You’re Going to Need That Hood Trophy, There

For the first time in the early Stafford season, all five weekly divisions were racing on the same night. But unlike most weeks, this one was special. Another extra distance race was looming… This time, the special race belonged to the Late Models. On most nights, they race 30-laps. On the first Friday of May, they were to race 100 laps. With more than triple the number of laps they had to run, what kinds of strategies were going to be in play? And which drivers were going to take advantage of those strategies, use them to their advantage, and make a bid to win? Those questions would be answered later in the night.

Before the feature in question (and other regularly scheduled ones), there were two last chance qualifiers for the SK Modifieds. Once they were done, the feature races were underway.

First to get going on the night were the Limited Late Models. Jesse Hinze powered into the lead in the beginning, with Carla Botticello running in second. Michael Wray was right behind them in third. It took one lap for a battle for position to get started, with Botticello and Wray fighting for second; Botticello would keep it. Wray had his hands full with George Nocera, Jr for third, and with three laps on the board, third went to Nocera. Nocera was not done looking to move up, and decided to challenge Botticello for second - he’d ultimately win that battle. Botticello was now challenged by Wray for third. She ended up winning the battle and began to distance herself slightly from Wray. Meanwhile, Hinze was still leading the race, with Nocera right on his heels. There were about two car lengths between first and second. Back to third, Botticello was still getting pestered for position - this time, by Dan Flannery. Halfway through the race, the real battle for position was midpack. Botticello found herself in slight trouble and fell backward through the field. Her bad luck continued as 11 laps were completed when she brought out the first caution of the event as she spun in turn two. The race went back to green with Nocera squeaking out into the lead, now with Hinze and Flannery in battle for second. They were side by side coming to the line, with Flannery just barely in second as the two drivers crossed the start line to complete the lap. Kevin Gambacorta and Shawn Thibeault joined the party as well; both managing to get around Hinze for third and then fourth. Unfortunately, the caution came out again with five laps to go when Gambacorta and Brian Clement spun in turn four. Hinze was giving Flannery a bump when the green returned, but it was no use and Nocera was back out in front. Flannery fell back in second, with Thibeault still in third. The top three and Hinze - the fourth place car - raced single file for the remainder of the race. There were slight challenges by Flannery, but in the end, Nocera picked up his first win of the season. Flannery finished second, with Thibeault in third and Hinze finishing in fourth.

After the race, it was found that Nocera’s car was too light on the scales. He was disqualified because of that, and the new top four became Flannery, Thibeault, Hinze, and Dave Yardley, III.

Next up on the docket was the feature belonging to the SK Lights. It started with Harry Wheeler and Heather DesRochers fighting for the lead early. DesRochers was sent backwards through the field. Kyle Spencer was now challenging Wheeler for the lead, but Wheeler moved to the outside coming into turn three to try to pick the lead back up, which he did. But Spencer was persistent, and was able to claim the lead again - and this was all in the first lap of the race! The field settled down slightly in the next two laps, but three laps into the event, Wheeler found himself spinning down the backstretch, along with Ted Cain. The caution was coming out. After an interesting three laps to open the event, the green came back out, with Spencer still in front. David Webb moved into second, with a battle between Jay Goff and Erica Santos for third. Joey Cipriano was in the mix as well, finishing off the top five cars. Santos and Goff were still fighting for a podium spot, with neither driver letting off. Santos managed to get the spot. Goff was left to fight with Cipriano for fourth - the position was won by Cipriano. With about eight laps finished, Chad Trombley spun in turns one and two. He was able to fire the car up before a caution came out. Meanwhile, the top three cars were still fighting for position. Webb was able to get the lead at the halfway point, and the new second place car was Santos. Spencer’s night went from good to bad when he ended up on the road course portion of the backstretch, ending his chances for a good finish. No caution came out for it. During the final five laps in the race, lap traffic was going to be key. The top drivers managed to get around them, and while there was a fight for second between Santos and Cipriano, it was Webb picking up the win. Santos managed to beat Cipriano for second. Goff finished in fourth.

