Final Friday Nighter '07

Hello, ladies and gentlemen of the blogging public (and faithful readers who have stuck by me the entire time)! This is your roaming reporter here with some special news for you... And let me tell you, this is the best news you've ever heard since the start of the season. I present to you the final Friday night edition of The View From Turn One of the 2007 Stafford Speedway season. Luckily, I have decided to do this before the rush of the pre-Friday jitterbug known as Fall Final practice. Boy, how time has certainly flown! So before I get you hooked onto the upcoming weekend, I must send you back to last Friday night, where we had the final Friday night "shootout".

SK Modifieds: The battle between the only two championship contenders left in the division, Ted Christopher and Woody Pitkat, went down the same path as usual. Though the first caution didn't occur until lap-34, the action was nonstop. Christopher was once again on the outside of the front row, but unlike last week, he had the opportunity to pass Jeff Malave and then Keith Rocco for the lead, failing against both drivers in the process. Rocco would hold off Christopher for his fourth win of the season, with Christopher, Pitkat, and Malave finishing out the board. Christopher and Pitkat have a 36 point gap going into the Fall Final, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were more Modifieds trying to make it into the race than usual in more ways than one. Pitkat's final chance to take the National Championship will be at the Stafford finale, and the more cars that start the feature, the better.

Late Models: In a span of ten laps (yes, ten laps), there were eleven caution flags. I think about half of the field was taken out, and it was nearly a combination of two heat races by the time the race was over, but they got a winner out of all of that chaos. The winner was Ryan Posocco, who in the middle of the cautionfest had made a threewide pass for the lead; Rick Charette and Corey Hutchings being the other two members of the threewide threesome. Hutchings, Jim Peterson, and Wayne Coury, Jr rounded out the board. In the race for the Late Model championship, it's down to Hutchings and Peterson, and it's only a 22 point difference. I'm betting that this race will come down to the final few laps.

SK Lights: With the championship already decided (Chris Matthews), the race could run smoother than usual. Nobody had to really "fight" for position, because they probably knew that this was all for fun. It was one of their more cleaner races of the season -- without taking it lightly -- and there was a first time winner in the CARQuest victory lane. That would be Joe Allegro, Jr, who beat out Brit Andersen, Matthews, and Glen Reen to take down the win. Like I said earlier, the final SK Light race of the season will be run for fun, as Matthews has a 150 point lead over second place Josh Sylvester. So hopefully these drivers can race the race with smiles on their faces.

Limited Late Models: The title could have been wrapped up on Friday. Sean Foster only had to stay more than 50 points ahead of second place come the race's end, and even though he was involved in a lap-3 accident in turns three and four, he was still able to lock up the championship. He is 150 points ahead of Rick Lanagan, who ended up winning his seventh race of the season over Kevin Gambacorta, Joey Ferrigno, and Charlie Newman. So this means that only two of the five features run over the course of the weekend will be run for fun. And this division will be one of those two.

DARE Stocks: The "Year of the First Time Winner" continued with one of the slower features of the season. Though there were three cautions, it didn't faze Rob Lawrence... At least for the first nine laps of the race until Norm Sears took over. But Lawrence overpowered Sears for the lead, that was it. He would win his first DARE Stock feature of the season, followed by Sears, Don Wood, and Dan Flannery. Speaking of Sears, he would take over the points lead after a so-so night by Carla Botticello and after Bill Dunn wrecked on a lap-7 restart. Sears holds a sixteen point lead over Botticello and a 26 point lead over Flannery. Dunn dropped to fourth after the race, and is now 40 points behind the leader.

And that's it for the notes for now. I give major kudos to the track's site for being updated day in and day out. The webmaster keeps things tidy, which is good for the fans and drivers alike. I shall raise a beverage in your honor... If I remember. *winks* Okay, from the notes to the site once again, and this time, it's to remind you fans and drivers that we do have not one, not two, but three days of racing on the schedule this weekend. It's time for the annual CARQuest Fall Final at the track, and this means that six divisions of racing will be out on the half mile to test their mettle. Three of the Whelen All-American Series divisions will crown their champions, while the SK Lights and Limited Late Models will officially crown their champions. The first thing I will direct your attention to is the entry list for the Whelen Modified Tour, which will make their final appearance of the season at Stafford. For more information on the schedule, I will give it to you day-by-day as the weekend actually arrives. So until then, have a happy rest of the week -- which is longer, mind you! -- and I'll see you on the flip side of Friday.