Fireworks!

Another week of action occurred on June 18, which in Stafford’s book was the official “out of school special”. The five regular divisions were on hand for their features, but besides that, there were scheduled fireworks up in the sky. With every week, there were bound to be fireworks on the race track as well. This week, as always, was no exception.

Starting out feature action were the Limited Late Models. It started with double greens and a battle for the lead between Duane Provost and Jesse Hinze. Provost pushed to the front, and he was followed by Dave Yardley, III. But the lead was short lived, and Yardley moved ahead with two laps on the board. Rob Dow followed close behind. In third was Andrew Durand. A bit further back in the field, the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions were being contested between George Nocera, Jr, Dan Flannery, and Kevin Gambacorta. Flannery eventually took over fourth, putting Nocera back to fifth. Meanwhile, back up front, a challenge was made for the lead. There was nothing much to the challenge, and it was still Yardley sitting as the leader. Durand was also being challenged, but it was for third and it was with Flannery. Over the course of the race, the lead that Yardley maintained grew and shrunk on many occasions. But it was going to shrink again - with 19 laps on the board - when there was an accident on the frontstretch involving Provost and Dennis Botticello. The caution promptly came out, signaling a green-white-checker situation. When the green did come back out, it was Yardley bolting back to the lead. Dow was second, but he had Flannery on his bumper with a few other cars directly behind him. Dow passed Flannery for second, but in front, it was the first win of Yardley’s career. Dow would finish second with Flannery in third, and Michael Wray ended up fourth.

The DARE Stocks were next. A drag race down the frontstretch took place between Donald Cook and Stephanie Berardi, but the end to that race occurred when Berardi pulled out into the lead by the turn three area of the track. Andrew Hayes took over second. The battle for third was between Jeff Jolly and Don Wood. D. Wood ended up getting around Jolly for second. Jolly wasn’t done heading backwards, and other cars passed him in the process. With four laps on the board, the battle for the lead started between Berardi and Hayes. D. Wood jumped into the fray, and it was a three-car fight for the front spot. With five laps on the board, the leaders were three-wide. And with six laps down, D. Wood took over the top spot - and things fell apart from there. J. Wood ended up hitting the frontstretch wall, sliding down the track with Berardi along for the ride with him. That was more than enough to throw out the first yellow of the event. On the restart, D. Wood and Cory Casagrande were side by side until the field came out of turn four as D. Wood put himself back into the lead. Tony Membrino, Jr moved into second, with C. Casagrande sitting in third. A challenge for that second spot occurred with nine laps to go; there was nothing that came from it. C. Casagrande tried again on the next lap, but still, there was nothing. This went on for a little bit longer until C. Casagrande managed to get around Membrino for the spot with four laps to go. More battles occurred for the second spot and beyond, but back up in front, there was some pressure as well. It wasn’t enough, and it was D. Wood picking up the win. C. Casagrande finished second, followed by Hayes in third and Kyle Casagrande in fourth.

In the middle of the program were the SK Lights. Harry Wheeler got an early jump on Earl Pelletier when the green flew, but it wasn’t enough and Pelletier jumped back out to the front. Wheeler fit into the second spot. On his bumper was Heather DesRochers, who was sitting in third. With five laps on the board, the third and fourth place drivers changed with passes on the frontstretch. Erica Santos now sat in third, with Thomas Barrett, Jr right behind her in fourth. A battle for the lead took place with seven laps on the board, and the new leader emerged at that time - DesRochers. Pelletier was now engaged in a fight for second with Barrett; a fight that Barrett won slightly before the halfway point of the race. With eleven laps on the board, the first caution came out for a multi-car spin coming out of turn four and on the backstretch. The fight was on when the restart happened; the winner of that fight wasn’t well known until a full lap was ticked off of the board after the restart. Barrett became the new leader of the event. Santos was still in third, and all three drivers were comfortably separated from the fight for fourth by a few feet. With on lap to go in the event, the caution came out once again for a spin with wall hitting involving Frank Cardile in turn four. It set up a very crucial restart that was not decided when they hit the stripe to restart the race. Barrett picked up the lead down the backstretch, however. Positions changed behind him, such as Joey Cipriano taking the third spot and Matt Galko getting fourth. But in the end, it was Barrett taking his second win of the season. DesRochers ended in second. Cipriano and Galko, with their late-race passes, ended in third and fourth respectively.