Up next, it was pit crews. Which only meant one thing - it was time for the longer features to get underway. The SK Modifieds were next. The front row was Ted Christopher and Frank Ruocco, and it was a short battle for the lead that Christopher happened to win. Mark Bakaj fell third and Dan Avery moved into fourth after a quick little fight for the spot. A little further back, Woody Pitkat powered into fifth (earlier in the night, he had problems with the transmission). While all that was going on, the first caution occurred when six or seven cars got together in turns three and four, ending with Josh Sylvester flying over another car. All of that set up a definite yellow with only three laps in the race. When the green came back out, it was Christopher getting back out to front, with Ruocco settling into second. That happened to be the gist of things when the caution was flown again - again, with three laps on the board. Nichole Morgillo was stopped on the backstretch, coming out of turn two. There was no doubt that the yellow was being presented again. This set up another restart, where there was a battle for the lead. Christopher once again picked up the lead, and yet again, it was short lived. Caution three came out for Matt Gallo, after spinning in turn two and not getting the car fired up again to go. Speaking of getting “fired up”, the field was getting fired up for yet another restart. The result was the same as the last three. Christopher in first, Ruocco in second. Battle for position was between Avery and Keith Rocco for fourth, which Rocco won. But soon, there was another battle for position. It was for the lead, and it took a bit of time to get the job done, but with six laps on the board, Ruocco managed to get around Christopher for the lead. Christopher was not about to back down, and there was another challenger ready to jump into the fray. That driver was Rocco. They were bumper to nose until it looked like sparks came from Christopher, giving Ruocco some distance to work with. It wasn’t a lot, but for the moment, it had to do. Christopher tried to get the lead back from Ruocco, but again, he couldn’t pull it off. Rocco tried to contend for position, but he remained sitting close to the top two while racing in third. Rocco was ready to move into second, and he did so as they made it to halfway. And while Rocco was about to challenge Ruocco for first, the caution flew for another spin - this time, it was for Brad Hietala. It set up a really important midrace restart. Ruocco and Rocco were side by side for about half a lap before Ruocco pulled ahead. Rocco and Christopher now fought for second and third, with Zach Sylvester in that fight for position. Christopher moved into second, but the caution came out with 23 laps on the board when he ended up around in turn four. The other loser of that caution was Rocco, who was black flagged for sending him around in the first place. Benefiting from that was Z. Sylvester, who took over second. Jeff Malave moved into third, with Avery returning to the board in fourth. Z. Sylvester couldn’t do much in terms of challenging Ruocco when the restart occurred. But it didn’t look like he was willing to give up, although there was a little bit of distance between the two drivers. That minimal but subtle distance was erased with 29 laps down. Hietala ended up spinning again in turn two, bringing out another caution. On the restart, it was Ruocco back out in front, with Malave and Z. Sylvester battling for spots. Malave took over second over Z. Sylvester. Meanwhile, Rocco was coming again, passing anyone he could get around. By lap 33, he made it back into fourth when he passed Ryan Preece for position. On the last lap, Rocco went around Jeff Baral for third, but to take the win, it was Ruocco. Malave ended second, with Rocco in third and Baral in fourth.

