“It’s Déjà Vu All Over Again…”

June 11 signaled yet another big night at Stafford. This week, however, it belonged to one of the five weekly divisions that grace the half-mile - the division was the SK Modifieds, and the event was the first of two extra-distance events for them on the season. The event in question? The 37th annual Coors Light SK Modified 100. Not only was it more than double the usual distance that the division usually runs (40 laps), but on this day, it was a milestone event as well. It was the 500th SK race in the history of the track.

But there were some features before the main event began.

First up, the DARE Stocks. It started with a dragrace down the frontstretch between James Carroll and Stephanie Berardi. Carroll gained the lead, with Berardi now involved in a three-wide fight for second along with Nicholas Salva and another car. Salva won the fight for second. Cliff Saunders found himself in third, while Cory Casagrande moved into fourth. Meanwhile, Carroll and Salva were fighting for the lead. It wasn’t until Salva managed to get around Carroll that the fun started. Both C. Saunders and C. Casagrande went around Carroll, but that wasn’t the end of it. C. Saunders passed C. Casagrande for second, and it was his turn to fight for the lead. Both C. Saunders and Salva almost were directly side-by-side until they made contact and ended up high into turn four. They both remained up to speed, but the lead was given to C. Casagrande in the process. The battle for position now involved three different drivers, including Tony Membrino, Jr, who was now in second, Kyle Casagrande, who ended up in third, and Albert Saunders; now in fourth. K. Casagrande was looking for second when the first caution came out for Carroll, who hit the wall in turn two with only four laps to go. On the restart, another fight was on between C. Casagrande and Membrino. C. Casagrande managed to pull out to retain the lead. K. Casagrande was also in the mix and was now in second. Don Wood moved into third. The top three began to pull away from the battling pack. But even with Josh Wood spinning in turn two on the last lap, nothing was going to slow C. Casagrande down. He’d take his second win of the season. K. Casagrande finished second, with D. Wood in third and Membrino in fourth.

The Limited Late Models were the next division to go out. Duane Provost and Jesse Hinze were side-by-side for the first part of the first lap until Hinze pulled away as the leader. Rob Dow sat in second, with Andrew Durand moving into third. As for Provost? He was moving backwards through the field. The battle for third began and ended with six laps on the board when Dan Flannery passed Durand for the spot. Dave Yardley, III also passed Durand; but that was for fourth. The first came out with seven laps on the board, when Joe Nogiec spun in turn two. When the green came back out, it was Hinze moving out front once again. Flannery paraded into second (along with Durand in third), and for the first five cars, the field ran single file. Flannery made the move for the lead with nine laps down. Hinze started to fall backwards as Durand, Yardley, and others passed him for positions. Unfortunately, the field slowed down once again. Nogiec was involved in a second caution with twelve laps down, when he found himself against the wall in turns one and two. The race got back underway with Flannery and Durand fighting for the lead. Flannery managed to take it back. Second was now Yardley’s, followed by Carla Botticello, who was now shown in third, and Kevin Gambacorta. A battle for third with four laps to go sent Botticello, Durand, and Gambacorta around. Botticello was able to get going, but the other two drivers weren’t able to do the same and the caution came out once again. (They were able to drive away from the caution scene, however.) During the caution, Botticello needed to be towed off of the track. But back to green, and it was a fight for first between Flannery and Yardley. Flannery pulled out in front again, and he slightly pulled away from Yardley. The lead was enough, and he won his third race of the season. In second, it was Yardley. Michael Wray finished third, with Dow ending up in fourth.

The Late Models were next. Keith Rocco plowed his way into the lead, with John Kasper sitting cozy in second. Jim Mavlouganes found himself in third, and beyond that, save for a few spots midpack, the field was one straight line. Back to front, Rocco began to create a lead between himself and second place Mavlouganes and third place Scott Cook. The battle for fourth was hot with five laps on the board, between three different cars. Ryan Posocco moved into that spot. The yellow came out with six laps completed as Joe Rzeszutek was crawling at a snail’s pace coming out of turn four. He eventually ended up stranded on the frontstretch, and on top of that, he had left a trail of liquid starting in the turn three area. After extensive cleanup, the green was back out and Rocco was back out in front. Unfortunately for him, he had Posocco behind him in second after passing Mavlouganes for the spot. And instead of one car slightly pulling away, it was two cars slightly pulling away - the top two cars. Battles for positions were deeper into the field, starting around the fifth spot. By the time the field completed 10 laps, the field became silent. Noise erupted with 13 laps down when Jim Peterson moved into third, passing Mavlouganes, followed by Michael Bennett, who also passed Mavlouganes (though that was for fourth). Bennett was not done; with ten laps to go, he managed to pass Peterson for third. But back up to front, the fight for the lead was on. Posocco made the charge and passed Rocco with only five laps to go. Over the course of the last five laps, he pulled way from the rest of the field, and he would come to the line to take his first win of the season. Rocco finished second. Bennett finished third, while Peterson ended in fourth.

