An Event Made for TV

As the month of August rolled around on the calendar, the weeks of busy Friday nights continued at Stafford. The first week of the eighth month brought yet another appearance for the Whelen Modified Tour. The event in question was the Town Fair Tire 150. Along with the Tour, there were Stafford’s usual five weekly divisions. Action? Madness? Both and more were going to be there.

First up on the docket was qualifying for the Whelen Modified Tour. Ronnie Silk set fast time, putting up a time of 18.296 seconds (translating to 93.382 miles an hour). (Later on, it was determined that the top six cars would redraw for the race later on in the evening. Bobby Grigas, III and Erick Rudolph would be the two to bring the field to the green flag.)

After the presentation of awards and opening ceremonies, it was time for the features to roll off.

The night started with the DARE Stocks. It began with Stephanie Berardi leading the charge. Behind her were Cliff Saunders, who moved himself into second, and Vince Gambacorta, who he took the second spot from. C. Saunders closed the little gap between himself and Berardi, and it took him a little more than two laps before he took over the lead. As for Berardi? Well, she ended up as part of the first caution of the night with three laps down. In turns three and four, Berardi ended up spinning in front of most of the field. Only a few drivers ended up with some damage (none of it major), but it still prompted a caution. Over the course of the caution, however, track cleanup lasted a bit longer than the cleanup crew expected (fluid was dumped all over the track). A brief red flag came out. Once everything was cleaned up, it was back to green flag racing. C. Saunders retook the lead on the restart, followed by Albert Saunders - meaning it was a battle of the brothers. Behind them, it was Tony Membrino, Jr in third, being pressured from behind by Kyle Casagrande. Back in front, it was the brothers leading the way. As the laps ticked down, it seemed as though they were going to get the race done quickly. But a caution with four laps to go (a spin involving Paul Jensen) put the field under caution situation once again. It was a quick restart, and before one knew it, the green was right back out. This time, however, A. Saunders was pushed out to the front - thanks to K. Casagrande. Second was a fight between C. Saunders, K. Casagrande, and Membrino. C. Saunders had the momentum at the moment, and third belonged to Membrino after a quick tussle. In a battle for fourth, Jeff Jolly ended up spinning as the leader took the white flag. Would he be able to go? The field was coming. Membrino tried to take over second; he managed to do so, but the lap would not be completed and the caution came out for the third time. A. Saunders would be placed back in second, setting Membrino back into third. The restart happened without hesitation. C. Saunders and A. Saunders raced side by side for the duration of the lap. By the time they hit the stripe, A. Saunders had the lead. The two raced side by side once again for most of the last lap. A. Saunders got loose in turns three and four, giving C. Saunders the advantage. He’d come to pick up his first win of the season. Membrino finished in second, with K. Casagrande in third. Cory Casagrande finished off the board in fourth.

Next up, the Late Models. Adam Gray was the first leader when he took control on the first lap. Tom Fearn found his way into second. Third belonged to Corey Hutchings, while Michael Bennett was in fourth after a brief fight for the position. On the third lap, Hutchings was moving up towards the front. He passed Fearn for second. Bennett followed and fell into the third spot. Four laps into the race, the first caution came out for an incident in turn two. Tom Butler suffered some damage, and Tony Lafo also came down onto pit road. On the restart, Gray once again took the lead. This time, however, second belonged to Bennett, who took over the spot from Hutchings. Neither driver was ready to quit. By the time they crossed the line to complete the sixth lap, both Bennett and Hutchings passed Gray for the lead. Third now belonged to Woody Pitkat. Meanwhile, Bennett started to build on his lead. He was about half a straightway ahead of second place Hutchings. Beginning with nine laps to go, a fight for third took place between Pitkat and Keith Rocco. The spot was won over by Rocco on the same lap, but he had a ways to go before he could catch up to second. Back up to first, Bennett continued his joyride ahead of the rest of the field. It was more than enough, and it was the second win of the season for Bennett. Hutchings had to settle for second. Rocco finished third, while Pitkat ended in fourth.