The proverbial main event was next - the Lincoln Tech Late Model 100. The action got underway when Michael Bennett took the lead, while Tim Fogg hit the frontstretch wall, taking out John Morgillo, Jr in the process. A full lap didn’t finish before the caution came out for the first time, meaning Bennett was going to restart the race on the outside of the front row. The restart was cleaner, and he was back out in front. Tracy Brouillette was busy with Ryan Posocco in a fight for second - and it was a fight that Posocco happened to win. Brouillette now had Tom Butler on his back bumper. But everything was erased when Fernando Ilha spun in turns three and four, bringing out another caution. The front row on the restart was Bennett and Posocco, and things looked fine. But in all honesty, they weren’t. The hood of Keith Rocco flew right off of the car and got a bit of air before landing semi-safely (one car may have gotten a piece of it) on the frontstretch. Obvious debris brought out an obvious caution with the lap not completed yet. The next restart was safer than that, with Bennett and Posocco fighting for the lead, and it took a full lap to determine that Bennett was getting the lead. Posocco and Butler were challenging each other for position, but it was realized that they weren’t alone. Woody Pitkat moved into third, past Posocco after the five lap mark. It looked like both Pitkat and Posocco were gaining position with seven laps down, but the caution once again came out for Ilha, spinning in the same spot he spun in earlier - turns three and four. It set up another restart with four Stafford residents in the first two rows. Bennett powered back to the lead, with Pitkat now in second. Jim Peterson saw himself in third, with Corey Hutchings in fourth (Posocco was on his bumper). Ten laps passed before Posocco returned to fourth, getting around Hutchings. Back up front, Pitkat made the pass for the lead, and the second leader of the race emerged on lap 17. The leaders approached the beginning of the lapped traffic starting around lap 25, and they managed to get around them easily. Everything else remained pretty quiet after that, but on lap 31, a change for fourth occurred as Dillon Moltz got past Posocco for the spot. Over the course of that position change, Bennett reeled in Pitkat for the lead. Peterson was caught by both Moltz and Posocco. Positions were swapped once again, as both Moltz and Posocco did in fact get by Peterson for third and fourth respectively. Peterson was dropped to fifth. The leaders encountered more drivers on the tail end of the lead lap on lap 42. As they were weaving their way through the traffic, the caution came out for Duane Noll, who spun in turn four. After a long green flag run, the field was bunched up for the first time in about forty laps. And when the green was back out, Pitkat was back out in front. Moltz fought Bennett for second, and managed to take the position easily. Posocco slipped into third, and Hutchings moved into fourth; Bennett fell back into fifth. Moltz was ready to challenge Pitkat for the lead - and so was Posocco, though the third place Posocco fell back slightly. A little further back, Bennett retook fourth from Hutchings. That was the running order on lap 54, when the caution came out for a sixth time as Doug Blowers, Jr, who spun in turn four. This set up a restart where Pitkat retook the lead and things were going on behind him. The next two or three cars in line were fighting for position, but it was all for naught as another caution occurred. It was for Dave Wray, who spun coming out of turn four and ended up trying to collect a few cars in the process. The concept of taking other cars out was accidental. A lap was not completed before the caution came out. The field was going to try the restart again. They did. Pitkat moved into the first spot again, with Moltz on his heels. Bennett was once again in the thick of things, now in third place over Posocco and Hutchings. It was sixty laps into the race when Bennett’s night ended in a rough way - broken and sitting under the video screen coming out of turn two. It all led to caution eight on the night. Under the caution, Butler made another one of his many stops onto pit road in the process. It looked like his night wasn’t going to end well, either, but he drove away. Bennett wasn’t so lucky. He remained on pit road as the field took the restart. Pitkat and Moltz once again fought for position, with Posocco also in the mix. Pitkat once again moved to the lead, with Posocco now in second, Hutchings took over third from Moltz, who was now sitting in fourth. That didn’t last long, and Moltz retook the third spot from Hutchings. Coming up through the field to sit in fifth was Rocco; hood intact from an early yellow. The rough night of Butler continued as he got loose in turn four, creating a bit of chaos and sending a traffic cone out into the path of the traffic. The next caution came out on lap 72 for John Chapin, who ended up high in turns three and four. The ninth caution set up yet another restart, and there was now less than a regular 30-lap feature left. Pitkat and Posocco fought for position again, and Pitkat won the battle for the lead. Posocco fell into second, with Moltz again close behind them. In all fairness, the top five cars hadn’t changed positions until lap 81, when Tom Fearn moved around Rocco for fifth. Within the next nine laps, the leaders encountered more lapped traffic. Times getting around the track with the traffic involved favored Pitkat over Moltz (who found himself back to second). Everything changed with three laps to go, however, when another caution wiped out the lead that Pitkat had gained. Hutchings had come to a stop up on the top of turn four. A crucial restart was in order. But that was going to be after a red flag to check the track for any hidden debris and hot laps when the yellow came back out. Let the drama and the restart begin. Pitkat once again got out front, and Posocco now took over second. Moltz was dropped to fourth. He wasn't down for the count just yet, and he gained spots and made his way back up to second. As Rocco sat idly in turns one and two, Pitkat picked up the win. Moltz finished second, with Posocco in third and Fearn in fourth.

Concluding the night? The DARE Stocks. Vince Gambacorta picked up the lead early, but that lasted about two turns as Cliff Saunders and Jeff Jolly flew by him. Jolly became the new leader, and he soon had the twins behind him - C. Saunders and Albert Saunders. A. Saunders fell back a bit, leaving C. Saunders to challenge Jolly. A. Saunders kept dropping further into the field (not too far, however), as Don Wood and Stephen Daddio both went by him. Nine laps into the event, C. Saunders and Wood fought for second, with Wood becoming the new second place driver. Wood ultimately closed the gap on Jolly, and it almost seemed like Jolly was going to hit the wall as he took the win in a caution-free feature. Wood was second, with C. Saunders and Daddio finishing the board.

On the fourth week of Stafford action, it is the first regular week of action on the schedule. No extra-distance features, no special divisions added to the program. Only the five divisions at the track. All of the racing action will be on, weather permitting.