The SK Lights would be next. Although four cars ended up bunched with each other going into turn one, Earl Pelletier was the winner of the fight and managed to get the lead. Kyle Spencer was on his bumper. And coming up on Spencer’s bumper? Frank Cardile. Things appeared to be all quiet through the field, but suddenly, trouble ensued. Heather DesRochers's car broke and careened up into the wall in turn three, where it came to a stop meters from where it originally hit the wall. With only seven laps down, the caution came out. After the cleanup, it was back to racing. Pelletier and Spencer fought for the top spot. By the time they got to the line to complete the lap, the lead was Pelletier’s. In second was now Cardile. Third was contested between Spencer and Thomas Barrett, Jr - and Barrett picked up the spot. With 11 laps down, a new leader emerged after a lead change. Cardile. As he began to pull away, the caution came out once again. This time, it was for debris in turns one and two. Anthony Flannery was also in trouble on the backstretch, and he was towed off the track. As the green came back out, it looked like Barrett had the lead. But it was for naught and Cardile gained the lead back. Barrett had his hands full with Joey Cipriano, who made his way to third. But second still belonged to Barrett. The heat was on. Almost. Tommy Membrino, Jr had problems and ended up in the wall by turns three and four (along with another car), prompting another caution with only four laps to go. And as the green returned, Barrett didn’t get up to speed, giving Cardile a free pass back to the lead. Cipriano was now sitting in second. The lead, however, was a bit too much. Cardile picked up his second win of the season, followed by Cipriano, Jay Goff, and John Hanafin respectively.

