. Silk passed Berndt on lap 8, and moved into second by lap 10. Positions changed again on lap 14, when Berndt passed Blewett for third. Coby also moved by Blewett, picking up fourth on the same lap. Meanwhile, Santos was pulling away from the field. He was leading by a half straightaway by lap 17. By lap 22, the field was racing in one single file line. Cars were being lapped by lap 30, when Santos passed Wade Cole, the tail car on the lead lap until a pass was made. Then the gameplan was changed to “how do you work with lapped traffic”. The answer? Very carefully. Navigate around the lapped traffic while try to make a pass around the person in front of you - and at the 45 lap mark, passing the guy in front of you wasn’t happening frequently. The race was going fast. There were no cautions after the first 50 laps - all of which were completed within 17 minutes. And then, a yellow. The leader, Santos, was involved. Johnny Bush, Eric Goodale, and Kevin Goodale were also involved. The lead was inherited by Silk. And the restart occurred on lap 62. Coby became the new leader, putting Silk into second. Blewett settled into third. By lap 64, Coby and Silk began to go at it for the lead. Coby held him off originally, but it seemed as though Silk was not going to give up. A little further back in the field, Ted Christopher was coming. By lap 68, he was in fourth, and it looked like he was itching to move up just a bit more. Berndt wanted to take fourth away from Christopher, but it was to no avail. On lap 70, something was wrong with Silk, and it felled him to the point where he brought the car to pit road. Blewett moved to second, with Christopher now in third and Berndt in fourth. For the most part, the field was once again racing in a single line (lap 83), with a few minor exceptions deeper in. Things got interesting on lap 97, when Joe Hartmann took a ride through the frontstretch. He was able to get the car moving before a yellow came out. Finally, the race hit 100 laps with only one caution. (Actually, the field hit 100 earlier than that. In reality, the board was ten laps behind until it was fixed on lap 114.) When the board got refreshed, there was a caution on lap 120, when Ed Flemke, Jr spun in turn four. The leaders came down onto pit road to either change tires or take fuel - the rule was that you do either or, not both on a single stop; if you want to take fuel, you change tires first and vice versa. The leader after all of the pit stops were done was Jamie Tomaino. Mike Stefanik was now second, with Erick Rudolph in third and Santos back up to fourth. The green came back out on lap 126 with Tomaino getting the jump on the field and taking the lead. The battle was for second between Stefanik and Blewett, who became second and third consecutively. Things got chaotic when Tomaino spun in turn four on lap 129, bringing out the third caution of the event. The new leader of the event was now Stefanik. Ryan Preece became the new second place driver, followed by Blewett and Rudolph. The restart on lap 133 was about to become interesting. Stefanik picked up the lead, with a fight for second between Preece and Blewett. Blewett took over second and was looking for the lead. Another battle? Yes. While Blewett became the new leader, Preece was sent spinning in turns three and four. Other cars went spinning. The caution came out on lap 137. The top four cars on the board were now Blewett, Santos, Christopher, and James Civali. There was to be a restart on lap 142. And it was Blewett taking the lead. Christopher took second from Santos. The two drivers in first and second were battling for position deeper in the field earlier in the race, and now it looked like they were going to be going at it for the lead. Santos was right behind them. Christopher took the lead on lap 146, and Santos was ready to follow him. Santos took second on lap 147. With only 50 laps to go in the event, the field was single file for a third time in the race. The race slowed down on lap 155, when E. Goodale spun in turn four. Throughout the race, numerous cars had gone in and out of pit road. The only exception to that rule was Christopher. His plan was to go the distance without stopping for gas, The question is - would he make it? The restart on 160 would be part of the answer. Christopher reclaimed the lead on that restart, with Blewett taking over second from Santos, who slipped into third. Unfortunately, the green flag run was short lived on lap 163, when K. Goodale got up high in turn three. During that caution, it looked like K. Goodale was getting a bit of retaliation from Coby over the caution in question. It was known during this caution period that Blewett was another driver who had not taken any fuel during the race, so the storyline about fuel continued. Meanwhile, there was a restart on lap 167. Christopher went back into the lead, but Blewett was still battling him until Christopher claimed it a lap later. Blewett’s problem was now Santos in a fight for second. By lap 175, the field was single file again, which was a common trend during any long stretch of green flag runs. Christopher was out in front by a half straightaway at best. Blewett was still getting badgered by Santos for the second spot. On lap 183, Coby was in smoke and high in turn two. There was no choice but to throw the caution. During the caution, the fuel strategy was in full gear. Christopher needed a push after a very short red flag on lap 184, Would the strategy continue to factor the race on a lap 188 restart? No. At least, not early on. Christopher continued to lead the race, with Blewett and Santos on his heels. With only eight laps to go, Christopher started to pull away from the field, but he’d have his hands full after a lap 195 caution. The caution was for Hartmann - he was stuck on the road course part of the backstretch. This set up a restart on lap 198. Christopher and Blewett were battling for the lead until Blewett got loose in turn three - it ended up with Blewett, Chris Pasteryak, and E. Goodale in distress on the frontstretch. Fortunately for Christopher, he took the white flag before the caution came out. The race ended up being a yellow/checkered finish, with Christopher winning his third straight Spring Sizzler race in the Whelen Modified Tour (and the second driver to do so overall). Santos finished second, with Stefanik in third and Rowan Pennink in fourth.

Your afternoon in a nutshell is over. On tap for Friday, May 7? The first regularly scheduled race for a Stafford weekly division in 2010 - the Lincoln Tech Late Model 100. It will be guaranteed to be one heck of a race; no doubt about it.