The SK Lights took to the track next. It didn’t start out lovely. Within the first lap, there was already a caution. After Earl Pelletier ended up going through the grass, dirt was kicked up onto the track in turn one and it prompted the yellow to come out. After things were cleaned up, it was back to racing. Kyle Spencer was the first official leader of the race. His reign as the leader lasted a lap, as there was trouble in turn one. Frank Cardile ended up in the safer barrier. As his car was being towed off the track, it was decided that his night was over. When the green came back out, a fight broke out. A fight for the lead, that is. It was Spencer between Jay Goff in a race for the lead. The lead was given to Goff, and he began to pull away. The lead was short lived with four laps on the board, when Harry Wheeler spun on the frontstretch. He tried to fire the car up, but it was too late. The caution came out. Meanwhile, Ted Cain and Steve Greer also went around - their spin was in turn one. Both drivers joined Wheeler in the back of the field as the restart happened. Spencer reclaimed the lead, followed by a hard-charging Joey Cipriano. Cipriano made a charge for the lead and earned it as the leaders came across the stripe to finish off the sixth lap. Behind them, the battle for third was picking up between a few different cars. Unfortunately, the battle was about to come to a close on the ninth lap. Spencer hit the outside retaining wall on the frontstretch - hard - and settled high in the first and second turns. Goff was stranded in the turn two grass. It became the third caution of the event. The restart was between a pair of youngsters in the division. Cipriano and Thomas Barrett, Jr. It only took a lap before Barrett passed Cipriano to become the next leader of the race. The rest of the race ran green flag the whole way, giving Barrett his sixth win of the season. Cipriano came in to finish second, with Matt Galko in third and Dylan Liseo in fourth.

From one modified division to another, the SK Modifieds were next. Like the SK Lights, this race didn’t start well, either. The accident on the frontstretch contained many cars; others drove above and below the melee to try to clear it. The number of cars involved (minor or major) was too much to count. The caution came out immediately. Was the restart going to be any better than the original start? Yes… Somewhat. Another incident in turns one and two set Keith Rocco and Ted Christopher back a bit, but they managed to get going again and no caution came out. Meanwhile, the fight for first was well underway. It took two laps before Eric Berndt managed to pull ahead of Mark Bakaj. Battles for position were also in progress through the first thirteen positions (at least). Chris Jones moved into second, with Dan Avery on his bumper behind him in third. Also coming through the field during the green flag run was Frank Ruocco, who ended up fifth by the 11th lap. However, an accident with that many laps on the board slowed the field down. Tom Bolles and Kirk Zervas ended up high in the first and second turns, bringing out yet another caution. After semi-extensive cleanup by the safer barrier, the green came back out and the race was back on. And the battle for the lead was on. Berndt and Jones battled for the first spot, with the winner of the fight being Berndt. In second was now Woody Pitkat, who wanted the lead for himself. With 14 laps on the board, there was a new leader in Pitkat. Berndt wasn’t willing to just lie down and die, and he attempted to take back the lead with a fight of his own. He’d have a shot on the restart, when Chris Jensen wrecked on the frontstretch and ended up sitting idly in front of the starter’s stand. The caution was back out with 16 laps on the board. After more cleanup, there was a restart. Pitkat once again found himself fighting with Berndt for the lead. Pitkat picked up the lead again, leaving Berndt to try to pull a move of his own to get his former lead back. Deeper into the field, there were two familiar numbers coming back up to the front - Rocco and Christopher, who were in earlier incidents and on pit road quite a few times each. By the lap-24 point, they were in fifth and seventh respectively. While they were putting on moves, two more sets of drivers were trying to pull of magic of their own. Pitkat and Berndt were battling for the lead, while Avery was trying to do something against Ruocco for third. It seemed like nobody was willing to budge. Suddenly, things went haywire. Rocco had a problem - it seemed like a nerf bar was rubbing on the tire - and with three laps to go, he spun in turn two, bringing out the caution. The lead that Pitkat and Berndt jointly had shrunk and they were going to have to fight it out again on the incoming restart. The restart began with a dragrace down the frontstretch. It was even Steven down the backstretch as well. But in turns three and four, Pitkat reclaimed the lead. Berndt once again was forced to run in second. Sean Foster ended up spinning in turn four as the field took the white flag lap. There was no yellow as he managed to get going, but by then, the race was over. The checkered flag came out for Pitkat, giving him his second win of the season. Berndt finished second. Ruocco ended up in third, followed by Avery in fourth.

