USG Night at Stafford

The scenario for the June 4 program was simple - people trying to get to Martinsville for a race later in the weekend plus a non-working scoreboard equals one USG Night at Stafford. (So please excuse me if this winds up like chicken scratch in any way, shape, and/or form.) Five regularly-featured divisions racing? That part was normal. The action that was to come? Anything but.

The SK Lights opened up the feature racing part of the program. The whole night started with Zachary Aszklar and Kyle Spencer leading the way. Aszklar pulled out in front. John Hanafin found a way into second, with Spencer and David Webb fighting for third. Webb picked up the spot. Spencer had his hands full with Erica Santos, along with Heather DesRochers. As the three drivers were fighting for the spots, the first caution came out for Shayne Prucker, who had hit the frontstretch wall and damaging the front of his car. The caution occurred with three laps down. After some speedy dry and extensive cleanup, the race went back to green. The new leader was Hanafin, with DesRochers now making the move into second. She ended up faltering not too long after that, however, and the result was her going backwards. Webb became the beneficiary, finding himself in second. Aszklar was in a battle with Thomas Barrett, Jr for third. The battle ended halfway through the race when Aszklar spun in turn two. It set up another restart, which Hanafin ended up winning. Barrett dropped to the outside to see if he could make a move around Hanafin, but Hanafin also went down low. Meanwhile, a third car was joining the fight for the lead. Ted Cain was also in contention. The three-car battle was cut short with about a dozen laps completed, as Stephen Greer was stuck in turn three, where the entrance to pit road was. When the race went back to green, a new leader came to life in Barrett. Hanafin was in second, with Cain on his bumper and in third. Things went awry with Hanafin and Cain; and in the mix, Hanafin went around in turns one and two. Anthony Flannery was also in involved in the spin/minor accident, as was a couple other cars, and the caution came out with only six laps left to go in the race. A black flag was given to Cain for overagression. On the restart, Barrett returned to first place. Spencer and Jay Goff were now fighting for second. Goff took the spot, but ultimately gave up the spot to Matt Galko. In a fight for third, between Spencer and Goff, Goff nearly starting an accident. Spencer was given the black flag for tapping him. A late-race caution with the white flag coming out (Todd Clark spinning in turns three and four) set up a green-white-checkered finish. At the sight of the green, Barrett pulled back out into front. Galko seemed to falter, slowing down while on the outside groove of the backstretch, and various moves were made for position, with Joey Cipriano leading the charge and moving into second. As the field was shown the white flag (again), multiple cars spun in turns three and four. No caution came out for the incident, as they all drove off. But meanwhile, back up front, Barrett was dominant, picking up the win. Cipriano was second, with Galko and Santos rounding out the board.

The SK Modifieds were next. The race kicked off with Eric Berndt taking the lead. Matt Gallo and Josh Sylvester were already fighting for second. They were in a pack of five cars looking for spots up front early. A new leader came out in the name of Gallo, and he started to pull away from the field. Also at the head of the field was Brit Andersen and Frank Ruocco, who were in second and third. But things at the front were not all gold, as Andersen experienced with six laps completed. It seemed as he locked up the tires, causing his car to drift up to the top of turn three. Other cars joined the commotion, ending up with a multi-car incident, and the caution came out. On the restart, the third and fourth leaders (and fifth) emerged. It went back and forth between Ruocco and Berndt. The lead was swapped three different times over the course of the lap. In the end, it was Ruocco as the leader, with Gallo in second and Berndt now in third. And the fight between the top two cars was officially on. Over the course of the next few laps, the top two fight became a fight for the top three. Ted Christopher had been coming and eventually came. And as he applied pressure to the lead cars, it was more pressure to Ruocco, which gave the lead back to Gallo with sixteen laps done. Ruocco did try to get around Gallo via way of the inside groove, but it was to no avail. A bit deeper into the field, there was a fight for fourth between Berndt and Sean Foster. Berndt got the spot. Keith Rocco was also in the mix and managed to get around Foster for fifth and wanted fourth from Berndt... Which he ultimately did. As positions were being flipped and flopped deeper into the field, things were getting interesting up front. Gallo and Ruocco were battling for the lead. The distance was closed and it seemed like it hope was lost, but in the end, it was Gallo taking the win - his first of his SK Modified career. Ruocco finished second. Christopher ended up in third and Rocco finished fourth.