The Late Models took over the program next. Scott Cook took advantage and pulled out ahead of the rest of the field; mainly Adam Gray and Keith Rocco, who were fighting for second. The spot was won by Rocco, and he too pulled out from the field. Jim Peterson also managed to separate himself from the madness and declared himself the leader. Fourth was a fight between Dillon Moltz and Michael Bennett. The fight was short lived after a caution came out with three laps on the board. It was for debris in turn one (dirt kicked up onto the track). On the restart, Rocco found a way to get around Cook, but it was a short-lived accomplishment. It was also a three-way fight for the lead on the backstretch. With four laps on the board, Peterson became the new leader of the event. Bennett found himself in second, and was now challenging Peterson for the lead. Six laps into the race, he became the third leader. Woody Pitkat made his way into second spot. The action was slowed down when Gray ended up spinning in the grass on the frontstretch, sending the caution out. A very interesting restart was about to occur. It did. Peterson didn’t get up to speed. Bennett pulled back out in front. The restart didn’t last a lap, as Joe Rzeszutek spun in turn two to bring out the second caution. In take two, things ran a bit more smoothly. Bennett (once again) claimed the lead, but now behind him was Ryan Posocco. It didn’t take long for Posocco to make a move, and with nine laps down, he became the new leader. From there, things seemed to calm down a bit. The first three drivers - Posocco, Bennett, and Peterson - were fairly separated from the rest of the field. Things slowed down some with 18 laps on the board when Alan Provost ended up by the wall coming out of turn four. The caution was coming out. Posocco (partially) regained the lead on the restart, but Bennett wasn’t ready to back down and he regained the lead. In second was now Moltz, who had Posocco on his back bumper. 20 laps were completed when Doug Blowers, Jr spun in turn three and could barely get going when the caution came back out. The restart had a fight for the lead and a near accident from Bennett. Luckily for him, he kept the car straight and maintained his spot as the leader. Just as Posocco managed to pass Bennett for the lead, the yellow came out with 21 laps down for two cars who spun in turns one and two - Cook and another car that needed wrecker assistance. Another restart was about to take place. This one had Bennett and Posocco fighting for the lead (with Moltz in the mix making it nearly three-wide). Bennett regained the lead, now with Moltz in second. Posocco had his hands full with Rocco for third; in the end, it was #48 getting the position. The last laps in the race belonged to Bennett, and they were well deserved. He won his first race of the season. Moltz had to settle for second, with Posocco in third and Rocco in fourth.

There was a brief intermission for the fireworks show (the sun wasn’t even down!), followed by the final division of the night.

That last race belonged to the SK Modifieds. It all began with Brit Andersen taking the lead early. A dogfight ensued in the first lap as well, as Chris Jones tried to take action by making a move. The bid for the lead was short-lived, when Dan Avery and Sean Foster spun in turns three and four, bringing out the first caution with no laps under their belt. With no laps down, the field reset. On the restart, Andersen and Zach Sylvester fought for the lead (with Jones trying to join in as well). Even so, Andersen maintained the lead. It wasn't going to last very long, as pretty soon, a new leader emerged in Jones. The rest of the top-four drivers also changed. Todd Owen sat in second, with Eric Berndt in third and Mark Bakaj in fourth. A bit further back in the field, Keith Rocco was starting to make some noise, passing Jeff Baral for the fifth spot. At the 10-lap mark, the top-five drivers had begun to run single file. With 11 laps down, Rocco took over fourth from Bakaj. Second was now a fight, and the fight was eventually won by Berndt. Rocco found his way into third. Suddenly, things went awry. Ryan Preece and Andersen were involved in a hard accident coming out of turn two, resting under the big screen. Fire erupted from the accident. Yellow wasn’t even an option; the caution went straight to red. Sixteen laps were on the board at the time of the caution. After the cleanup, the yellow finally came out, and the restart was on after a few yellow-flag laps. Jones and Berndt put on a show on the restart, fighting side-by-side for the lead. The battle lasted a lap; Jones remained the leader. Berndt was in danger of losing second to Rocco, which happened shortly before the halfway point. Rocco put pressure on Jones at exactly the 20-lap mark, which worked as he became the new leader. It wasn’t a surprise to see him build on the newly-minted lead of his. He started to distance himself from the rest of the field as the rest of the field battled for position. Second now belonged to Berndt, and while his times were quicker than those of Rocco, Rocco still had the lead. The laps ticked by, and the challenges were invisible. In the end, it was the fifth win of the season for Rocco. Berndt settled for second. Jones and Owen rounded out the board.

June 25 will be just the basics, as it’s another five-division program at Stafford. Weather permitting.