Finally, it was time for the SK Modified 100. It started with Brit Andersen moving into the front spot from the outside row, with Josh Sylvester following right behind. Before J. Sylvester was able to make a bid for the lead, the action was halted with only a lap on the board. Three cars were piled up in the turn three area - Jeff Baral, Matt Gallo, and Frank Ruocco. Yellow changed to red because of excessive cleanup; a bit more than originally thought of. After everything was cleaned and the yellow returned, the green came out Andersen returned to the top spot. But it wasn’t an easy task. J. Sylvester was right next to him and Chris Jones was behind them. By the lap three mark, J. Sylvester picked up the lead. Only one lap later (four on the board), a multi-car spin occurred, including Woody Pitkat and many others. A very obvious caution came out for it. On the restart, J. Sylvester pulled back out to front. Jones joined him and passed him for the lead. With nine laps on the board, second changed hands from J. Sylvester to Dan Avery. Ted Christopher moved into third along the way, but wasn’t done yet as he took second from Avery. Keith Rocco joined the fray in fourth. The strong run of Christopher wasn’t over yet, and by the time 16 laps were completed, he found himself going around Jones and into the lead. But things were abruptly put to a halt when Raymond Grassetti was stranded at the top of turn two, setting up a caution with only 17 laps down. A dogfight ensued on the restart between the two leaders. Christopher regained the lead by turn three. Rocco found himself in second, but the caution came right back out with 18 laps out of the way for debris in the turn one area. The green ultimately came back and Christopher moved back out to front. Rocco was right on his bumper and was looking to take the lead from Christopher. At the lap 20 mark, Rocco powered back in front. Lead change two occurred with 22 laps down on the board, when Christopher took the lead right back from Rocco. Rocco was not done and reclaimed the lead with a quarter of the race out of the way. (The third lead change between the two drivers alone.) The fun was put on temporary hiatus when Adam Skowyra spun in turn four with 26 laps down. The restart was going to be interesting. The leaders battled for the lead until Rocco stuck it. Again, Christopher wasn’t going to back down, and the fourth change between the two happened with 27 laps down. Was there going to be more drama? Yes. Another caution with 29 laps on the board, when Vincent Anglace and Jones spun in turn four. Drama resumed on the restart, when Christopher powered back into the lead and people behind him checked up. Eric Berndt was joining the lead group party as he challenged Rocco for second. It wasn’t enough; Rocco claimed second. And with 31 laps on the board, lead change five occurred when Rocco took over the lead. The lead was short-lived. Another lap, and another lead change by Christopher (six between the drivers) - he was back out in front. 35 laps were completed when the seventh lead change between Christopher and Rocco occurred when Rocco retook the lead. Also on that lap? Another caution. It was for fluid on the track, starting in the turn one and two area and going all around the track. Once everything was cleaned up, it was the return of the green flag. It was lead change eight for a slight moment, but Rocco denied him to retake the lead. The eighth lead change eventually did happen - with 39 laps on the board, when Christopher took back over. The next caution to fly came out with an exact SK Modified feature in the record books, when Sean Foster spun in turn four. The green came back out and it was a three-car fight for first. Christopher claimed the lead, but guess who was right behind him? Rocco, who was looking to retake the lead again. Deeper into the field, Zach Sylvester was coming, battling Avery for fifth. He eventually got the position (45 laps on the board when the position change was official). Everything slowed one only one lap later, when Foster was seen in turn two backwards - the caution was coming out again. The green was also coming out again. It was another fight for first, and the ninth lead change occurred between the two frontrunners when Rocco went back out into front. Behind them, Pitkat found himself in third after passing Berndt for the spot. Meanwhile, Christopher wasn’t done chasing #88, and with 52 laps on the board, the tenth lead change happened. Eleven wasn’t too far behind, and that change happened on the very next lap when Rocco passed Christopher. And again, it was only a lap before the next change happened. It was a quick fight, but Christopher regained the lead almost that quickly. That was the track record (twelve). Could they take the record (thirteen)? Yes. Rocco regained the lead coming to the line to finish 57 laps. It officially became a track record, because the caution came out again (after the fact) for Jones and Andersen, who spun on the backstretch with the same amount of laps on the board. It was already a chaotic first half of the race - could it be even more chaotic? It appeared as though the answer was yes, but the answer was no when Rocco kept the lead tight. They weren’t alone in this fight, however, as Pitkat was also involved in the battle. But he wasn’t as close. Meanwhile, Christopher was looking to take the lead again. Was he going to do it? Yes. Lead change fourteen occurred as they crossed the line for lap 66. 68 laps clicked off the board when Rocco decided that fourteen lead changes between the leaders wasn’t enough, and he made it fifteen. It would be a while before the next caution (72 laps down) when Jones blew up in a puff of smoke. Also having problems was Jeff Malave, who ended up stalled in turn four after having something go wrong coming down the backstretch. The liquid was cleaned up and the green was back out. Rocco had the advantage, leaving Christopher to fend off both Pitkat and Berndt. Fortunately for Christopher, he was able to do just that, and he was drawing closer to Rocco, looking for the lead. The hoping was put on hold because of the next caution, with 77 laps on the board, as Z. Sylvester was stranded up at the top of turn four. On the restart, Rocco pulled back out into first. Christopher was still in second. Pitkat and Berndt were still fighting for third; Pitkat won the spot with 79 laps on the board. Once that was achieved, things quieted down once again. Barely a battle for position anywhere. As the laps ticked by, positions among the top ten changed hands (fifth and seventh). It seemed like the race was about over; Rocco was pulling away from Christopher, but it wasn’t over yet. The caution came out with three laps to go in the event when Grassetti ended up stranded in turn two after coming into contact with the wall in turn one. The upcoming restart was going to tell the story. Rocco regained the lead. Second was between Christopher and Pitkat... And the winner of second was Pitkat. But he wasn’t able to catch up to Rocco, who pulled away from the rest of the field to win his fourth race of the season (and back-to-back SK Modified 100s). Pitkat ended up in second, with Christopher in third and Berndt in fourth.

June 18 is the out-of-school edition of the season, where there will be five Whelen All-American series divisional races on the track, and a fireworks display set to music above it. All of it goes down weather permitting.