With the completion of the open-wheeled portion of the program, it was full-fendered fun with the Limited Late Models. It was Duane Provost out in front at the start, followed by Jesse Hinze, but it soon turned into a fight with a lap in the books. On the very next lap, it was Hinze picking up the lead with Carla Botticello’s help. It quickly escalated into a fight for the lead between the two drivers and Kevin Gambacorta, who was following them until both drivers assumed the top two spots after minor happenings involving Hinze. The lead changed hands again; this time, from Botticello to Gambacorta. Second and third was between George Nocera, Jr and Dan Flannery, and the two of them were fighting for the second spot. But the battle was to be put on hold when Hinze spun in turns three and four, causing the caution to come out. The race was halfway completed and a restart was to take place. And on that restart, Gambacorta was getting challenged by Nocera for the lead. Also joining in was Flannery, and even Andrew Durand wanted a piece of the action - he was in fourth. With a minor incident between Flannery and Nocera, the lead that Gambacorta had had been strengthened. Back to the action with the rest of the top three, and now in third was Durand, who was coming out of nowhere to get the spot. He still had a ways to go to catch up to the top two, who were now in striking distance of each other. Flannery closed in on Gambacorta and nearly caught up to him, but it wasn’t enough. Gambacorta claimed the win, with Flannery in second. Durand was in third, and Dave Yardley, III finished fourth.

Up next, it was the DARE Stocks. And it was Josh Wood just pulling away from the field. Stephanie Berardi was in second, and behind them, it was a fight for third on. Stephen Daddio took third, leaving the rest of the field to fend for themselves. While J. Wood was dominating the field, Kaitlyn Brice ended up stranded in turn three after blowing up. Only three laps were done before the yellow flew for the first time in the race, and the lead that J. Wood had before the caution was wiped straight clean. He would regain the lead on the restart, after fighting with Berardi for the spot. Berardi was busy with Daddio for second, and the spot was eventually handed off to Daddio. First and second began to pull away from the field, but it seemed as though neither was going to let go. It would be a few laps before the caution came back out for possible debris on the track, which brought the yellow out with nine laps down. When the green returned, it was J. Wood still in front. Nicholas Salva moved into second, and Don Wood was now in third. The yellow came out again when Jeff Jolly and Kyle Casagrande wrecked in the grass of the frontstretch with nine laps (still) out of the way. It was a quick caution, giving way to the green once again. J. Wood once again broke away from the pack, with Salva and D. Wood still in second and third respectively. Moving into fourth was Tony Membrino, Jr. But up front, it was all J. Wood, who cruised to his first win of the season. Salva ended up in second, with D. Wood behind him in third. Membrino ended the board in fourth.

Finally, it was the Late Model feature. Tom Fearn started out by leading the event, with Jim Mavlouganes and Scott Cook battling for the second spot. Michael Bennett joined them, and it was a short-lived but exciting three-wide fight for the position. Bennett ended up winning via way out of the inside groove. It took a few laps to get up to the front, but Bennett did and managed to pass Fearn for the lead. Woody Pitkat was finding his way around Fearn for second, and Ryan Posocco was willing to join him - he did, right before the 14-lap mark. And then, things got interesting. It became a three-car battle for the lead between Bennett, Pitkat, and Posocco. And with that, a lead change. The lead now belonged to Pitkat. #48 moved into second, shuffling Bennett to third. As the laps ticked by, it became a two-car show. In the end, however, it was Pitkat picking up the win. Posocco had to settle for second. Bennett finished third, with Fearn ending up in fourth.

9:30 arrived, and the night was over. With all of the hindrances in front of us, we survived and persevered. Next Friday night is going to be one heck of a show - the 37th annual Coors Light SK Modified 100, the second-longest feature for the SK Modifieds over the course of the 2010 season. Weather permitting? Yes.