The schedule originally called for the Limited Late Models up next. But instead of them, it was time for the Whelen Modified Tour and the main event: The Town Fair Tire 150. (Which you can watch Wednesday night at 7pm on Versus.) The command to start engines was given at 9:35pm EST. They rolled off a minute later. And five minutes after the command, the race was on. Bobby Grigas, III and Erick Rudolph battled for the lead early on, but Rudolph was able to get around his linemate on the front row and assume the leadership position on the first lap. Mike Stefanik moved into second, putting the race’s pole sitter in third. But in front of them, it was all Rudolph, all the time as he had a half straightaway lead in the first ten laps of the event. By the lap fifteen mark, the field was running single file - save for a bit of action further into the field. By lap 25, the leaders began the task of going through what was going to be lapped traffic. But on lap 30, things shook up. Grigas had problems in turn one, moving drivers from seventh up to third, where he originally ran, up a position. This gave Todd Szegedy control of third and Ted Christopher possession of fourth. They had quite a distance, however, to get to Rudolph, who was in control of the early portion of the race so far. The next distraction came on lap 43, when Rowan Pennink was brought into pit road because of smoke. Five laps later (48 laps into the race), the first caution came out. It came out when Jamie Tomaino and Woody Pitkat found each other in turns one and two and collided. This gave the leaders a prime chance to head to pit road for some tires and any adjustments they might have needed. This gave the lead to Doug Coby. Ronnie Silk exited pit road first and was scored as second. Eric Beers and Stefanik were the next two off of pit road and were going to restart in third and fourth respectively. The restart took place with 56 laps down. Fresher tires paid off, and Silk took over as leader of the race. Stefanik moved into second easily. Unfortunately, the green flag run was short lived - it lasted all of two laps - as Michael Speeney showed sparks and ended up spinning in turn one. He’d rejoin the field at the tail end. On lap 63, there was a restart. It took a lap for Stefanik to get around Silk for the lead, and with 64 laps down, he’d become the new leader. Silk was still right behind him, though, with Szegedy joining the party as well (in third). The party was short lived as the third caution came out with 68 laps on the board. Speeney was involved in a minor incident with Wade Cole (Cole was the one who spun in turn four; Speeney ended up coming to a stop next to his driver’s side). The restart occurred with 72 laps in the book. It was Stefanik getting the jump on things and retaking the lead. Silk and Szegedy fought for the second spot. Szegedy’d take the spot with 73 laps down. The halfway point of the race came and went with no problems, and only five laps later, things started to happen once again. Coby spun coming down the backstretch and ended up stranded in turn three. He was able to go without the caution coming out. Unfortunately, the caution did come out with 81 laps on the board. A three-car incident in turns one and two (involving Ed Flemke, Jr, Coby, and Ken Heagy) brought out the yellow for the fourth time. (Coby was brought down to pit road for a one-lap penalty during the caution for rough riding.) Once the dust was settled, it was time for a restart with 88 laps down in the race. A duel took place on the restart between Stefanik and Szegedy. Stefanik had the advantage at the line. Fortunately for him, he’d still have the advantage as the yellow came out again for a multi-car combination spin/wreck in turn one. The fifth caution was on lap 89. The restart was going to come on lap 95, but Heagy wanted to come up to get a free pass and was accidentally bumped by Silk. The caution came out again so he could get around and get his free pass. The next restart was on lap 97 with the leaders - Stefanik and Szegedy - fighting for the lead. As they came to complete the lap (98), Szegedy became the new leader. The caution would come out again on lap 100 for fluid that had been dumped on the track from Bobby Santos. The track’s safety team was coming to dump speedy dry over the track, which prompted a red flag on lap 100. The red flag was lifted, and on lap 107, they were back to green. Again, it was a duel between Szegedy and Stefanik, with neither driver backing down. On lap 109, it was clear that Szegedy was the leader once again. Stefanik had to sit in second, with Silk breathing down his back. As the laps ticked by, it seemed as though there were no problems. But there was no change in position among the leaders. By the lap 138 mark, Szegedy had stretched his lead to just under a half straightaway. By the time there was officially ten laps to go, the lead was a half straightaway. The rest of the race ran caution free, and the race belonged to Szegedy. Stefanik finished in second, followed by Silk in third and Rudolph in fourth.

Wait, there’s more! There was still the Limited Late Model race to run. It started with Carla Botticello getting out in front early as the chaos happened behind her. Michael Wray and Kevin Gambacorta wrecked on the backstretch; only Gambacorta couldn’t get going. It prompted a caution with only a lap on the board. Under the caution, Gambacorta was able to get going and he pulled away. On the restart, it took two turns before Botticello could pull ahead again. Second, however, now belonged to Dan Flannery after he passed Jesse Hinze on the second lap. During the next few laps, Flannery closed the gap between him and first place Botticello. With only five laps to go in the event, Flannery started to run side by side with Botticello. It wasn’t until they got to turn three when Flannery had the advantage, and he crossed the line to complete the 16th lap as the leader. He started to pull away from Botticello at that point. His lead was erased with three laps to go when Andrew Durand erupted in smoke in turn four, prompting the caution to come out once again. Flannery commanded the lead once again on the restart, and again began to pull away from the field. The lead wasn’t what he had before the caution came out, but it was a lead. And it was enough to give him the win - his fifth of the season. Botticello finished in second, with Hinze close behind her in third. Shawn Thibeault finished off the board in fourth.

The next event on the schedule of events features the SK Modifieds once again. This time, they're to make up a feature that was supposed to be run on July 16. It's a twin billing with the fastest division Stafford has to offer. All six races for five divisions happens weather permitting.