Things got underway with Whelen Modified Tour time trials. 32 cars were on hand, looking to score one of 31 spots in the field. The fastest time of all during this qualifying session belonged to Tony Hirschman, getting around the track in 18.188 seconds (averaging out to 98.966 seconds). Of course, one car was supposed to go home upset that they didn't make the field, but because there was one extra car, officials thought it would be polite for that car to be inserted into the field. So later on in the night, 32 cars would be taking the green flag. More on this after the weekly portion of the night, folks!
On the docket first for the Whelen All-American Series weekly program were the SK Lights. The race started with Heather DesRochers taking the lead at the drop of the green flag. The lead would be cut after four laps when Harry Wheeler spun in turn two, bringing out the caution. DesRochers would retake the lead on the restart, but on lap-6, Glen Reen would steal first away and begin to pull away. At one point, Reen's lead was about a full straightaway in front of DesRochers. The race would be slowed on lap-17, however, taking away any of the momentum Reen might have had. Kyler Cafro and Tony Santangelo had crashed in turn two, bringing out the caution and setting up a four-lap dash for the cash. Reen had the advantage as the green flew over the field, and it looked as though he was setting up a repeat performance from earlier in the race. However, Aaron Goff and Michael Lane would crash in turn four, now setting up a green-white-checkered finish. This would be the end of the race as Reen dominated the restart one more time, and he could not be caught as he sailed through the rest of the feature to take down his fifth win of the season. DesRochers would come back to score a career-best second, followed by Josh Sylvester and Brit Andersen.
After the entry-level, open-wheeled Modifieds gave the fans a show, out come the SK Modifieds for their 40-lap show. The first half of the race was caution free, with a couple of lead changes here and there. The first leader of the race was Todd Owen, but after four laps clicked by, Jeff Malave took over as the leader, and he would lead until lap-28 as a spin in turns three and four from Willie Hardie erased a full straightaway lead via Malave. On the restart, Malave gained the lead back and would assume leadership status until a lap-31 accident involving Hardie, Shelly Perry, and Zach Sylvester. A new second place would emerge on the green flag... That being one Woody Pitkat, who would eventually battle with Malave until Pitkat finally took the lead on lap-34. Unfortunately for Pitkat, he would have to survive two more cautions before he could possibly take a fourth straight win. The first of the two cautions occured on lap-37, when Wade Mattesen spun in turn two. The second was when Keith Rocco spun on the frontstretch on the following lap. Fortunately, Pitkat was able to make it back out front on both restarts and would indeed win his fourth straight SK feature and sixth of the season. Coming in to round out the top-four were Brad Hietala, Malave, and Ted Christopher.
Straying away from anything with their wheels exposed in a way that you can pronounce it "open-wheeled", we go directly to the fendered divisions for the time being, starting with the DARE Stocks. It was a caution free race from the green to the checkered, which is expected these days with that division, and there was only one leader for the duration of all fifteen laps... Megan Bienkowski. Of course, all of the action happened to come from behind her, with Norm Sears taking over third place on lap-7. Other than that, all was quiet on the front as Bienkowski claimed her first career victory at Stafford. Bill Dunn would finish second, Sears third, and Dan Flannery fourth.
Next up on the schedule, it was the Late Models, who last week turned a pretty impressive feature for only one caution session. Could they get any better? Well, not in terms of cautions, but in action. It started with a caution in turns three and four, including a handful of cars that had removed themselves from the scene before I could figure out who was in that accident. Once everyone was gone from the scene, the race was back on. (Or was it the race could start?) Steve McQuillan took the lead and held it for the first two completed laps of the event before the second caution of the race occured. Tom Butler, Billy Snow, Jr, Bobby Leone, Jim Mavlouganes, and Mike Quintiliano were involved in a turn two accident on lap-3. McQuillan would go back in front as the leader, assuming this spot through a lap-13 spin of Tom Fearn, courtesy of Woody Pitkat. Pitkat wouldn't be able to make up the ground after he was black flagged. Back up to the front, and we still have McQuillan leading the way. The lead would change hands on lap-17 when Ryan Posocco eventually overpowered McQuillan, but the two would battle for a few laps until Posocco would start to slowly pull away. Posocco would be your winner, followed by McQuillan, Jim Peterson, and Scott Foster, Jr. In technical inspection, McQuillan's car was found to have an illegal carburetor and intake manifold, and he was disqualified from second place.
Four down, one to go. The final race of the weekly portion belonged to the Limited Late Models. Two laps into the feature, the one and only caution occured when Charlie Newman and Darrin Havanec spun in turn two. Joey Ferrigno became the leader on the restart, and he started to pull away from the field. But Rick Lanagan started to catch up to him, and halfway through the race, Lanagan was in second place and had taken the lead on lap-13. Sean Foster stole second away from Ferrigno, but he couldn't make the charge towards Lanagan. Lanagan would pick up his fifth win of the season. Foster, Ferrigno, and Bill Davis rounded out the rest of the board.
With the final race of the weekly portion of the night done and over with, the stage was now cleared for the Whelen Modified Tour. After the redraw, it would be Bobby Grigas starting on the front row, alongside of Ted Christopher. Throughout the race, fans were treated to eleven lead changes from five different drivers, thirteen cautions (with two red flags), and a great battle for the win by Christopher and Todd Szegedy. For Christopher, the battle would be his, and he would pick up the win. It was his first Tour win since last year's August race at Thompson. Ironically, tonight the Tour is in Thompson. Anyway, rounding out the top-five would be Szegedy, Mike Stefanik, Doug Coby driving the Chase #77, and Donny Lia, whose streak of victories would be snapped.
Breathe easy, fellow race fans, because this week will be your typical five-feature program. The night starts at around 7:30pm with the National Anthem, followed by the features (in this order, and hopefully, the schedule won't change on me as I'm heading out the door like last time):
- SK Modified 21 Means 21 LCQ (if necessary)
- Late Model 16 LCQ (if necessary)
- Limited Late Models (20 minute time limit)
- SK Lights (20 minute time limit)
- SK Modifieds
- Late Models
- DARE Stocks
I'll be at the track tomorrow, with a new ride in tow (my usual guardian is not going to be able to make the trip due to other commitments, so I have someone to bring me to the track). So stay with us and I'll give you all the news from tomorrow night. Until then, gas pedal's on the right.
No comments:
Post a Comment